Egypt Unrest: Mubarak Steps Down!

[Majnun]

This is a thread to record and keep an eye on the mass protests and unrest in Egypt, which is expected to hit a peak today, in just a few hours, after Friday prayers.

 

[Jigs]

 

[AUz]

May Tunisia become the 'torch bearer' of whole Middle East and North Africa.Get rid of all these 'dick'-tators. FCUK Hussni Mubarak and his supporters .

 

[jayron]

My only worry/doubt is will these dictators be replaced by liberal democracies or something more conservative and rightwing?

 

[twoplustwoisfour]

Looks like Md. Al Baradei is primed to take over from Mubarak. Interesting development. Lets see what change he can bring in alongwith his western friends

 

[AUz]

Go Egypt GO !!

 

[AUz]

My only worry/doubt is will these dictators be replaced by liberal democracies or something more conservative and rightwing?

Just worry about bharat. In desperate times people only want FCUKING CHANGE.No one thinks about fcuking democracy or fcuking conservatives etc.When your son don't have food to eat and you see rich children enjoying feasts then it all becomes ill relevant.Just look at Europe..Church was considered as last authority.Ever you heard of 'Divine right'??? But look at now...

 

[Developereo]

This fat-as$ Mubarak won't go peacefully. He has been sucking the blood of Egyptians for 30 years. This will get ugly.

World News Australia - At least 1,000 arrested in Egypt

Egyptian police arrested at least 1000 people in two days of running street battles as activists vowed to step up protests in the country's biggest uprising in 30 years.

 

[Majnun]

 

[twoplustwoisfour]

News alerts say that Egypt has turned off internet facilities for civilians.

What the f***?

 

[Majnun]

News alerts say that Egypt has turned off internet facilities for civilians.

What the f***?

To limit contact and limit mass gatherings.

 

[Hussein]

Egypt braces for protest showdown - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

 

[GUNNER]

American point of view...

Egypt's Choice—and Ours

With anti-government protests breaking out in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, it isn't surprising that a familiar debate over how the U.S. should respond has broken out in American foreign policy circles. In the middle stands the Obama Administration, uncertain whether to tilt toward the protesters or toward an historic ally like Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

In recent days, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has occupied both sides of this debate. She initially said that while the U.S. supports "the fundamental rights of expression and assembly," it was her assessment that the Egyptian government "was stable" and seeking ways to respond to the protests in the street.

A day later, she pointedly amended those remarks. She said that reforms "must be on the agenda" of Egypt's government and supported such efforts by "active, civil leaders in Egypt." That is, the people in the streets.

That shift produced a crack back from the U.S. foreign policy's realpolitik wing, arguing that the cost of losing the Mubarak government's support in the region was too high for the uncertainty that might follow throwing in with an inchoate, uncertain force in the streets. What followed in Iran after Jimmy Carter abandoned the Shah in 1979 is offered as evidence of the price of stepping wrong amid popular uprisings.

Let us stipulate that these columns at the time of the Shah's overthrow and many times since have called that decision an historic mistake. Nor would we wish to see it repeated in Egypt, a country of significantly more strategic importance than, say, Tunisia or Yemen.

That said, we suspect that a foreign policy unable to make adjustments for the world as it exists some three decades later is likely to make similar mistakes of judgment, with similarly catastrophic results.

Perhaps we would not be faced with this choice in Egypt if we had done more than nothing during Mr. Mubarak's 30-year tenure to support efforts toward a real civil society and functioning political system there. Admitting the Mubarak regime's contributions to America's interests in the region doesn't gainsay the reality that keeping aging autocracies in power, with no feasible successor in sight, is a status quo that isn't sustainable.

Add the fact that in almost every instance, including Egypt, the method of political "control" is still crude, physical brutality, even as the news of these abuses now spreads instantly among the population via new information technologies. Assuming that these dictators can stay afloat indefinitely across waves of information technology is a foreign policy of perilous hope.

We recall that in 2005 President Bush and his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attempted to reach out to civil-society factions in Egypt but were opposed by State Department realists and blamed for democratic naivete after Hamas won an election in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Ambassador to Cairo at the time, Frank Ricciardone, was a particular admirer of Mr. Mubarak and downplayed U.S. support for democracy in Egypt. It's especially amusing to see Egyptian politician Mohammed ElBaradei surface, criticizing the U.S. for supporting Arab dictators. He was part of the U.N. establishment that criticized Mr. Bush for opposing dictators.

As the Iraq war consumed the Administration, Secretary Rice set aside the political liberalization effort in the Middle East. Now we're caught between Hosni Mubarak's lifespan and fear of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Iran 1979 isn't the only example of the U.S. struggling to cross the chasm between autocratic stability and democratic reform. Democratic transitions worked in the Philippines and South Korea in the 1980s because we moved firmly on the side of reform and we knew those societies well. Egypt is more dangerous because we don't know it as well, and radical Islam makes everything more combustible.

