|
|||
|
Egypt’s Long Road AheadPosted on Feb 11, 2011Hosni Mubarak’s iron rule crumbles but will not go gently. He still believes himself president of Egypt, although Egypt does not. The revolutionaries of Tahrir Square still have work to do to dislodge him—and then to dismantle the system of coercion, cronyism and corruption that sustained the dictator’s three-decade rule. The popular uprising against Mubarak is an occasion to bring out the breathless superlatives—earthshaking, world-changing, epochal, momentous, transformative. Implications for other Arab autocracies, and thus for the whole world, are far-reaching and profound; crisis meetings are doubtless being held in Riyadh, Amman, Damascus and other capitals. The state of Israel faces a time of high-stakes uncertainty and deep anxiety. The flowering of homegrown democracy in Egypt, the most populous and culturally important Arab nation, would be a world-historical development of the greatest magnitude. But it is far from certain—not just because Mubarak remains, having transferred “some” of his powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman, but also because the overthrow of the Egyptian police state is far from complete. This should be no surprise to anyone paying attention to what top officials have said in the past few days. Suleiman told interviewers that his country was not yet prepared for democracy and that “we can’t put up with” civil disobedience by pro-democracy demonstrators. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said he was “infuriated” at pressure from the White House, warning that a sudden departure by Mubarak would lead to chaos. The officials were particularly adamant at rejecting the U.S. demand that Egypt’s “emergency” law, giving the government sweeping powers of arrest and detention, be repealed immediately. That they would blanch at the idea is understandable: Mubarak has kept the country in a technical state of emergency since taking power in 1981. Nobody associated with his regime would have the slightest idea of how to govern without the latitude and impunity that this law provides. Advertisement Arbitrary detention and torture have been key implements of state control under Mubarak. The hated secret police sweep down on a restive neighborhood; people are taken into custody; some reappear within days, with fresh injuries; some are missing for months; a few might never be seen again. There can be no true democracy in Egypt without complete reform of the police agencies at every level. The Egyptian military, by contrast, managed to retain popular support by leaving the dirty work of internal security to the police. In the past few weeks, however, with massive protests roiling the nation, soldiers have been accused in dozens of illegal detentions. One reason for Mubarak’s limited surrender of authority may have been the army’s unwillingness to see itself converted into a tool of brutal repression. While Egyptians still respect the military, they also take notice of the lavish privileges that officers enjoy. This is another element of Mubarak’s system: the elevation of the military into an elite caste. Officers live in comfortable, well-stocked compounds that are beyond the imagination of most Egyptians. Upon retirement, the brass look forward to having a stake in the military’s expanding empire of commercial enterprises. The Egyptian people will ultimately have to decide whether this largesse should continue. On the salary of a public servant, Mubarak is said to have become vastly rich. Everyone understands that deposed dictators usually manage to keep their millions or billions. But what about the Mubarak allies and cronies who used their relationships with the pharaoh to amass great wealth? What about the buddies and associates of Mubarak’s son Gamal? These oligarchs will fight to keep their loot; the people will have other ideas. The constitution that Mubarak tinkered with Thursday is designed to squelch unauthorized political expression—not just by the Muslim Brotherhood, which was always the stated reason, but also by secular opposition forces. A new constitution will have to be written. Political parties must be formed to channel the democratic passions of Tahrir Square. New leaders must emerge. Democratic forces will have to accomplish all this while other Middle Eastern nations use their economic and political leverage to promote “stability” in Egypt—essentially the status quo, perhaps with a new figurehead. But the United States has leverage, too, and should use it in ways consistent with American values and ideals. The people of Egypt have chosen the path of democracy, despite the many obstacles ahead. We must walk beside them. Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson(at)washpost.com. New and Improved CommentsWe are launching a major overhaul of our comments section. In addition to more robust spam filtering and moderation, new features include the ability to rate other comments, sort how they are displayed and respond directly via e-mail or in a thread. Unfortunately, commenters will lose their existing Truthdig identities. It's a pain, we know, but on the plus side you will now be able to log in with a plethora of options, including Google, Twitter, Facebook and Disqus accounts. Before launching this system we spent months in discussion with our top commenters. We listened to the feedback and we hope you like what we've come up with. Please direct any problems or concerns to us via our contact page. |
By drbhelthi, February 13, 2011 at 4:59 pm Link to this comment
“They are either arrogant and sloppy or flat out
totally inept, maybe all three.” BR549
Sorry, but I hold only one earned Ph.D., and thus far
Report thisam unable to come up with adequately descriptive terms.
