These are the men who enforce Mubarak’s U.S. backed dictatorship.
This is how they deal with protesters. Later, in the cells, it gets worse!
Yes, the actions in Tunisia have started something that is catching. All across the Middle East, anxious despots and Royal Families watch as their people, who have been kept silent and servile for decades, begin to rebel or begin to think about it. In Yemen, dissent has already broken out.
ElBaradei has returned to Egypt and is felt to be a potential leader of the movement to get rid of Mubarak who America has propped up for thirty-odd years. This is the same America that is supposed to be all for democracy but the truth is that, as Mubarak shows, it will happily support any dictator who serves it purposes.
It supported Saddam. It supported Bin Laden. The number of brutal dictators and terrorists it has supported since Vietnam reads like the phone book!
Today, after prayers, the Muslim Brotherhood is going to call for mass protests. They have many supporters in Egypt and have a well-organized structure among the grassroots of Egyptian society. Five people have been killed so far and many injured during days of protests but, after today, that number could rise markedly.
Of course, the State Thugs will be out in force much as they are in America and even Australia whenever protests are held. In Egypt, some are in uniforms and some are in plain clothes. It seems the latter are the most feared and the most violent.
We who hope for a better world can only hope that this Freedom Movement gains more momentum, that it sweeps away some of the human trash who hold the lives and freedoms of millions of people in their hands.
And I’m not just talking about Third World countries here. There are many First World countries that are little better than dictatorships and are run by corrupt politicians who in turn are run by greedy Oligarchs and Big Corporations.
Perhaps what is happening in the world might herald an opportunity for us to change the way the world is run. Perhaps we, the people, can use this momentum to put a stiff broom through the current political and economic systems which exist only to benefit the few.
We can only hope that some good will come from it all and do what we can to facilitate it!
Stop Press! 6pm. Mubarak has closed down the internet and the mobile phone network. He has also started arresting members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Blood will be spilt but it’s in a worthy cause, that of FREEDOM.
I can not understand how fellow citizens of the USA can not see the truth about our repressive government. In the future, we will be as the Germans after WW2 and people will ask us, “How could you remain silent when your government was doing this.?” Every day my heart goes out the the Palestinians who are forced to live like dogs under the brutal force of the IDF
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David G Reply:
January 28th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Welcome, Brian. The reason they cannot see the truth about their country is because they have been indoctrinated since birth to believe that their country is exceptional, a beacon on a hill, the greatest nation in the history of the world, born to rule, and other B.S. like that.
The result is that they don’t question. They just assume that everything their Government and President do is perfect.
Regarding the Palestinians, I have been fighting for their cause for years
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i lived in cairo for 9 years in the late 80′s early 90′s. i witnessed then how deprived the people were. for all that though, they were a happy people and very kind. i can only imagine how their lives have deteriorated during the past years to warrant this uprising. i hope they acquire the peace and stability they want and need……………………
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It is great to see people standing up and fighting against an opressive government. If only people here in the US could get the same idea. The only ones fighting now are tea party members and they are not smart enough to realize that they are being run by corporate interests.
I just wonder what the result will be. The US government will not let “the people” in Egypt etc. get away with actions like this for too long without doing something to stop it. We somehow think we can interfer in every country when ever we please. But there is only so much our military can do, they are already stretched to the limit in current wars.
I am sure our leaders are getting worried. A bad example is being set of citizens taking control of their own country from brutal dictators and it is also possibly endangering our access to oil which is what it is all about in the end.
At the same time a man who was involved in terrorists attacks against the US is being sworn in to a high level post in Afganistan. Another example of the US support for freedom and democracy!
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Shutting down the internet. Perk up people. This is where they went. That effects everyone, not just the people in the streets. intended to scare everyone. A war on Terror. A war of Terror. This is a big deal that the Egyptians are out in the streets like this. I visited Cairo and Alexandria in 1990. There were guards with AK 47s every few hundred ft.