It's not reassuring that the Obama Administration seems to have been caught by surprise in all of these Arab countries. Even the Administration's realist critics admit they have no clue who these thousands demonstrating on television are. This is a foreign policy establishment?

The reality may be that the future of these places is not ours to influence, much less control. But unless the critics can find a way to reset all the forces of an interconnected world back to 1979, we don't see how the U.S. can walk away from support for those who favor more pluralism in their politics.

Egypt's Choice—and Ours - WSJ.com

 

[GUNNER]

CAIRO, Jan 28, 2011 (AFP) - Riot police in Egyptian cities fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of anti-regime protesters who flooded out of Friday prayers demanding an end to decades of corruption and oppression.

Police were deployed in strength around the most populous Arab nation that has been rocked by protests since Tuesday, firing warning shots and using water cannon in a bid to quash the rising tide of popular anger.

Leading dissident Mohamed ElBaradei was among a crowd of around 2,000 targeted by police in a central Cairo square after Friday prayers on the fourth day of nationwide protests in which at least seven people have died.

Nobel laureate ElBaradei returned to Egypt late Thursday, having said he would be prepared to lead a transitional authority if he were asked and should veteran President Hosni Mubarak, in power for over 30 years, step down.

Protesters in Cairo were seen being dragged away and pushed into police vans, as others defied a heavy police presence and made their way to the central Tahrir square, where tens of thousands had gathered on Tuesday.

Protesters in second city Alexandria threw stones at police who opened fire with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets after prayers ended with cries of "God is greatest" followed by "We don't want him," referring to Mubarak.

The crowd attacked police vans, torching one, after a civilian had most of his hand blown away, allegedly by police.

In the Delta city of Mansura, hundreds took to the streets chanting "Down with Mubarak" as they emerged from Friday prayers, heavily outnumbered by security forces.

Some imams had encouraged worshippers to "go out and seek change," an AFP correspondent reported.

Authorities cut most mobile phone and Internet services in a bid to thwart the growing protests, but a founder of the April 6 movement spearheading demonstrations said it was too late to staunch the anger.

"We've already announced the meeting places," Israa Abd el Fatah told AFP. "So we've done it, we no longer need means of communication."

Egypt's largest opposition group, the banned Muslim Brothers have also joined the biggest uprising in decades despite the government warning that decisive measures would be taken to crush the protests.

At least 20 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested overnight Friday, including five former members of parliament, the group's lawyer Abdelmoneim Abdel Maqsoud told AFP.

Cell phone text messaging was cut late Thursday while Internet services, which had been patchy during the night, were completely severed early Friday, cutting off access to networking sites Facebook and Twitter -- key communications' tools used by organisers of the protests.

"The desire for change must be respected," ElBaradei, a vocal critic of Mubarak, said late Thursday. "The regime must not use violence in the demonstrations."

The nationwide demonstrations, inspired by the "Jasmine Revolution" in Tunisia, have swelled into the largest uprising in three decades, sending shockwaves across the region.

Seven people have been killed -- five protesters and two policemen -- and more than 100 injured.

A security official told AFP around 1,000 people had been arrested since the protests began.

Human Rights Watch said eight demonstrators and a policeman had been killed in protests in Cairo, Suez, Alexandria and other cities.

Activists have circulated SMS messages and posted appeals on Facebook for fresh demonstrations "to demand the right to live with freedom and dignity."

Obama, in his first on-camera reaction to the demonstrations, said "violence is not the answer in solving these problems in Egypt" and that it was "absolutely critical" for Mubarak to move towards political reform.

Egypt is one of the United States' closest allies in the region, but analysts say Washington is growing increasingly concerned that its refusal to implement more political reforms could lead to further unrest and instability.

Among protesters' demands are the departure of the interior minister, whose security forces have been accused of heavy-handedness, and an end to a decades-old state of emergency and a rise in minimum wages.

Political discontent has been rumbling more loudly in Egypt since parliamentary elections in November, which were widely seen as rigged to allow candidates from Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party to record a landslide victory.

 

[monitor]

Tunisia and Egypt: The Future of Arab Democracy?
Buzz up!


Caitlin Dickson – Wed Jan 26, 2:18 pm ET

WASHINGTON, DC – The Tunisian uprising and subsequent protests in Egypt have sparked discussion about the potential for democracy in the Arab world. Having managed to overthrow their repressive leader, the Tunisian people look poised to embrace Western-style government. Though some find the Arab wave of democracy long overdue, experts warn that achieving real representative government may prove extremely difficult. As unrest begins to boil elsewhere in the region, observers ask--is the Middle East ready for a democratic revolution? And, if so, what role will the United States play?