By BR549, February 13, 2011 at 4:21 pm Link to this comment
The Docta has spoken. Nice video clip, BTW.
So, all this only goes to show that if they have had scalar wave technology for a long as they claim, how did a bunch of al Qaeda lackies manage to thwart our entire defense system FOUR TIMES on the same day, and then, out of the four flights “supposedly” involved, how was it that out of all those members listed as being aboard the flights, at least one member from each flight has turned up alive and well in other countries?
They are either arrogant and sloppy or flat out totally inept, maybe all three.
Report thisBy drbhelthi, February 13, 2011 at 3:31 pm Link to this comment
“ - - Washington being as corrupt as it is, and having been for so long
the head of the financial and military might of the world, it has
managed to keep the hornets nest of abuses and corruption sufficiently
concealed from the public so that when it does come apart, it could
easily prove to be far worse. “ By BR549
In order to better understand the implications of this statement, the
Report thisinformation provided by the interview at the following link is very
revealing. It is frightening to some folk.
http://www.globalwarmingcause.net/2010/11/07/purpose-of-chemtrails-w-ac-griffith-and-all-new-2010-video-captures/
By BR549, February 13, 2011 at 12:08 pm Link to this comment
Spooky,
I think we may all make the mistake at some point of assuming that others have read our various contributions to TD and that they understand our beliefs on various issues. That said, perhaps I didn’t clarify where I stand. Hey, it’s the internet; what can I say? But I confess that I am at a loss to understand how you could justify stating, “I am sorry that you are constantly fooled by the puppetmaster,” after I had already stated what I did about the puppetmaster(s).
Instead, going back to what I was originally referring to, you stated in an earlier post, “As an American, I resent a foreigner from Tennessee, like yourself insinuating that America is as bad as Egypt. We have a constitution that says we can kick out our dictator every 4 to 8 years.”
Well, I guess I must also be a foreigner in your mind. I happen to think that America is potentially in a situation WORSE than Egypt, and that Washington being as corrupt as it is, and having been for so long the head of the financial and military might of the world, it has managed to keep the hornets nest of abuses and corruption sufficiently concealed from the public so that when it does come apart, it could easily prove to be far worse. My post at February 12 at 8:08 pm points at this.
Report thisBy drbhelthi, February 13, 2011 at 8:39 am Link to this comment
Hello VFR at 3,000 _
My focus was on the era, not the airplane.
With twin turbines and whisper-props, it is no longer the C-47.
“Insurgents.”
Do you mean the NAZI/zionist clan who have taken over the U.S.A. and are committing genocide in the Mid-East, prostituting the U.S. military? Whose big plan against the U.S. citizenry is scheduled for early next month ?
Or, the people who are actively resisting the NAZI/zionist colonization of the world?
Your explanation suggests you are not one of the seven million “elitists” scheduled to be holed up in deep, underground bunkers.
Report thisBy Spooky-43, February 13, 2011 at 5:00 am Link to this comment
Dr. Be Healthy: Don’t worry about my altimeter, I am strictly VFR where I operate, and my business is done at only 3k’. You might check your own though, as I think you are a lot lower than you think.
Also, the C47 is alive and well, reincarnated as the BT 67, with the AC version still spooking the hell out of insurgents and drug smugglers as the avion fantasma.
BR549: While it may be naive to believe we Americans have the constitutional ability to replace our “dictator” every four years, it is more naive to believe that freedom and prosperity are a by-product of government.
I am sorry that you are constantly fooled by the puppetmaster. It is one of the penalties you incur for believing that democracy is somehow democratic.
Since it is apparent that the puppetmaster will not allow the needy people any long term satisfaction whatsoever, the requirement for voting and/or taking to the streets with stone throwing becomes a periodic ritual for those in constant need. The rigors of bondage, I suppose.
Entertain the thought that true personal freedom is found by living above and beyond the illusion of democracy and also living above and beyond the idea that you have great needs, which can be satisfied only by government or by the “multitude of merchandise” system which while mortar to the capitalists is the bane of the socialists.
While the merchandise people spend billions annually to convince you that you are needy, the politicians spend some more to convince you that you are a victim or potential victim, mostly of the merchandise people, in some sort of perverse symbiotic relationship, as they suck every possible drop of blood they can out of you.
The truth is that the merchandise people and the politicians are not the benefactors of the people. And the truth is that the way for the people to regain their power and their liberty is to come out of their bondage to these systems, as much as possible. Shrink them up at every opportunity. Ignore their marketing, and their pleas for money, and vote at your own peril.
