Tunesia, Egyt and now Yemen: a domino effect in the Middle East?

I think we form our opinions (especially about people and cultures we are not familiar with) by what is presented to us in the media. Also by what is not presented, by omission.

The media information we have received about the Egypt protests has been the most "humanized", least politicized presentation of ordinary people involved in a middle eastern conflict that I can recall.

Although i don't necessarily entirely endorse the characteriation of the Press in little old England, the sentiment is mine, as well. Not simply in England, a good deal of the press seem to think that being cheerleaders for what they would like to see happen and reporting as objectively as possible what is happening on the ground are the same thing. They are not. To pound the same drum i've pounded for pages and pages now, for so long as Mubarak enjoys the support of his military, he will remain in power. What the papers say won't mean anything. What Mr. Obama and Miss Clinton say won't mean anything. Only the attitude of his senior military will matter.

In the 1950s, when King Farouk was overthrown, a trio of military officers emerged. The leader was Nasser. His immediate lieuteant was Sadat. Sadat's immediate lieutenant was a very young air force officer, Mubarak. Egypt has been ruled by the military in civilian clothes for almost 60 years. For however much some protestors demand democracy, and for however much some other protestors demand theocracy--the only thing that matters right now is the attitude of the military. Can the military keep a lid on movements for democracy and fundamentalist Islam? If the example of Algeria is anything to go by, the answer is yes.

I have to go now, dinner duty calls.

So no more live stream anymore: Egypt bans Al-Jazeera TV channel, cancels the accreditation of its journalists.

And China blocks "Egypt" searches on micro-blogs ....

Wow!

Yes, I said those things you quoted.
So?
So, be responsible for what you said. Do you think the US and Egypt are "mutually dependent"? I've never heard another soul say that, I think it's crazy and I want to know if you stand by your statement.
My perspective is different to yours.
So?
So, stop getting weird when people disagree with you.
If you want to put a counter-view to anything I've said, go right ahead. Fine by me.
But I would prefer you stuck to the issues & not make this so personal.
It is COMPLETELY about what you say, and is only personal in your own head.
I am as entitled to my views on the situation in Egypt as you are to yours.
As is anyone else who contributes to this thread.
And, if you will take just the slightest notice, everyone who shares an opinion on this thread is called upon to explain, support or clarify their views. So are you.
I have said all I want to say about this.
I am not remotely interested in continuing ....
Nor am I interested in having an online dust-up with you because we have different views on this issue.
That's not what I'm participating in this thread for.
Yes, don't I know it. You just want to make whatever half-baked comment you please and run off without being held accountable for what you say. This is what's going to happen: When I have an agreement, disagreement or question that I think merits a comment, I'm going to make the comment - just like I do with everyone else. If your delicate sensibilities can't withstand that, put me on ignore. If you repeat that behavior when someone has the audacity to actually question what you say, pretty soon, you'll be here all by yourself, happily spewing whatever wrongheaded pablum excretes from your perfectly correct keyboard, without the pesky bother of anyone's irritating questions or redirection.

LOL!

I'm not quite sure what this sentence means, but if you are going on record as saying you know that Egypt will be better off after their new regime is installed, please inform how you know this.
Your statements put you firmly in agreement with George Bush, who felt strongly if we put a democracy in Iraq, the other regional countries would see it and want it. Nice to see you on board - even if it is a bit late.

Who led you to believe you had little in common with Egyptians? Why do you say "we"? We who?

Good grief, Walter. China is afraid their students will get re-jazzed. This is SO huge.

Why?

Of course they are fellow human beings with similar desires to live with some measure of happiness, but from so many perspectives, they are "the other."

From the standpoint of culture, religion, language, family values, history etc, they are very much "other" than westerners.

They don't all want the same things we want.

This is not to assert that because our interests don't align that their's are, in general, any less valid than ours, or even that they are necessarily in competition with ours, but these facile statements that we are all the same do nothing but muddy the waters.

If there is any value in multi-cultural notions it is the recognition that there are very stark differences between cultures, not the opposite.

As much as we might prefer to emphasize the similarities over the differences, it's the differences that cause friction.

It would be wonderful if all the non-western nations in the world happily adopted the aspects of western culture we feel most comfortable with, but preserved their quaint eccecentricities so that we could enjoy them when we visit their countries as tourists - even those bohemian tourists among us who do so on a "shoe-string" budget that is five times the monthly wages of the "natives."

In any case, how we consider them ("others" or "brothers") will have virtually no effect on what happens in Egypt in the days, weeks, and months ahead, nor will somehow emphatically sending a message to our leaders as to just how we consider them.

I hope they end up with a western style democracy because to my way of thinking such a system offers them the best chance for prosperity and reduces the chances of friction with the West, but I can certainly live with whatever system they settle on as long as it doesn't threaten the West in general, and America in particular.

Of course, it is a far fetched notion that at the end of this crisis the people of Egypt are all going to get to vote for a system of government that will provide them with what they want for many years to come.

The only reason not to seek to influence the outcome in Egypt is the potential for such an attempt to backfire. Our country doesn't have a superb track record with such attempts, but a que cera cera approach doesn't sit well with me, and that's probably a product of my Western culturalization.

You are such a hypocritical piece of ****, Gob!

Lash, this is just so much nonsense. The US is the one that has caused the powderkeg situations in the Middle East.

You should be looking inward for malevolent leaders. Just consider the number of deaths that have been caused by the US and you know where the real evil lies.

watching the telly, reading the media, reading a2k, I have the same sense of comprehension as I would watching a split screen of Glenn Beck and Ed Schultz explaining the tea party.

Set, Thanks for that revelation! Most of us have forgotten our history of Egypt's government, and is the key to our relationship with their government, and what will transpire from this crisis.

Speak for yourself. That is not how I form my opinions, nor is it the way serious people I know form theirs.

Whatever it's accuracy (or lack of it) the media reports do not generally put such events in their historical context, nor do they address significant political and social trends that emerge from it. You have indicated your belief in the "humanized", "least politicized" character of these reports and have also acknowledged your lack of understanding of significant processes still at work in the unfolding history of the people of this region. I believe these facts and the conclusions that a thinking person would draw from them speak eloquently for themselves.

Disagreement with US policies sort of makes you unable to form a useful opinion on anything.

That's even dumber than what you said before, Lash. Care to try for 'dumbest'?

Try looking at the historical record before your next dose of pablum.

I double dog dare you to come up with a coherent, fact-based opinion on the current situation in Egypt that doesn't cater to your crazed anti-American handicap.

Listen to Hilary Clinton vomiting perfidy on MSNBC. "We want real democracy in Egypt". What sort of BS is this? The US not only sat silent for all this time, they have been providing material support to this dictator for 30 years. All of a sudden, Hillary gets religion.

This hypocrisy is stunning!

She includes a shot at Iran, where there is faux democracy, she says. No mention of the brutal regime of the Shah, a man installed by the US and the UK. No mention of the numerous democracies overthrown by the US with no attempts to even put in faux democracies, just brutal right wing dicatorships.

Vomiting perfidy. That's what the US does best. That's what the vast majority of the US posters here do, regurgitate the perfidy that they have spent lifetimes greedily stuffing in their gullets.

Interesting that you equate the anger that comes from years of oppression , suppression of human rights, plundering of a counties natural resources and no sharing of the wealth with the general population to simply loosing a board game. Was it mob mentality that motivated our founding fathers to initiate the American Revolution?

The sad thing is the new regime will likely be worse than the current one.