Egypt....

So crazy riots and stuff. Thoughts?

I'm worried.

choopie911 wrote: brihard wrote: I'm worried. Mubarak's a real POS, but if his state falls we might see an ascent to power by the Muslim Brotherhood- potentially a true tyranny of the mob.

I feel bad for the police and other emergency workers there.


They may very well agree with the protestors / rioters, but they still have a job to do, still have to try to protect people, and as such get caught in the middle and get beat/assaulted by the rioters. (And yes, the beatings go both ways...)

Edited by Linus - 29 January 2011 at 11:40pm

It's all going to hinge on whether the Army decides to continue to back Mubarak or the protesters. If they continue to back Mubarak and he holds to his promise and reforms the gov't and takes steps to allow democratic elections, then things should quiet down and everyone wins. If they back the protesters at the moment, it goes all wonky because it will essentially be a military coup. That kind of coup could go either way depending on the desires of its commanders. That, to me, shows the biggest chance of the IB gaining a hand in the power struggle as right now the riots/protests are focused on democratic desires rather than a desire to see religious rule.

Obama's legacy...

Edited by FreeEnterprise - 11 February 2011 at 1:46pm

Great troll? Or greatest troll?

Actually, I just listened to Obama's speech on Egypt.

Edited by FreeEnterprise - 11 February 2011 at 3:39pm

Oh crap, I hate to feed the troll, but this is a teaching opportunity.

Yes, the protests got violent. We all saw that, I had a friend who lives in Dubai and was on vacation in Egypt when they started protesting and managed to get tear gassed by Police in Alexandria and chased by protesters with rocks in Cairo. If the president along with plenty of others ( although you distrust all media besides FOX, AM Radio and a few right-wing blogs) is calling these protests "peaceful" he's either speaking in relative terms or *gasp* being political. Condemning the protesters would be bad politics even if they were radical Islamists, clearly they were going to win unless Egypt's military, which has received significant aid from the US, went Tianamen Square on them. The fact that they didn't do that shows that we, and the protesters, have pull with the Egyptian military.

The Islamic Revolution spin is interesting considering Al-Qeada's past Egyptian connections, but the Muslim Brotherhood stayed out of it for quite some time, and has stated that they will not run candidates in the upcoming elections. So far I would say the anxiety is unfounded, but something to keep an eye on.

Nobody but FOX is concerned about scrapping the peace treaty with Israel, many in Egypt have said they aren't considering it, and even if they did, that doesn't mean a repeat of the 6 Day War. Many Arab countries involved in that and other conflicts have not signed a peace treaty w/ Israel, to include our new secular, democratic ally, Iraq.

So in your opinion, who is our ally? Egypt, or former President Mubarak? Nasser got whacked because of that peace treaty with Israel, Mubarak has been in charge since then. Egypt clearly has not been a democratic state. The proposed amendments to the Egyptian Constitution (like term limits) would be a step towards democracy.

In the meantime, the US-Friendly Egyptian Military is in control, clearly not a loss of an ally. What I don't understand is why you, or anyone for that matter, would support a dictator over a democracy. The US has done it many, many times. The reasons are typically economic (The Suez would be the issue here) and justified by fears of communism in the past (Vietnam, Guatemala, Cuba, Iran, Argentina, Columbia...I can go on) and apparently, fears of Islamic Theocracy today. The other more subtle justification has typically involved the notion that "some people/countries aren't ready for democracy". These people typically being brown, black or yellow, or non-christian, and I really, really hate to play the race card. Is it one of those reasons that motivates you, or another. Would you care to articulate it before changing the subject with copypasta?

In general, the protesters were very peaceful.  They turned violent when the pro-Mubarak mobs (mostly policemen) took to the streets.

As rednekk said, we won't be losing an ally.  The military has this under wraps.  As far as Egyptians are concerned, the military is a good friend.