The sweat is dripping down the faces of American and European diplomats as they attempt to conciliate the tensions occurring in Egypt. The United States, which recently helped to oust President Mohamed Morsi, has precipitated volatility within Egypt’s two main political parties that cannot be dissolved. The parties are separated between those who support the new government, and those who do not. With the arrival of two American Senators in Egypt, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the animosity has only heightened. In a meeting with General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the officer who overthrew Mr. Morsi and appointed the new government, as well as the interim prime minister, Hazem el-Beblawi, brusque exhortations were made that display the diplomats as surly school-children.

“You could tell people were itching for a fight,” Senator Graham recollected in one interview. “The prime minister was a disaster. He kept preaching to me: ‘You can’t negotiate with these people. They’ve [President Morsi’s supporters] got to get out of the streets and respect the rule of law.’ I spoke ‘Mr. Prime Minister, it’s pretty hard for you to lecture anyone on the rule of law. How many votes did you get? Oh, yeah, you didn’t have an election.’ ”

Things are not going much better for the European Diplomats; Egypt’s parties are getting in their fair share of acerbity. Just take it from a senior European diplomat, Bernardino León, who told Morsi’s supporters that within hours the military-imposed government would free two imprisoned opposition leaders– a step that will probably entice political retribution.