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

5.49pm: The response to what vice-president Suleiman's speech said has - unsurprisingly - been very hostile:

The Muslim Brotherhood said in a statment:

"The vice-president's speech does not represent a solution. The people reject the regime."

The April 6 Youth Movement said:

"We are now getting ready for the 'day of departure' [tomorrow]. Mubarak has to step down before any kind of dialogue can take place.

Live blog: Twitter

And from Twitter

@ellozy

#omarsuleiman described us as young people who love #Egypt, then described us as foreign agents??!!! Crazy #jan25 #mubarak

@draddee

In his interview Suleiman spent nearly 20 mins threatening Egy activists. He hit Qatar and AJE and even threw a stinging comment towards US

@mosaaberizing

Playing Omar Suleiman's (vice president) speech on loud speakers now. Laughs and mockery ensue. #Tahrir

@AzizaSami

This impending wave of conspiratorial theories &xenophobic incitement risks inciting a massacre against protestors in #Egypt

I'm happy for you, fbaezer. Humor wasn't what Lash was attempting. She, like you, was focusing on deception. That's an old trick, practiced frequently by some folks in the US.

Did you watch the video of Bush making "jokes" at the press dinner, pretending to look for WMDs; "nope, they're not there either" and audience laughing. Pretty funny, eh?

Bush's "good when people laugh at themselves" was set against the incredible misery that fell upon the people of Iraq because of this "humor".

I'm still pretty sure that the people of those countries that have been at the receiving end of US brutality wouldn't appreciate the humor.

Would you like me to go back and locate that video for you?

Egypt get darker by the hour.

You're probably right, but if they choose representative governments, it's very unlikely that they will come into conflict with the US or the rest of the West.

The point where there is disagreement is what should and can the US and other Western nations do to prevent or contain the emergence of governments hostile to their interests and nationals?

I appreciate that there are people who think the answer should be:

"Nothing. Live with it, unless they attack your country. Leave them alone and they never will."

Of course abiding by such a policy would necessitate doing away with inter-national security alliances (and likely trade alliances as well), or the possibility of the West sticking its nose into the business of The Sudan, Haiti, Rwanda, and Bosnia among others. Maybe that's a proper trade-off. Certainly conservative isolationists like Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan would agree.




Is it the right thing if the new "democracy," for lack of enlightened leaders or a surefit of opportunists, quickly leads to another autocracy which will be eventually be the target future of pro-democratic reformists?

CNN reported that The US State Department has issued an advisory that American nationals need to get out of Egypt today or they are on their own, however there is no such advisory on their website (at least that I can find, and you'd think it would be pretty prominent)

Algeria has promised to lift its 19-year-old state of emergency law. It followed pressure from government opponents amid protests in the Arab world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujvlzc1Vqqs&feature=related

Listen to Seymor Hirsch describe this incredible disconnect from reality that seems to afflict way way way too many people, not only Americans.

Listen especially starting at 4:24 where he discusses the "repressed memories" of one MyLai soldier, the repressed memories of the average Joe, the repressed memory of the US media, ... .

"I sent them a good boy and they sent me back a murderer".

I can see Lash's humor as a response to this video.

It's that "I'm so ******* embarrassed by all this that making corny jokes is all I can think to do".

CNN reported that into the wee hours last night. They also emphasized that, according to the State Department, 'flights after Thursday are unlikely'. They were getting their info from somewhere -- they just said 'official' sources.

6:18pm: Four members of the April 6 movement have been arrested, an opposition group that largely organises activities on Facebook, wired.com reports.

Danger Room has learned that Amal Sharaf, one of the core members of the April 6 Youth, is among those arrested. Security officials detained the activists Thursday afternoon at Cairo's Husham Mubarak Law Center, an organization that provides legal assistance to detainees. Its director, Ahmed Sief (sometimes spelled Seif), was also taken into custody.
An eyewitness, Mamdouh Hamza, described the detentions to Danger Room over the phone from Cairo. Hamza, a professor of civil engineering at Suez Canal University, was part of a crowd of at least 200 people on El Tawfikia #1 Street, right next to the Center. He saw a mini-bus arrive at the Center, and plain-clothes security officers entered the building. They arrested between eight and 12 people, he says. "They also are creating the rumor that the people arrested are from Hamas," Hamza says, "and that they have come to burn Cairo, so the people in the street–they were kicking them [the activists] and hitting them."

This was posted before but without any actual claim that the detainees were protesters.

This is not a good sign.

I guess we'll see how much of a hydra the uprising is.

My Lai massacre- 40 years later-1/1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujvlzc1Vqqs&feature=related

My Lai massacre- 40 years later-1/2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujvlzc1Vqqs&feature=related

These two videos pretty much sum up each and every situation, like this one for Egypt, that the US has had anything to do with. No one can watch these and possibly advance an argument that the US is doing it for the people, nor can anyone possibly advance the argument that the US should be getting involved. It's like arguing that we should leave gangsters alone because they help to stabilize their neighborhoods.

How many of you heard boo about the 40th anniversary of the My Lai massacre? If you heard something, what news source were you watching?

nimh has some info if anyone's following him

The faux concern that accompanies these "rebirths" is revolting.

link?

Cycloptichorn

Live coverage seems to be getting reduced.

Christians lining up to protect Muslims during their prayers in the middle of the riots in Egypt yesterday.

Cycloptichorn

This is a good sign. I hope it's remembered in the months ahead.

Given that Mubarak and/or the military is rounding up the journalists this could have been predicted. The question is why are they. The implication is that the military is expected to choose Mubarak over the people, that the rebellion will be crushed, and they dont want international witnesses nor cameras around when they do it.

Actually, that started already last Friday during the Muslim Friday prayers.
(And is a reverse for that the Muslims protected the Christian masses recently.)

Well, then it was a good sign last Fridaay and I hope it is remembered in the months to come.