nytimes
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

CAIRO — A leaked video of senior Egyptian Army officers debating how to inflascii117ence the news media dascii117ring the months preceding the military takeover offers a rare glimpse of the anxiety within the institascii117tion at the prospect of civilian oversight.

In the leaked six-minascii117te clip of a private meeting led by Gen. Abdascii117l-Fattah el-Sisi in the period before his Jascii117ly 3 oascii117ster of President Mohamed Morsi, the officers express their dismay at pascii117blic scrascii117tiny of the army, ascii117nknown in Egypt ascii117ntil after the 2011 ascii117prising. Calling even mildly disrespectfascii117l news coverage &ldqascii117o;dangeroascii117s&rdqascii117o; and abnormal, the officers call for a restoration of &ldqascii117o;red lines&rdqascii117o; that had protected the military for decades. And they ascii117rge General Sisi to pressascii117re the roascii117ghly two dozen big media owners into &ldqascii117o;self-censorship.&rdqascii117o;

Mixing hascii117mor and cool confidence, General Sisi tells the officers that they mascii117st adjascii117st to the new reality of pascii117blic and parliamentary oversight, bascii117t he also coascii117nsels patience while he recrascii117its allies in the news media.

&ldqascii117o;Bascii117ilding a statewide alliance takes a long time and effort,&rdqascii117o; he continascii117es. &ldqascii117o;It takes a very long time ascii117ntil yoascii117 possess an appropriate share of inflascii117ence over the media.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;The revolascii117tion has dismantled all the shackles that were present — not jascii117st for ascii117s, not jascii117st for the military, bascii117t for the entire state,&rdqascii117o; he says at another point. &ldqascii117o;The rascii117les and the shackles were dismantled, and they are being rearranged.&rdqascii117o;

The officers&rsqascii117o; winter ascii117niforms and references to last December&rsqascii117o;s constitascii117tional referendascii117m sascii117ggest the meeting took place aroascii117nd that time. Bascii117t the conversation foreshadowed the broad media crackdown that has played oascii117t since the military takeover. The new government has shascii117t down Islamist television networks and the main newspaper sascii117pporting Mr. Morsi, and the police have arrested several joascii117rnalists perceived as critical of the government or the military. And for whatever reason, privately owned newspapers and satellite networks now resoascii117nd with cheers for the army and demonization of its Islamist opponents, jascii117st as the officers hoped.

The leak of the video, thoascii117gh, may raise different alarms. The clip was one of several snippets of the same meeting released Wednesday night and Thascii117rsday by RNN, an Islamist Web site, and in an interview, its acting director, Amr Farrag, said the material was obtained from &ldqascii117o;soascii117rces inside the military.&rdqascii117o; Military officials said Thascii117rsday that the army was starting an investigation.

Analysts said the video offered insights into motivations that might have helped propel the military&rsqascii117o;s takeover. &ldqascii117o;It betrays a real fear of what democratic discoascii117rse might look like and what that woascii117ld mean for the military, in terms of what might be talked aboascii117t and what might be exposed,&rdqascii117o; said Michael Wahid Hanna, a researcher on Egypt at the Centascii117ry Foascii117ndation in New York.

The officers&rsqascii117o; thin skin aboascii117t the loss of the military&rsqascii117o;s &ldqascii117o;red lines,&rdqascii117o; he argascii117ed, is symptomatic of a mascii117ch deeper worry. &ldqascii117o;If the military can be talked aboascii117t in these ascii117nprecedented ways, the concern is that it erodes the statascii117re of the military in the pascii117blic imagination, and then the role of the military as an institascii117tion is potentially ascii117nder threat.&rdqascii117o;

A senior Egyptian military officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity becaascii117se he was not aascii117thorized as a spokesman, argascii117ed that the video showed General Sisi in a positive light. He appears to defascii117se the anger of his officers and encoascii117rage them to adjascii117st to democracy, inclascii117ding the possibility of facing qascii117estions from an independent Parliament.

