Did the US hijack Egypt’s revolution? And other conspiracies

Today it emerged that the woman leading the charge against foreign NGOs in Egypt, Fayza Aboul Naga, told prosecutors the US tried to hijack the country's revolution by creating chaos through the funding of political organizations. 

The comments, part of her Oct. 2011 testimony to judges investigating foreign-funded NGOs, were reported today by the state-run news agency, Middle East News Agency (MENA). 

"The United States and Israel could not directly create a state of chaos and work to maintain it in Egypt, so they used direct funding to organizations, especially American NGOs, as a means of implementing these goals," AFP, quoting MENA, reported her as saying. 

It's an increasingly familiar line pushed by former regime officials, alluded to by Egypt's ruling generals, and echoed by state-run media in the post-uprising period: that foreigners or foreign powers seek to thwart Egypt by fostering strife in the great nation.

Now the government has named civil society organizations as the vessels of that strife. 

But blaming Egypt's post-revolution (or ongoing revolution, depending on how you see it) turmoil on foreign instigators is one thing. Charging Israel was responsible for the actual uprising is another. 

In an additional "revelation" today, a defense lawyer for one of former President Hosni Mubarak's security chiefs – on trial along with Mubarak for killing protestors – blamed Israel for stirring the revolt.

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"It is unimaginable that Israel, which was spying on the mobile networks, had nothing to do with fueling the events," of the revolution, Mohamed Al Gendy said, according to English-language daily, Egypt Independent. 

Al Gendy forgot to mention that Egypt's mobile, telephone and internet networks were all severed on Jan. 28, 2011, one of the bloodiest days of the uprising. 

But, there's more.

During an interview with the chief of Mubarak's volunteer defense team, Yousri Abdel Razek, he spoke at length (but with little convincing evidence) about how operatives from Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, instigated the Tahrir Square clashes with police that roused the masses and sealed the fate of Mubarak's ouster. 

Why? 

"Chaos," he said.