A  powder keg waiting to explode is the way many perceive the Mideast. The  events in the region could set off in many people's estimates a cascade  that could emesh the US of A in more military action.

US  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been meeting with new Egyptian  President Mohammed Morsi as well as with the Supreme Miliatry Council.  Her reception has not been greatly received by all. The prognosis for  US-Egypt relations remains guarded for now.

The  head of Egypt's military took a tough line Sunday on the Muslim  Brotherhood, warning that he won't let the fundamentalist group dominate  the country, only hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham  Clinton urged him to work with Egypt's elected Islamist leaders.

Clinton's  visit to Egypt underscored the difficulty Washington faces in trying to  wield its influence amid the country's stormy post-Hosni Mubarak power  struggles.

Islamist Mohammed Morsi, a longtime Brotherhood  figure, was sworn two weeks ago as Egypt's first democratically elected  president. Led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the military handed  over power to him June 30 after ruling Egypt for 16 months. The  military, however, dissolved the Brotherhood-led parliament and stripped  Morsi of significant authorities in the days before his inauguration,  while retaining overwhelming powers for itself, including legislative  power and control of the writing of a new constitution.

The  United States is in a difficult spot when it comes to dealing with  post-Mubarak Egypt _ eager to be seen as a champion of democracy and  human rights after three decades of close ties with the ousted leader  despite his abysmal record in advancing either.

http://azstarnet.com/news/world/clinton-in-egypt-for-first-meeting-with-president/article_7c18d358-a933-578e-87d1-d46c25e51bc3.html

U.S.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Tel Aviv after ended two days  of talks with Egypt's quarrelling civilian and military leaders. She  offered them U.S. assistance for the struggling Egyptian economy without  publicly taking sides in their ongoing power struggle.

A U.S.  State Department official said Clinton discussed U.S. aid proposals at a  meeting in Cairo Sunday with Egyptian military chief Field Marshal  Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The official said Tantawi told Clinton that  reviving the Egyptian economy is a priority for his country. Clinton  revealed details of the U.S. aid pledge on Saturday, when she held talks  with Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who took office last  month.

"In both her talks with President Morsi and Field Marshal  Tantawi, she discussed the U.S. ability to help the Egyptian economy.  The political instability here in Egypt has really hurt economic growth  and tourism revenue. So U.S. President Barack Obama is proposing a  package of debt relief that could go as high as $1 billion. Tantawi said  that's really the chief priority now; that's what Egyptians need - a  better economy," (VOA correspondent Scott Stearns) said.

http://voanews.com/content/clinton_talks_with_egyptian_leaders/1404944.html

Egyptian  protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary  Clinton's motorcade Sunday and shouted, "Monica, Monica, Monica" as she  left the newly reopened U.S. Consulate in Alexandria.

Clinton  said she was in the city to answer critics who believe Washington has  taken sides in Egyptian politics. There were already vocal protesters at  the start of her visit to the consulate, forcing the ceremony to be  moved inside.

"I want to be clear that the United States is not  in the business, in Egypt, of choosing winners and losers, even if we  could, which, of course, we cannot," Clinton said at the ceremony to  reopen the consulate, which was closed in 1993 because of budget  constraints.

"I have come to Alexandria to reaffirm the strong  support of the United States for the Egyptian people and for their  democratic future."

The protesters threw the tomatoes, shoes and a  water bottle as the staff walked to their vans after the ceremony and  riot police had to hold back the crowd. A tomato hit an Egyptian  official in the face.

http://cnn.com/2012/07/15/world/africa/egypt-clinton/index.html

Having  pressed the new Egyptian president, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary  Rodham Clinton on Sunday sought to mobilize what influence the United  States still has with the army chief whose key role in post-Hosni  Mubarak Egypt is splitting the country between those who see the  military as a threat to democracy and those clinging to it as a  guarantor of stability.

The United States sees it as a bit of both.

Clinton's demand to the military was simple: Work with Egypt's new Islamist leaders on a full transition to civilian rule.

But  with the U.S. having already approved yet another massive delivery of  military aid, it was unclear what leverage the Obama administration has  as it seeks to stabilize Egypt and build a new relationship with  America's once ironclad Arab ally.

Clinton's meeting with Field  Marshal Hussein Tantawi in Cairo came with Egypt's transformation from  dictatorship to democracy in peril. Clinton and Tantawi met for more  than an hour.

"They discussed the political transition and the  (military council's) ongoing dialogue with President Morsi," a senior  State Department official said, providing details of the private meeting  on condition of anonymity. "The secretary stressed the importance of  protecting the rights of all Egyptians, including women and minorities."

Tantawi, according to the official, focused on Egypt's economic needs and the two discussed U.S. aid plans.

http://cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57472540/u.s-role-in-post-mubarak-egypt-still-unclear/

Egypt's  top general on Sunday raised the stakes in the military's political  standoff with the Muslim Brotherhood, saying the armed forces will not  allow a "certain group" to dominate the country.

Field Marshal  Hussein Tantawi's tough comments came only hours after he met with U.S.  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who urged him to work with  President Mohammed Morsi, of the Brotherhood, on a full transition to  civilian rule.

The military, which ruled after the fall last year  of Hosni Mubarak, and the Brotherhood, the country's strongest  political force, are in a competition over power that has intensified  with Morsi's winning of the presidency last month. Days before Morsi was  sworn in on June 30, the Brotherhood-led parliament was dissolved and  the generals gave themselves legislative and budgetary authority and  control over the process of drafting a new constitution, put severe  limits on the president's authority.

In his comments Sunday,  Tantawi did not specify the Brotherhood, but his reference that the  military would not allow the group to hold sway was clear.

"Egypt  will never fall. It belongs to all Egyptians and not to a certain group  _ the armed forces will not allow it," Tantawi told reporters after a  handover ceremony for the transfer of command of the armed forces' 2nd  Army in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia.

"The armed forces will  not allow anyone, especially those pushed from outside, to distract it  from its role as the protector of Egypt," he said. "The army will never  commit treason and will continue to perform its duties until Egypt  reaches the shores of safety."

http://azstarnet.com/news/world/egypt-s-morsi-in-ethiopia-for-au-summit/article_e802f627-10e3-5245-85fb-df7551ac512b.html

From the Cornfield, the US of A presidential election may very well be decided on what happens in The Mideast.