I’m crying. For all of us.

I doubt that I would be as brave. I hope he doesn’t have to die.

Whew! Thanks, Siun, and thank you! to all with courage that I hope never to need.

Sad but not surprising. Knew this would happen, as soon as Egyptians started claiming they were one with the military. Nation’s militaries don’t do nation building. They club things over the head. That’s why even peacekeeping missions don’t work. They aren’t trained to do anything except blow sh*t up, and kill stuff that moves. This would happen in any nation that the military takes over, even when they use the excuse that it’s only until an elected gov’t is in place. Who here would like to make a bet that if/when Egypt has elections, their choices will be military general/colonel/military insider versus the same?

Any action taken by the Egypt military is being directed from Washington.
Adm. Mike Mullen, Feb 4, 2011:

“We’ve got a 30-year relationship with the people of Egypt, and certainly a very strong relationship from our military to theirs.”

http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=62692

The US Middle East empire is under severe threat and it won’t go quietly.

Oh dear.

Kicking out a despotic ruler is just the beginning of the job. I’m sorry that what follows is so much more difficult.

I was hoping for a smoother path for the brave Egyptians, but am not surprised that it is turning bad.

Good Morning Siun and Firedogs,

thank you Siun

twitter has been bolluxed until a few minutes ago – still catching up

These events are very strange and very disturbing. It is hard to see what danger a peaceful sit-in poses to the transitional government. There is something behind the scenes that we don’t see, perhaps a power struggle within the army leadership.

Looks like a possible coup to me.

The US Middle East empire is under severe threat and it won’t go quietly

You neglected to mention it is under threat locally as well.

If traffic is light in the tubes today, it’s a good sign. Folks are out following the lead of the Egyptians.

This is why I never felt so euphoric about events in Egypt. It is now controlled by a military junta.

Mubarak may have been forced out, but unless there are changes root-and-branch to the establishment, the change would be mostly cosmetic. The military was part of the establishment before, and it has its own vested interests. (And remember, its support of the protestors was spotty, even allowing some attacks by police/thugs.) Can a constitutional democracy spring up in this environment?

The real revolution has not begun.

Thank you for the report, Siun.

Problems with “stay-behinds” in/with the Egyptian government?

G’morning pups …

During the entire time of the demonstrations, every news source (mostly AJ, but also Juan Cole) stressed how beloved the Egyptian military was by the Egyptian people. I do not understand that. Never have. The military have monopoly on power, power corrupts. Furthermore, Egyptian military has lost every recent war. What’s to admire?

Now we see military’s true colors emerging.

I am not an expert in this at all, but I suspect there was a disconnect between popular imagination and reality. (Isn’t Egypt’s army fashioned a ‘people’s army’?) The military held the balance of power during those tense days before Mubarak’s downfall, and perhaps people wanted to believe they would be saved. You know, the Man on the White Horse sort of thing.

Maybe. Just speculating here.

I’m no expert either. Just repeating what I’ve read/heard.

I think that there is a draft in Egypt, so every male must serve. College grads one year in reserves, others 3 years or something like that (came up in the context of what kind of military training Zawahiri would have had). So, in that sense it is a people’s army.

But what I kept hearing over & over again is that Egyptians have admired their military since forever. It apparently not just hoping for someone to come in & save them during the demonstrations. I suppose the fact that the enlistees allegedly said they would not use live ammunition of fellow citizens enhanced the peoples’ good opinions.

Power-behind-the-throne perps still walk. Goldman still not Sacked.

“Bank of America, KPMG Settlement With Countrywide Shareholders Is Approved” (Feb. 25, 2011 4:28 PM PT):

Countrywide Financial Corp., the mortgage lender acquired by Bank of America Corp., and KPMG LLP, its former auditor, won final approval for a $601.5 million minimum settlement with Countrywide investors suing for securities fraud.

{ snip }

Oregon officials said in a Jan. 26 press release that the class action settlement would have provided the state’s pension and workers’ compensation funds with only $500,000 for their losses.

“Flip the script on Wisconsin: Tax Wall Street” and

Pass a Robin Hood tax on Wall Street traders.

* A tiny tax on Wall Street transactions would raise $100 billion per year in revenue and $1 trillion in ten years.
* This “Financial Transaction Tax” would rein in the footloose market speculators.
* It would put Wall Street to work for Main Street.

Sign the petition here.

Otherwise, everyone just cooperates and quits insisting on the exchange of money (which is how all systems start out anyway). Hey– if it was good enough regarding those loaves and fishes, we can do it too.

Gigi Ibrahim who was there said on Al Jazeera that at 2am an army general showed up and announced that the protesters must leave and go home. She said that the military police then surrounded them and then a minute later they assaulted the protesters beating them and using tasers. The army has apologized for the crackdown and stated that all those arrested would be released.

per @JNovak_Yemen – yesterday was the most murderous to date (23 killed, ? wounded) and about an hour ago, federation of tribes officially came out against the govt.

exiled Bahrain opposition leader has returned to the country

Where’s Suleiman?

He’s been killed for the first time, according to BBC. IIRC, it takes 3-4 times of killing these high power guys before they escape to somewhere safe.