The Arab World's Turn to Democratize At the Christian Science Monitor, Clayton Jones notes that "democracy's growth during the 20th century did seem to come in regional waves." We saw this in African nations' move towards decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s, the debt crisis that knocked down dictatorships in Latin America during the 1980s, the "people power revolution" in Asia in 1986, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. "Arab nations are long overdue in joining this global trend," Jones claims. But, as evidenced by the Bush-led effort to promote democracy in Iraq, "the US interest in working with Arab autocrats to suppress terrorist-supporting Islamic groups only works against America's historic role in promoting democracy." Though Tunisia may look like a good sign for Arab democracy, Jones warns, "elections in the Middle East can also backfire if they strengthen Islamic groups not really committed to democratic ideals."
U.S. Cooperation Required for Successful Transition Steven Heydeman, senior vice president at the United States Institute of Peace, takes to Foreign Policy to clarify that the notion that Arab regimes are "sclerotic and archaic" is incorrect. In fact, he writes, "over the past two decades, they have confronted and overcome a wide range of challenges that have caused authoritarian governments to collapse in many other world regions." If Western-style democracy is to succeed in the Arab world, Heydemann argues, democracy promoters must "demonstrate the same flexibility and responsiveness shown by Arab regimes." The United States' previous strategy of promoting democracy in Arab countries has proved faulty in the past, creating the necessity for a new "strategy aimed at containing the arbitrary power of authoritarian regimes." The U.S., he suggests, can at least start by removing "emergency laws and security courts that give legal cover to the arbitrary exercise of political power by Arab autocrats" and ensuring that "if and when the next Tunisia happens, there will be an experienced and credible opposition ready to step in and complete the transition from authoritarianism to democracy."
How Arab Countries Have Avoided Democracy This Long Today's Zaman blogger Omer Taspinar questions the lack of democracy in the Arab region and rejects culture and religion as viable explanations. Rather, he credits "proximity to energy resources and proximity to Israel" for allowing Arab regimes to succeed without allowing democracy. The money Arab government's receive both from state-controlled natural resources, such as oil, and from Western leaders as an incentive to aid the Middle East peace process, is so sufficient that they don't need to tax their citizens. "When citizens don’t pay taxes, they don’t develop a sense of civic consciousness or sense of ownership for their political system. There is no real driver for human and political rights when there is no responsibility," he explains. "In other words, no taxation often leads to no representation."
'The United States Must Invest in Populations, Not in Dictators' The New Yorker's Steve Coll acknowledges that, by supporting Tunisia's transition to democracy, its ties with other countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia may become frayed. Regardless, he argues:
The practical rewards for promoting democracy in Arab societies may be uncertain and slow, if they come at all. There are significant risks, particularly if Egypt’s government were to fall to leaders who would abandon any alliance with Washington. But it is the right strategy—in principle and in pursuit of America’s national interests. Tunisians showed that the status quo in Arab politics is not stable.


WikiLeaks Proves U.S. Needs New Tactics for Promoting Democracy At Foreign Policy, Tom Malinowski takes a look at the WikiLeaks cable that revealed former Tunisian president Zine el-Abedin Ben Ali's vast corruption and, though this was not news to the Tunisian people, is considered by some a catalyst to protests that resulted in Ben Ali's ousting. Malinowski thinks the cable suggests a problem with the way the United States' efforts to diplomatically pursuade governments, namely Tunisia's, to ease up on the authoritarianism. These efforts are largely conducted behind closed doors, but it's obvious that simply "exposing what the United States really thought about the Ben Ali regime" had an impact on the Tunisian people. Malinowski acknowledges that the U.S. often refrains from publicly admitting it's opinions of foreign leaders in avoidance of cutting diplomatic ties and hampering its own agenda. But if promoting democracy is really America's goal, this policy must be reevaluated. "Authoritarian rulers do not ease repression or agree to checks on their powers because foreign officials convince them it is a good idea in a private meeting," he explains. "Such rulers make political concessions when it is necessary to retain the support of key actors in their societies--from the general population to the security services to economic and political elites."
Help Arab Countries Democratize by Denying Authoritarian Leaders Juan Cole at the Indypendent agrees that the United States only does a disservice to itself and the global community by supporting authoritarian Arab leaders who promote themselves as "pro-Western secularists who promise to block Muslim fundamentalist parties (or, in the end, anyone else) from coming to power." The history professor and director of the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan comes to the conclusion that "it's time for Washington to signal a new commitment to actual democracy and genuine human rights by simply cutting off military and counterterrorism aid to authoritarian regimes that are, in any case, digging their own graves."