See, this is how naive I really am. I think you exercise power by simply ignoring those who wish to oppress you. If that doesn’t work, there is always plan “B”. Don’t be scared, be prepared.
Report thisBy Ming the Merciless, February 12, 2011 at 11:05 pm Link to this comment
What a bunch of fucking commie cretins!
Report thisBy Peter Knopfler, February 12, 2011 at 4:08 pm Link to this comment
Great Example when the comments are much better than
Report thisthe article, AFTER 6000 YEARS OF SLAVERY, the long
road ahead seems short to me. Since the Time of
Abraham thousands of years before Christianity, or
Islam, only the JEW, the Greek can begin to tell you
about Egypt. America, no past no future, SAD when a
nation ignores world history, or a religion that
starts only 2000 years ago, promotes short memory
problems, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder,Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder, Autism,Poor Impulse Control, all these self
inflicted American diseases all have medication so
now you see latest CDC study shows prescription drugs
kills more people than street drugs and drug abuse
like unemployment is rising quickly. This is
DEMOCRACY OR THE COMMUNIST CHINA model Communist
Capitalism. Next time I slap you, you take it and
like it! Bogart last of the Americans.
By felicity, February 12, 2011 at 2:28 pm Link to this comment
Franco of Spain comes to mind. Facing impending death,
he turned over his ‘throne’ to an almost-rightful
Spanish king but with the clear understanding that he
expected the king to continue his policies.
Franco, Mubarak…are a type. Whether obsessed with
Report thisruling from the ‘grave’ or from exile, they are
convinced that they are the ‘saviors’ of their people
and the nation. Mubarak may be out of sight but his
‘rule’ is far from gone if he has anything to say about
it - and he will.
By BR549, February 12, 2011 at 2:08 pm Link to this comment
JDmysticDJ, February 12 at 5:24 pm
I’ll just say that I agreed with you and just chose to ignore it; particularly the post at “February 11 at 11:14”
As I stated on another thread, it was also interesting how Obama was praising the Egyptian military for standing down for their own population, whereas, here in this country, we are still going through this escalation of both US and foreign troops, detention camps, LRADs, ASDs, TSA violations, blatant violations of at least four or five Amendments, and Marines being asked if THEY WOULD fire on American citizens.
With my humblest of apologies to our many truly patriotic and hard working Americans of African descent, what is it about the word hypocrisy that this political porch monkey doesn’t understand?
Report thisBy BR549, February 12, 2011 at 12:31 pm Link to this comment
Spooky,
Report thisYes, we do have a Constitution, but there are forces who have been hard at work to tear it to shreds since its ratification was even finished. I think it’s a bit naive to assume that we are able to kick out our dictator every four years, when clearly, the puppetmasters keep “allowing” us to be fooled, yet again, by puppets only with their blessing every election period. These are the party-pooper (no pun intended) control freaks who have decided that since they can’t envision a life centered around personal freedoms, no one else should be able to either.
By JDmysticDJ, February 12, 2011 at 11:24 am Link to this comment
I note that, so far, everyone has ignored Ming the Merciless and his mindless moronic musings, perhaps this is a sign that the people from the left can reach at least one point of unified agreement.
Please excuse the intrusion, I’ll go back to ignoring.
Report thisBy drbhelthi, February 12, 2011 at 4:11 am Link to this comment
The C-47 era ended a “few” years ago.
And, the USA is not the same as it was back then.
Of the various ideas and values associated with it, a few were accurate. Regardless of the state of birth, it is obvious that some Americans do not require drugs to experience invalid thoughts. Folk who are not acquainted with “Operation Paper Clip,” or the “Patriot Act,” or “Homeland Security,” or the “presidential directives” that have circumnavigated the U.S. Constitution, or the family history of the GHWBushSr entourage, would be wise to update themselves.
Perhaps re-set their altimeter.
If the ILS is not calibrated, an attempted ILS landing will not end up as desired.
Reminds me of the 07:30 landing in Charlotte, NC, 1973, by the co-pilot. The pilot was in a drunken sleep, and the co-pilot had taken over. In all the pre-landing activities, he had forgotten to re-set the altimeter at 2,000 ft. He made a standard landing, but in a plowed field about two thousand feet short of the runway. Would have been O.K., had the pine trees of the nearby forest not gotten in the way. That so many of the passengers survived, was and is amazing!
Report thisHopefully, the same will occur in the USA when the NAZI-types/ zionist-types manage to finally crash it.
