Outside the Beltway

Hillary Clinton Gets An Unpleasant Reception In Egypt

Doug Mataconis · Monday, July 16, 2012 · 2 comments

Hillary Clinton’s visit to Egypt isn’t getting off to a good start:

CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle landed near the armoured cars carrying Clinton’s delegation in the port city of Alexandria.

A senior state department official said that neither Clinton nor her vehicle, which were around the corner from the incident, were struck by any of the projectiles.

Protesters chanted: “Monica, Monica”, a reference to Former President Bill Clinton’s extra-marital affair. Some chanted: “leave, Clinton”, Egyptian security officials said.

It was not clear who the protesters were or what political affiliations they had. Protesters outside Clinton’s hotel on Saturday night chanted anti-Islamist slogans, accusing the United States of backing the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power.

Of course, Egyptian protesters in January and February 2011 weren’t all that happy with the United States then either since they perceived us as backing Mubarak and the military government. Can’t win either way, apparently.