Labels: Barack Obama, corruption, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, repression, strongman, Tom Tomorrow
Submit To Propeller
posted by profmarcus at
2/16/2011
Egyptian military dissolves parliament
Egypt's new military authorities say they are dissolving parliament and suspending the constitution.
In a statement on state TV, the higher military council said it would stay in power six months, or until elections.
Labels: constitution, egypt, Egyptian military, Elections, Hosni Mubarak, Human rights, parliament, torture
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/13/2011
Celebrations erupted across the Middle East on Friday after Hosni Mubarak stepped down as Egypt's president. From Beirut to Gaza, people rushed into the streets, handing out candy, setting off fireworks and shooting in the air.
Even in Israel, which had watched the Egyptian protesters' uprising against Mubarak with concern, a former Cabinet minister said Mubarak did the right thing. "The street won. There was nothing that could be done. It's good that he did what he did," former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who knew Mubarak well, told Israel TV's Channel 10.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, and there are fears the 1979 accord could now be challenged.
Moments after Egypt's Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement of Mubarak's resignation, fireworks lit up the sky over Beirut. Celebratory gunfire rang out in the Shiite-dominated areas in south Lebanon and in southern Beirut.
On Al-Manar TV, the station run by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah faction, Egyptian anchor Amr Nassef, who was once imprisoned in Egypt for alleged ties to Islamists, cried emotionally on the air and said: "Allahu Akbar (God is great), the Pharaoh is dead. Am I dreaming? I'm afraid to be dreaming."
In Tunisia, where a successful uprising expelled a longtime leader only weeks earlier, cries of joy and the thundering honking of horns greeted the announcement. "God delivered our Egyptian brothers from this dictator," said Yacoub Youssef, one of those celebrating in the capital of Tunis.
[...]
In the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas, thousands rushed into the streets in jubilation. Gunmen fired in the air and women handed out candy. "God bless Egypt, it's a day of joy and God willing all corrupt leaders in the world will fall," said Radwa Abu Ali, 55, one of the women distributing sweets.
Labels: Beirut, egypt, Gaza, Hosni Mubarak, Inshallah, Israel, Lebanon, Omar Suleiman, Tunis, Tunisia
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/11/2011
Labels: Cairo, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, protestors, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/11/2011
Labels: Cairo, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, regime change, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/11/2011
Labels: Cairo, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/11/2011
Labels: Cairo, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Twitter
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/11/2011
Labels: Al Jazeera, Cairo, disconnected, egypt, fuck you, Hosni Mubarak, protestors, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/10/2011
Labels: assholes, Cairo, Cee-Lo-Green, egypt, fuck you, Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, protestors, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/10/2011
Egypt's Mubarak to step down
Sources tell NBC News that Vice President Suleiman to take over as leader
Vice President Omar Suleiman will take over
Hosni Mubarak to address Egypt; protesters are told demands will be met
A general tells protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square that their demands will be met, and the military says it is taking the 'necessary measures to protect the nation and support the legitimate demands of the people.' Protesters have been adamant that Hosni Mubarak step down.
Labels: Cairo, democracy, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, protestors, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/10/2011
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have poured into Cairo's Tahrir Square for the latest protest calling for Hosni Mubarak's government to step down.
The BBC's Jim Muir, in the Egyptian capital, says it is the biggest demonstration since the protests began on 25 January.
It comes despite the government's announcement of its plans for a peaceful transfer of power.
President Mubarak has said he will stay until elections in September.
In Tahrir Square, attempts by the army to check the identity cards of those joining the demonstration were abandoned because of the sheer weight of numbers.
Hosni Mubarak, the current president, according to a leaked diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks, the whistleblower website, and published by the UK daily, The Telegraph.
The August 2008 cable said David Hacham, a senior adviser at the Israeli ministry of defence (MoD), told US officials the Israelis expected Suleiman, spelt Soliman in some cables, to take over.
"Hacham noted that the Israelis believe Soliman is likely to serve as at least an interim president if Mubarak dies or is incapacitated," the cable sent from the US embassy in Tel Aviv said.
"We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Soliman," the memo cited US diplomats as saying.
Labels: Al Jazeera, Cairo, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Israel, Omar Suleiman, protestors, succession, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/08/2011
For bipartisan Washington, there are "good" democracies (those that keep serving US strategic interests) and "bad" democracies which vote "wrong" (such as in Gaza, or in a future Egypt, against US interests).
This is the dirty secret of the "orderly transition" in Egypt - which implies Washington only meekly condemning the bloody Mubarakism wave of repression of protesters and international media. That's considered OK - as long as the military dictatorship remains in place and the glacial status quo is maintained. Moreover, sacrosanct Israel came out swinging praising Mubarak; this also means Tel Aviv will do everything to "veto" Mohamed ElBaradei as an opposition leader.
[...]
In a sane world - and if Obama had the will - the White House would back people power unconditionally. One can imagine, in terms of improving the US's image, what a roaring success that would be.
Labels: Alternet, Asia Times, democracy, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Mohamed ElBaradei, Pepe Escobar, U.S. foreign policy
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/07/2011
Ayman Mohyeldin, an Al Jazeera correspondent who was detained while covering the unrest in Egypt, has been released.
He was seized by the Egyptian military near Tahrir Square in Cairo on Sunday, but was freed seven hours later following a concerted appeal by the network and supporters of Mohyeldin.
There had been many calls on Twitter for the release of Mohyeldin, who has more than 20,000 followers on his page.