By Spooky-43, February 12, 2011 at 1:56 am Link to this comment
From one earlier poster: “The USA is worse than Egypt. I observe the behaviour of people in America and they are real scared of the authorities. that’s why they don’t even speak about politics, about JFK, 9-11 and about politics at social gatherings, because the CIA and civilian police are all over the place in America. CIA hires 12 to 18 year old boys to listen to what other children are talking about in basketball courts and in the streets”
WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING, BOY?
Here in America, we spell behavior with an “ior”, not an “iour” at the end. Where are you from?
Are you observing the “behaviour” of Americans by watching re-runs of “Twilight Zone” with closed-captioning for the mentally impaired?
The only good point that you made in your post is that the CIA hires young kids to gather all the intelligence from the playgrounds and basketball courts on the streets. Not the Central Intelligence Agency, but the Certified Idiots Association, a group I know you are personally involved with.
As an American, I resent a foreigner from Tennessee, like yourself insinuating that America is as bad as Egypt. We have a constitution that says we can kick out our dictator every 4 to 8 years. And we don’t have to sleep out in tents for 18 days to do it.
How often do you get to kick out your dictator in your country without resorting to violence?
Report thisBy gerard, February 11, 2011 at 10:41 pm Link to this comment
Mr. Robinson: I loved your line about “...the U.S. demand that Egypt’s “emergency” law, giving the government sweeping powers of arrest and detention, be repealed immediately.
Report thisHar-dee-har-har! Like the U.S. Govt. is soon going to do the right thing itself and “repeal its sweeping powers of arrest and detention!”
I wish!
By SoTexGuy, February 11, 2011 at 6:06 pm Link to this comment
Here for once is a good line from our friend ER.. “and then to dismantle the system of coercion, cronyism and corruption that sustained the dictator’s three-decade rule.”
I hold out little hope of that.. the protesters will never get visas to come and mob the White house!
Adios!
Report thisBy Ming the Merciless, February 11, 2011 at 5:26 pm Link to this comment
The REAL Egyptians are the Copts, descendants of the Pyramid builders, the rest are arab interlopers
like the invaders of Israel and Europe. Copts are being exterminated and will soon disappear like ALL the infidel minorities in the islamist umma.
And 80% of all the arab women of Egypt have suffered infibulation, or removal of their genitalia then
sewed back by backyard “surgeons”.
Chew on that, you admirers of that so-called “revolution”...this is just Khomeini’s Iran all over again!
Report thisBy Ming the Merciless, February 11, 2011 at 5:14 pm Link to this comment
What a bunch of idiotic bolcheviks.
You cant wait that your beloved islamists
saw off your neck, don’t you?
Every polls taken reveal 80% of all Egyptians are raving islamist neo-nazi lunatics dreaming, like the Iranian Pasdarans, of a coming Mahdi Caliphate.
They rioted because your fellow socialist Mubarak has made another socialist bureaucratic nightmare like your beloved Cuba and north Korea and they are all starving to death.
Neighboring Saudia has all the money in the world…
why dont they help the Egyptians?
Why? Because they know Egyptians will steal every cents they got
and they have more sense than
the Bushes, the Clintoon bafoons and Hussein O’Bummer
who’s been wasting hundred of billions
on these anti american sand monkeys of Egypt.
And a major famine is in the work IMMEDIATELY for
these anti-semitic neo-nazi islamists simply
because they have just no money to buy food!
And dont get me started on the Egyptian military,
the most inept soldiers in humanity’s history!!!
Cant wait to watch them dying of hunger…SOON!!!
Report thisBy gerard, February 11, 2011 at 4:11 pm Link to this comment
Mr. Robinson: Specifically, what do you mean by your well-intentioned words at the end: “We must walk beside them”?
Report thisPast experience indicates that the U.S., rather than “walk beside” the interests of the people, tends to use money to bribe whatever leaders are found, to install “law and order” and an economy profitable to the U.S., by dictating some elite-directed bureaucracy. Actually, it seems to me that recent experience shows that the U.S. is just as prone to infringements on citizens’ human and political rights as any dictatorship, judging from
“extraordinary rendition” right on down to
legalized ignoring of habeas corpus and denial of free speech—especially if it’s free.
IMO, we have little or nothing to say to Egypt, unfortunately. Britain, maybe—and the more liberal nations in Europe, and/or Japan. But we are only a nominal democracy at present. In addition, the world hates our violence everywhere.
By gerard, February 11, 2011 at 4:11 pm Link to this comment
Mr. Robinson: Specifically, what do you mean by your well-intentioned words at the end: “We must walk beside them”?