How dare America be AOK with a 30 year dictator and his miserable people!
Egypt is the gateway to that vacationland in the desert, exPalestine.
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76-water Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:09 am
It is too bad here in America we do not have a (free) press. The MSM will make sure Americans only get the point of view that suits TPTB. American Idol, Lady Ga Ga ect. ect. ABCCBSNBCCNNFOX all bruoght to you by our zionist masters. I wonder if perchance the internet were shut down here if it would make a difference. That cyclops in the livingroom might just lull the masses. Remember you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Outlook…….. Not good.
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Watching Hillary Clinton on CNN today made me want to puke! She had the gall to get in front of the cameras and try to convince the viewers that the USA has been trying for years to get Mubarek to institute reform and that all that the US cares about is the welfare of the Egyptian people. How about taking away that One Billion a year in tax payer money, Hillary? The US government has been in bed with that brutal dictator for 30 years and if the people of Egypt would not revolt, the US would be behind him another 30 years. The only way the Egyptians will get any freedom is if they take it by force.
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David G Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:12 am
Brian, I heard that the tear gas canisters used in Egypt are made in the U.S. Surprise, surprise.
And I heard Hillary saying protests should be peaceful, this coming from a leader of the most violent nation on earth!
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Bruce Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 2:11 am
Another thing, David. The apparatus used to shut down the internet in Egypt came from Narus, Inc. of Sunnyvale, CA. I can imagine that they will be glad to offer up their technology to the U.S.”Homeland Security” Dept. just in case the Amurkin sheeple ever have the cajones enough to rise up against the ruling class.
You are right about the indoctrination of Americans with the lie of our exceptionalism. Even when we screw up we still think that it can be made right by doing more of it! That is similar to Einstein’s famous definition of insanity. In terms of foreign policy we are literally our own worst enemy and I when I hear a shameless foreign policy hawk like Hilary Clinton trying to sound as if the U.S. has been in favor of these reforms all along it makes me angry. What she is doing is to try and place the U.S. in the position of maximum advantage with the new reform government that I hope will oust that dictator Mubarak. That is all it its – to put the U.S. and the corporations that she represents in the best possible place to take advantage when the smoke clears.
I sincerely hope that these uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia are the harbinger for more real democratic reform throughout the region. Yes, I would imagine that policy makers in the U.S. are getting really nervous about what they once called the “ultimate prize” – control of the Middle East.
“I am an anti-imperialist!” – Mark Twain
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coco Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:37 am
watching that press secretary robert gibbs made me want to puke too……………
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David G Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 9:05 am
Hear, hear, Coco! Gibbs is a spokesperson for another kind of dictatorship, a political/military dictatorship supported by the Corporations!
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Next to Israel, Egypt is about the largets recipient of U.S. aid. Most of the aid is military that supports Egypt’s huge army that they need for what reason? We are the Evil Empire, the coup d’etat happened in 1980 when the “greed is Good” crowd took over. The sophistication of the propaganda techniques used by the U.S. government to man ipulate the masses would cause Goebbels to drool uncontrollably
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David G Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 9:08 am
Yeah, the Yanks are great at propaganda, Brian. They even believe their own bullshit!
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Bruce Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 12:50 am
The Raygun people referred to their propaganada techniques as “perception management”. Cute.
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Coco, I’ve been to Egypt four or five times and I found the people warm and generous.
Jeannie, I am concerned that America will help the Egyptian regime in order to protect its own military interests.
Grace, the U.S. is O.K. with anyone who supports American imperialism!
76-water, it’s great to see people breaking out of a dictatorship. Apparently, plane loads of rich businessmen are leaving Egypt. Good riddance to them.