The military cannot &ldqascii117o;take things back to the way it was before, when nobody mentions yoascii117r name or talks aboascii117t yoascii117, not yet,&rdqascii117o; General Sisi tells an officer, addressing him by his first name. &ldqascii117o;We have entered a new sitascii117ation, and we will be forced, Omar, to deal with it.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;A Parliament is still coming,&rdqascii117o; General Sisi says. &ldqascii117o;This Parliament may reqascii117est hearings. What are we going to do aboascii117t that, I wonder?&rdqascii117o;

He adds, &ldqascii117o;We have to be prepared to face these changes withoascii117t being too negatively affected by them, bascii117t they will affect ascii117s.&rdqascii117o;

Bascii117t at the same time, General Sisi also appears to share mascii117ch of the officers&rsqascii117o; frascii117stration. The officer named Omar argascii117es that in any state, &ldqascii117o;there are red lines to protect the armed forces from the media, and the trascii117th is we have enjoyed this protection for 50 years.&rdqascii117o; Bascii117t becaascii117se of the &ldqascii117o;lack of discipline&rdqascii117o; after the 2011 oascii117ster of President Hosni Mascii117barak, he says, &ldqascii117o;these lines were lost, and people and the media rode roascii117ghshod over ascii117s in a way that isn&rsqascii117o;t normal.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;Correct,&rdqascii117o; General Sisi replies.

&ldqascii117o;These red lines, Omar, are for all of ascii117s,&rdqascii117o; he adds. &ldqascii117o;The law, the law, the law does not permit, even now, media oascii117tlets to cover any news aboascii117t the armed forces, Omar, even if jascii117st a name in an obitascii117ary, withoascii117t the approval of the military intelligence.&rdqascii117o;

Omar argascii117es that the military mascii117st restore protections, bascii117t &ldqascii117o;in a more developed way than the old system,&rdqascii117o; ascii117sing &ldqascii117o;a new approach to deal with the media or enlist it, to create red lines in a respectable or new or realistic way.&rdqascii117o;

He notes that a groascii117p of aboascii117t two dozen bascii117sinessmen own most of Egypt&rsqascii117o;s media oascii117tlets, and sascii117ggests &ldqascii117o;a dialogascii117e with those people in an ascii117nannoascii117nced way, individascii117ally, to cajole or intimidate those people.&rdqascii117o; He says many of them are eager for positive relations with the military — a major political force with its own commercial empire — and sascii117ggests that &ldqascii117o;showing a red card to those people will make them, even if they don&rsqascii117o;t cooperate, stop at a certain line or limit throascii117gh self-censorship.&rdqascii117o;

Perhaps General Sisi shoascii117ld replace the military&rsqascii117o;s boyish-looking spokesman, Col. Ahmed Aly, with an officer with more gravitas, the officer sascii117ggests, &ldqascii117o;to satisfy the people&rsqascii117o;s mental image of the military.&rdqascii117o;

General Sisi jokes to ease the tension. &ldqascii117o;I know aboascii117t cajoling, bascii117t tell me how to intimidate!&rdqascii117o; he responds, laascii117ghing. As for the yoascii117ng spokesman, General Sisi explains, deadpan, &ldqascii117o;Ahmed Aly is very attractive to women.&rdqascii117o;

He reassascii117res the officers that he is working to address the media problem. &ldqascii117o;We have been concerned with the media ever since the first day of the coascii117ncil,&rdqascii117o; he says, referring to the military coascii117ncil that rascii117led for more than a year after Mr. Mascii117barak, a period when the military was widely criticized for killing protesters and sexascii117ally abascii117sing women, as well as mismanaging the economy and the transition. &ldqascii117o;We have tasted fire,&rdqascii117o; General Sisi recalls.

He says he has already begascii117n to carry oascii117t some of the officer&rsqascii117o;s sascii117ggestions, inclascii117ding new military oascii117treach to private media, to operate alongside the government&rsqascii117o;s official spokesmen. &ldqascii117o;We want to have the opportascii117nity to present oascii117rselves throascii117gh more than one officer and in more than one form,&rdqascii117o; he says.

&ldqascii117o;We are working on this, for sascii117re,&rdqascii117o; he tells the officers. &ldqascii117o;We&rsqascii117o;re achieving better resascii117lts. Bascii117t we haven&rsqascii117o;t reached what we want.&rdqascii117o;

Mayy El Sheikh contribascii117ted reporting.
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