Egypt and Arab States circle toilet bowl

[Stormieweather]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Egypt VP Target of Assassination Attempt That Killed Two Bodyguards, Sources Tell Fox News



http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02...tell-fox-news/

Well.....maybe.

No Attempt

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Stormieweather

Well.....maybe.

No Attempt

Given the amount of mis-information coming out of the Egyptian Government at this point I would be more likely to believe it than not. But we will never know at this point.

[TheMercenary]

Obama's Flip Flop Policy has not helped things....

U.S. media pundits are intoxicated with protests and naïve about religious and military extremists—and the White House's daily policy shifts aren’t helping, writes Leslie H. Gelb. Plus, full coverage of the Egypt uprising.
As the Egyptian earthquake rumbles into its second week—with implications for U.S. security in the Middle East rivaling those for the Soviet Union during the 1989 uprisings in Eastern Europe—three matters roil my mind:

First, most of the American talkocracy is now so utterly intoxicated with protestocracy, which they call democracy, that they outright neglect the enormous trials of getting from the streets to a real democracy. It's hard as hell, and the process lends itself to hijacking by extremists.

Second, the Muslim Brotherhood jumps immediately to mind as hijackers, but don't overlook the potentially equal or greater threat to democracy from Egypt's beloved armed forces. The history of venomous domestic and foreign-policy pronouncements by the MB should keep us all awake at night. And never forget that the murderers of the great President Anwar Sadat were Muslim Brothers embedded in the army. All who ignore this history are naïve, best suited to cable-TV commentary, not policymaking.

Third, the Obama White House hasn't helped matters by shifting policy ground almost daily, causing confusion, and thereby squandering America's credibility and limited but precious influence. President Obama has got to learn the fundamental rule of dealing with careening crises: State your basic principles and then shut up publicly! (Meaning, just boringly repeat your mantra daily.)
I'd like to believe that, if I were an Egyptian, I would be in the streets with the protesters. I'd be mad as hell with Mubarak and would want to get rid of him as quickly as possible. But that wouldn't make me or my fellow mobsters democrats. Generally, one cannot count on mobs, no matter how nice or liberal or unfilled with hatred, to produce democracies.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-a...nd-more-fears/

[piercehawkeye45]

Looks like the military took control of the country. Not surprising from Mubarak's speech last night...

CAIRO —The Egyptian military appeared to assert its leadership Friday amid growing indications that President Hosni Mubarak was yielding all power. A Western diplomat said that Mr. Mubarak had left the capital.

As protesters were swarming into the streets Friday morning for what was expected to be the biggest and most volatile demonstrations in the three-week revolt here, the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces issued a statement over state television and radio indicating that the military, not Mr. Mubarak, was in effective control of the country. It was unclear whether the military would take meaningful steps toward democracy or begin a military dictatorship.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/wo...nted=1&_r=1&hp

[glatt]

That's pretty much the opposite of what I heard on NPR this morning. NPR said the military issued a statement that they support the time line proposed by Mubarek to step down in the Fall.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by glatt

That's pretty much the opposite of what I heard on NPR this morning. NPR said the military issued a statement that they support the time line proposed by Mubarek to step down in the Fall.

I heard that as well. I think the military will back Mubarek, but if the people riot and get violent then we will see if the military use their might to control the demonstrators. If they do not, then they may be put in a situation where they have to force Mubarek out sooner than he wants. The last thing we need is a vacuum and an opportunity for extremists to take over.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The last thing we need is a vacuum and an opportunity for extremists to take over.

You could also say the last thing we need is to stretch out the elections, which would give the extremists time to hijack the process and take over.

We simply don't know what the best course of action is, and we don't have much influence to control it anyway.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by glatt

That's pretty much the opposite of what I heard on NPR this morning. NPR said the military issued a statement that they support the time line proposed by Mubarek to step down in the Fall.

That's what I meant. A temporary control of the country, not a military coup.

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The last thing we need is a vacuum and an opportunity for extremists to take over.

The more I read the more I'm leaning that the Muslim Brotherhood will not have a strong influence in the near future. If I remember correctly, I believe they stated that they will not put out a candidate for a presidential bid and there has been a lot of statements (propaganda?) from the Brotherhood that they have the best interests of the Egyptian people in mind and they are non-violent, which seems actually mostly true. There is a reason Al-Qaeda and Iran do not respect them.

I'm guessing that since Mubarek is gone the next ruler might lift the ban against the Muslim Brotherhood. So now they are trying to put up a good front so they can start getting some support from the Egyptian people. Once they get support, then they can start trying to make a large impact on Egyptian politics in a democratic way. If this is true, the worse thing that can happen is a bad secular government gets put into place that fails in five years and everyone starts supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

Also, if the Muslim Brotherhood takes over, they know they will just become the next Iran. They will lose a lot of trade and aid from Western countries which will probably not help their unemployment problem. I don't think they would last long under those conditions and I'm guessing they know that.

[classicman]

From the same article -

The Egyptian military issued a communiqué pledging to carry out a variety of constitutional reforms in a statement remarkable for its commanding tone. The military’s statement alludes to the delegation of power to Vice President Omar Suleiman and it suggests that the military will supervise implementation of the reforms.

The military also said that it would oversee the amendment of the Constitution to “conduct free and fair presidential elections.”

“The Armed forces are committed to sponsor the legitimate demands of the people,” the statement declared, and it vowed to ensure the fulfillment of its promises “within defined time frames with all accuracy and seriousness and until the peaceful transfer of authority is completed toward a free democratic community that the people aspire to.”

From what I gather, The military seems to attempting to take control UNTIL elections can be held.

[TheMercenary]

Just checked CNN, Breaking News, Mubarek quits.

[Trilby]

YAY! Power to the People, right ON!

[TheMercenary]

Mubarak resigns, hands power to military

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_egypt

[Shawnee123]

Good. It was all a big pyramid scheme anyway.

ba DUM dum

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Good. It was all a big pyramid scheme anyway.

ba DUM dum

*snicker*

[Vitale]

Mubarak has stepped down.