I ask myself why. Why would authorities in a European county like Switzerland entertain the idea of trying George W. Bush for torture if he came to give a talk in that country; But, European countries are supporting Omar Suleiman for interim president of Egypt, even though he was the one who undertook the torture […]
5 Year Old Child Heads Demo in Alexandria Egypt
5 Year Old Child Heads Million Strong Demo in Alexandria Egypt He is chanting about freedom, the nation, the need for the regime of Hosni Mubarak to fall, and complaining about “American agents.” I don’t think Mubarak has high ratings in the key demographic of the young. And neither will the US, if it goes […]
Top Ten Accomplishments of Egypt Demonstrators
The protest movement in Egypt scored several victories on Friday, but did not actually succeed in getting President Hosni Mubarak to step down. Their accomplishments include: 1. The hundreds of thousands (the Egyptian Arabic press is saying a million nationwide) of demonstrators showed that they had not been cowed by the vicious attacks of Ministry […]
Cunningham: Every Uprising is Different
Philip J Cunningham writes in a guest column for Informed Comment Every uprising is different. But given shared human strengths and weaknesses, the dynamics of crowd behavior, crowd control, and crowd chaos play out in ways that strike a common chord. Having written about popular protest, cultural clashes and street marches in East Asia for […]
Repression Fails as Thousands Demand Mubarak Departure
Anti-Mubarak Egyptians prepared themselves on Friday for a major campaign of street protests that they are calling not another “Day of Wrath” but rather a “Day of Departure,” an attempt to force President Hosni Mubarak to resign. By mid-morning thousands had already gathered at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo and at other key nodes in […]
Mubarak Defies a Humiliated America, Emulating Netanyahu
It should be remembered that Egypt’s elite of multi-millionaires has benefited enormously from its set of corrupt bargains with the US and Israel and from the maintenance of a martial law regime that deflects labor demands and pesky human rights critiques. It is no wonder that to defend his billions and those of his cronies, […]
Mubarak’s Basij
On Wednesday, the Mubarak regime showed its fangs, mounting a massive and violent repressive attack on the peaceful crowds in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. People worrying about Egypt becoming like Iran (scroll down) should worry about Egypt already being way too much like Iran as it is. That is, Hillary Clinton and others expressed […]
Why Egypt 2011 is not Iran 1979
Alarms have been raised by those observing the popular uprising in Egypt that, while it is not itself a Muslim fundamentalist movement, the Muslim fundamentalists could take it over as it unfolds. The best-positioned group to do so is the Muslim Brotherhood. Some are even conflating the peaceful Brotherhood with radical groups such as al-Qaeda. […]
Pressman: The Cyclical vs. the Fundamental in U.S. Policy
Jeremy Pressman writes in a guest column for Informed Comment The Cyclical vs. the Fundamental in U.S. Policy: Suddenly both are in flux If you run Washington, how best to maintain the flow of Persian Gulf energy supplies at a reasonable price, protect Israel, and – choose your era – block the Soviets or undermine […]