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Bruce Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 2:24 am
Yes, I read that the elites are leaving Egypt in droves like rich rats leaving the sinking ship of state. Mubarak must be getting really worried by now. As of last night he refused to resign but his power is slipping away and he must be prepared to be betrayed by the U.S. in order for us to continue to play games with the next government in Cairo. Perhaps the U.S. will let him have asylum like they did with another dictator, the Shah of Iran. You know, the brutal ruler who took power after the U.S. helped overthrow the democratically elected government of Mossadegh in 1953 after he said that he was going to nationalize the oil companies of Iran. We couldn’t have that since that oil is OURS so in we went with the CIA and Teddy Roosevelt’s grandson assisting in ousting him.
Quite a sorry record continually pulled from a playbook that never really changes.
“The U.S. government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” – Martin Luther KIng, Jr.
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Will the americans now assasinate el baradei,(a possible successor) and look to install a pinochet for themselves “a la allende”.
As the indians say white man speak with forked tongue,america is the most evil nation on this planet.
The attempt to use an uncle tom as a front face is a farce and typical of the seppo mind set.
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David G Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
America could just march into Egypt and occupy it, say it is bringing democracy as it did in Iraq, Gazza.
You’ve seen the wonderful democracy there, haven’t you?
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Bruce Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 2:27 am
Yes, and what happened to the “democracy” we were bringing to the people of Kuwait which supposedly led to the first invasion of Iraq in 1991? WHY do Americans have such short, self-serving memories?
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Bruce, as a nation I think we are too ignorant to know that we are ignorant!!
I’ve been watching the tweets coming out of Suez and Cairo in Google Realtime this week. In spite of the government kill switch on the mobile phone and internet services the people of Egypt still find a way to get word out to the world as to what’s going on in their various locations. I want to cry and cheer for them! I hope their military will side with them as it was said that the people have a deep respect for their military and cheered when they arrived.
As for the riot police….kick their asses!!
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I just read that Hillary Clinton has referred to Mubarak several times as a “family friend”. Unbelievable. For a fine article on these developments go to Common Dreams and read
Obama – Say the ‘D-Word’. Also check out the responses. They are very good.
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Bruce Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 11:45 am
No wonder that Mubarak is a family friend of the Clintons. Democratic Underground has just reported that the dictator has stashed away 40 BILLION dollars for his own private use while his people starve and suffer from his police state. Hillary’s connection with this useful gangster is what is referred to as “Realpolitick” and is the essence of ruling class politics. Henry Kissinger is a prime example of it. One of Mubarak’s predecessors in another part of the world was Ferdinand Marcos who did much the same thing to the Philippines. Marcos was useful to U.S. “interests” there as well. When he was finally ousted he took refuge in Hawaii.
Just what does happen to a person’s soul when they enter the Ring Of Power in Washington?
How is it possible to sell out whatever principles you might have had in order to stay? I was under the impression that both of the Clintons had some ideals when they were up and coming but those principles got lost along the way. Remember that Hillary still wants to be President. Her plan is to be appointed Secretary of State if Obomber wins a second term and then try and succeed him in 2016 or to be selected as VP in 2012 replacing Joe Biden and running for President in 2016. Of course, the Amurkin voter could spoil that deep ambition by giving the Senate to the Rethugs in 2012 and the Presidency to some whore like Romney. If that happens it won’t make any difference if she can run because the country will be lost. KKKarl Rove’s dream of a long-term Republican stranglehold on the government will come true and the U.S. will begin the process of real decline that we are seeing the beginnings of.
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Tunis is spilling into Jordan. That oughta give the Israeli squatters a case of spastic colon.
Bruce, O’bomb’em telling Mubarak to keep his promises…..
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/28/egypt.protests.u.s..response/index.html?hpt=C1
Hypocrisy knows no bounds.
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Friends, thanks for all the comments. I, like you, am watching the Revolution in Egypt with excitement and a touch of fear. I keep in mind that Mubarak is a trained killer (soldier) and he may revert to type.
Hopefully he’s got the message that his time has come but other people (the American leadership for example) want him to stay because he is useful to them as long as he does as he is told, him or someone like him.
The MSM will shape these events like they shape all the news!
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