Official apologies were apparently forthcoming in Egypt according to AJ.

You mean there are some people that didn’t see this coming? The military would have been overwhelmed in the beginning. They played the “we are with our countrymen” beautifully. It is easier to over take smaller groups and that is what is happening. The people are really back to square one or worse.

Well, the French have historically ‘loved’ their army and so have the Turks and probably lots of other countries, where the military gets to be a metaphor for national pride and such like. The ‘love ‘ is kind of gauzy and vague and doesn’t extend to putches, coups or dictatorships. It’s just sort of the idea of the army, maybe as the national phallus, that people treasure. And, as you point out, the Egyptian army is an army of conscripts. So every Egyptian has a stake in it.

the french revolution took almost 60 years before the widespread revolts in 1848 across europe to produce anything resembling an accountable governance structure with popular male suffrage – aren’t we being somewhat arrogant in expecting egypt to produce a desirable outcome in a month when they are still dealing with an army coup?

that’s not entirely accurate bc the egyptian military secured a substantial victory in 1973

in 1971 sadat offered to begin negotiations toward peace in exchange for a two-mile wide israeli withdrawal from the east bank of the suez canal, captured along with the rest of the sinai peninsula in the 1967 war

the israeli cabinet had no interest in egypt’s offer despite advice from the nixon administration to the contrary and voted to keep all of the sinai and said no deal

two years later the egyptians attacked and within hours all of israel’s positions along the canal were overrun – by the time the war ended, israel had lost 3,000 soldiers and almost the state itself

a few years later it gave up the entire sinai – not just the two-mile strip egypt had demanded in 1971

and this is the war that mubarak was referring to in his last defiant attempt to hold on to his presidency

The naysayers feel vindicated about fearing the military? There are certainly different layers within the military, and many are part of the conomy of Egypt.

I think they need time; no one expected it would be easy! Nightsticks and tasers and apologies; a weird mix, but please don’t quit sending good thoughts and prayers to them and the Libyans.

@ Occupied Cairo, a commenter says:

“@Justin, yes the army is probably having internal conflicts. You have on one hand Hussein el Tantawi, who was Mubarak’s close friend and ally, and has been the defense minister for his entire time in office. On the other hand, you have other military leaders who realize the danger of alienating the army from the people; this could lead to a great vaccum in the society and the insitution will loose its long-time legitimacy. You also have to understand that in Egypt military conscription is mandatory; so many of the soldiers are more sympathetic with the people, rather than the institution. I beleive that the army, if put under massive pressure, will have to give in to the demnads. Its use of violence will only backfire, and while they must spew rhetoric of “stability” on national television, but the ones who will buy this propaganda are the same segment that switched camps during the earlier days of the revolution when Mubarak suggested that he stay in power until the next election. The country will be divided on how to deal with the army, and its reaction to protestors. But hopefully, the revolutionaries will not stop, and consequently the army will have to make a decisive mood indicating on which side exactly it is on. The revolt must continue.”

Let’s hope.

I was predicting something like this from day 1. Did any of you really think the regime was going to just dry up and blow away? All the people did was remove the Dictator who was to some degree only ceremonial anyway. Did you all forget he had been placing his cronies in every other place of power for 30 yrs! Until, the regimes mini-dictators at all levels are removed and a popular assembly is created with real elections , nothing will change.

http://imgur.com/gallery/tQON4

I said at the beginning at best they get a government like ours and at worst they get a government like ours.

If you take the time to read the comments at some of the discussions on Facebook etc by Egyptians, you’ll see quite a mix of reactions and feelings about this. We, who sit oh so far away – and who do not face the violence, arrests and losses of the Egyptians – can be very “revolutionary” at no cost. The people on the streets, who actually face the batons and bullets also know the cost. Many hoped the transition would be more peaceful, many hoped their faith in the military would be well founded, some feel that pushing the military right now is a bad strategy, others have known all along that this is a very early first step and the revolution is still to come and will take many struggles.

Since we live in a country where we’ve shown no ability to change the system or even halt or decrease our wars against others, I prefer to watch and learn.

Thanks for all your hard work. Couldn’t agree more with your last sentence. Though I’ve never been to many of these Arab countries I (sadly) have more faith in them than I do most Americans.

I am very discouraged by mankind. It seems we are so easily manipulated, and our leaders, both political and religious can convince us of almost anything, can make us support almost anything. Facts mean nothing, beliefs are everything. I used to work with mentally ill people, and I know that you cannot convince them of anything by logical debate. I’m beginning to think that all of mankind is suffering from some type of mental illness. It is true that Americans have shown no ability to change the system, so what do we really have to teach others?
Despite all the odds against the Egyptians I have tremendous respect and admiration for the extreme courage they have shown, even in the face of death. It doesn’t matter whether they succeed or not, they have fought bravely and valiantly. My heart is with them.
My heart is with all the common people in the world, wherever they may be, struggling to change a system that in every country is ruled by wealth, power, and greed.

Well said, Siun. Thank you for another excellent post.

You do need it, if you live in the US.