Dozens of journalists have been detained, injured and threatened while covering events in Egypt, where hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets calling for an end to the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, the president.
Nadia el-Awady, president of the World Federation of Science Journalists, told Al Jazeera that both foreign and Egyptian media workers were being specifically targeted during the protests.
Speaking about her experiences reporting from Tahrir Square, she said: "There were pro-Mubarak civilian-clothed people planted within the square that were trying to instigate other protesters to get angry.
"They tried to create this kind of mob mentality among protesters to get angry at the journalists."
Labels: Al Jazeera, Ayman Mohyeldin, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, protestors, Reporters Without Borders
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/06/2011
West Backs Gradual Egyptian Transition
The United States and leading European nations on Saturday threw their weight behind Egypt’s vice president, Omar Suleiman, backing his attempt to defuse a popular uprising without immediately removing President Hosni Mubarak from power.
American officials said Mr. Suleiman had promised them an “orderly transition” that would include constitutional reform and outreach to opposition groups.
Cheney calls Mubarak a good friend, US ally
Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak a good friend and U.S. ally, and he urged the Obama administration to move cautiously as turmoil continued to shake that nation's government.
[...]
"There is a reason why a lot of diplomacy is conducted in secret. There are good reasons for there to be confidentiality in some of those communications. And I think President Mubarak needs to be treated as he deserved over the years, because he has been a good friend," Cheney said at an event commemorating the centennial of President Ronald Reagan's birth.
Labels: egypt, extraordinary rendition, Hosni Mubarak, incrementalism, Omar Suleiman, the EU, torture, U.S. foreign policy, United States
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/06/2011
A Familiar Story
Resort to the language of order, stability, incrementalism, and moderation is hardly new and existed well before the events of last week. Not only is it consistent with the basic stance that the Obama administration has taken toward the Middle East from the very outset, but it reflects the long trajectory of American practices in the region, which have depended on shoring up Arab authoritarians who are willing to serve in an American "axis of moderation." The members of this axis -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan -- have displayed little in common other than a commitment to sustaining current U.S. foreign policy priorities - on Israel/Palestine, the containment of Iran, and access to oil. What they pointedly do not share is any tangible commitment to actual moderation - understood as an internal project of democratization or political openness. This latter fact has been powerfully exposed by the nonviolent demonstrations across the region, and, as in the case of Egypt, the increasingly brutal response such protest has elicited from "moderate" allies.
At the heart of American support for such autocrats is a false opposition between chaos and order, with many in Washington arguing that the only way to avoid pervasive regional violence is to maintain the status quo.
Labels: Dictatorship, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, incrementalism, Omar Suleiman, succession, U.S. foreign policy, White House
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/04/2011
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said he would like to resign immediately but fears the country would descend into chaos if he did so.
In his first interview since anti-government protests began, he told ABC News he was "fed up" with power.
Journalist Christiane Amanpour told the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes that President Mubarak warned that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood party would fill any power vacuum if he stepped down.
Labels: arrogance, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/04/2011
Labels: Day of Departure, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, protestors, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/04/2011
The Obama administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately and turn over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the Egyptian military, administration officials and Arab diplomats said Thursday.
Labels: bullshit, certifiable, Dictatorship, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Obama administration, Omar Suleiman, succession
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/04/2011
The US-backed military dictatorship in Egypt has become, amusingly enough, a Bonapartist state. It exercises power on behalf of both a state elite and a new wealthy business class, some members of which gained their wealth from government connections and corruption. The Egypt of the Separate Peace, the Egypt of tourism and joint military exercises with the United States, is also an Egypt ruled by the few for the benefit of the few.
The whole system is rotten, deeply dependent on exploiting the little people, on taking bribes from the sole superpower to pursue self-defeating or greedy policies virtually no one wants or would vote for in the region.
[...]
As long as the president and the Congress are willing to lie down and serve as doormats for America’s supposed allies in the Middle East– out of a conviction of the usefulness of their clients and the inexpensiveness of putting them on retainer– there will be anti-Americanism and security threats that force us to subject ourselves to humiliating patdowns and scans at the airport and an erosion of our civil liberties every day. We are only one step away of being treated, with “protest zones” and “Patriot Acts” just as badly as the peaceful Egyptian protesters have been.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, corruption, Dictatorship, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Israel, Israeli settlements, Middle East, Obama administration, Palestine, Patriot Act
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/03/2011
Wednesday's crackdown was vintage Mubarak
Not long after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged political reforms and promised not to run for a sixth five-year term, pro-government demonstrators with reported connections to the Egyptian security forces laid siege to a downtown square Wednesday and fought fierce battles with anti-government protesters.
The assault was so well planned that it suggested government orchestration, or at least complicity, according to political observers, who noted that Mubarak backers had been conspicuously silent during a week of massive demonstrations against him.
The strategy of sending in the thugs after making half-hearted promises was vintage Mubarak. The tactic is familiar to political observers, for he's employed the same approach in national elections — assuring Western allies of fair polls and instead rounding up opposition candidates and dispatching foot soldiers to rough up their supporters.
Samer Shehata, an Egypt expert at Georgetown University, said Mubarak has used such tactics for years to break up anti-government demonstrations and to prevent opposition supporters from casting ballots.
Labels: Dictatorship, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, McClatchy, news context, Tahrir Square
Submit To Propellerposted by profmarcus at
2/02/2011
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