Report thisPast experience indicates that the U.S., rather than “walk beside” the interests of the people, tends to use money to bribe whatever leaders are found, to install “law and order” and an economy profitable to the U.S., by dictating some elite-directed bureaucracy. Actually, it seems to me that recent experience shows that the U.S. is just as prone to infringements on citizens’ human and political rights as any dictatorship, judging from
“extraordinary rendition” right on down to
legalized ignoring of habeas corpus and denial of free speech—especially if it’s free.
IMO, we have little or nothing to say to Egypt, unfortunately. Britain, maybe—and the more liberal nations in Europe, and/or Japan. But we are only a nominal democracy at present. In addition, the world hates our violence everywhere.
By TDoff, February 11, 2011 at 2:30 pm Link to this comment
Yeah, Mubarak may have tortured and killed, and diverted the wealth of his nation to himself, his side-kicks and cronies, and instituted policies which stole from and impoverished the vast majority of his people, and perverted his country’s Constitution, and passed laws to permit spying and intrusions on all citizens at the whim of the government, and essentially functioned as an abhorrent dictator. But someday he’ll have to pay the price.
Report thisJust as his friend, cohort, mentor and fellow ‘president’, ‘G.W.’ had to pay, by aborting a trip to Switzerland to attend and speak at a conference on ‘democracy’, for fear of arrest. (Though it’s not been officially revealed, those in-the-know presume ‘G.W.’ was going to take the ‘Con’ position on democracy.)
By BR549, February 11, 2011 at 11:42 am Link to this comment
“Mubarak’s iron rule crumbles but will not go gently. He still believes himself president of Egypt, although Egypt does not.”
Funny how those quirky politicians just never seem to get the point about what the people expect of them, ......... no matter what side of the pond one is on.
Report thisBy M, February 11, 2011 at 8:57 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
This is who the U.S. is backing in Egypt.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/201127114827382865.ht
Report thisml
By madisolation, February 11, 2011 at 7:53 am Link to this comment
“But the United States has leverage, too, and should use it in ways consistent with American values and ideals.”
Report thisAnd what American values and ideals are those, Eugene? Indefinite detention? Permanent war? Rendition to Egypt for torture by Suileman? Protecting Israel’s bullying ways at all costs? Taking our jobs away to benefit the wealthy?
The United States has no claim to values and ideals, anymore.
Let me quote Justin Raimondo at antiwar.com:
“The Egyptian people could rise up, as one, tomorrow, in their multi-millions, and crush Mubarak and Mubarakism into dust, if they chose. This is the great fear that all rulers, no matter how popular at the moment, have nightmares about, a terror that pervades and motivates their every action while in office: a sudden and massive uprising.”
—Justin Raimondo, “Mubarak’s Norma Desmond Moment”
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/02/10/mubaraks-norma-desmond-moment/
By ardee, February 11, 2011 at 7:35 am Link to this comment
ChaviztaKing, February 11 at 8:17 am
CIA hires 12 to 18 year old boys to listen to what other children are talking about in basketball courts and in the streets
...and you would know this because…..If this were true how long would it take for the word to become common knowledge, after all, teenage boys are rather unreliable, boastful, and unconcerned with matters of secrecy and such..How old did you say you were?
A nation founded in a revolution should not be afraid one could surmise. I do not think it is fear itself that keeps America subjugated but fear of losing what one has accumulated, sad enough I think. I do not know where this particular poster hangs, but I hear political discussions everywhere. Paranoia much?
Report thisBy drbhelthi, February 11, 2011 at 4:32 am Link to this comment
Well patriot10101,
beliefs about the future are based on faith.
And your verbage could use a bit more summarization.
Meanwhile, we are in the here and now. And it is possible that we are
Report thisexpected to do more than to blog somewhat disconnected sentences, or
almost sentences.
Unless your goal is essentially to take up space with your blogs.
By drbhelthi, February 11, 2011 at 3:03 am Link to this comment
“The revolutionaries of Tahrir Square still have work
to do to dislodge him—and then to dismantle the system
of coercion, cronyism and corruption that sustained the
dictator’s three-decade rule.”
Neat.
Report thisThe same ideation can be applied to the GHWBushSr
entourage in the U.S. of A. Or, what´s left of it.
By ChaviztaKing, February 11, 2011 at 2:17 am Link to this comment
The USA is worse than Egypt. I observe the behaviour of people in America and they are real scared of the authorities. that’s why they don’t even speak about politics, about JFK, 9-11 and about politics at social gatherings, because the CIA and civilian police are all over the place in America. CIA hires 12 to 18 year old boys to listen to what other children are talking about in basketball courts and in the streets
Report this