Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:46 pm Post subject:
Israeli PM: No to Cairo elections
Thursday 03 February 2011 - Morning Star - by Tom Mellen
The Israeli establishment has condemned Washington's belated call for democratic reforms in Egypt, asserting that credible elections there would open the door to "extremist radical Islam."
Earlier this week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implicity condemned the Obama administration's call for "free, fair and credible elections, the sooner the better."
"If extremist forces are allowed to exploit democratic processes to come to power to advance anti-democratic goals - as has happened in Iran and elsewhere - the outcome will be bad for peace and bad for democracy," Mr Netanyahu declared.
Today Labour MP Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who was until recently a cabinet minister and who is a long-time friend of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, accused the US of "pushing the Middle East into a disaster.
"If there are elections like the Americans want, I wouldn't be surprised if the Muslim Brotherhood won half of the seats in parliament," he told Army Radio.
"It will be a new Middle East, extremist radical Islam.".......
Church in flames in Egypt's Sinai: witnesses
(AFP) – 1 hour ago
CAIRO — A Coptic church in the Egyptian town of Rafah bordering the Gaza Strip was in flames on Saturday, with witnesses reporting a blast although a local official denied an explosion was the cause.
Witnesses said they saw flames coming out of the Mar Girgis church in Rafah after hearing an explosion. Armed men on motorbikes were spotted near the church, one of them said.
Quote:
Officials: Bomb detonated in empty church in Egypt
By ASHRAF SWEILAM - Feb 5, 2011 4:50 PM GMT+0000
By The Associated Press
EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Assailants detonated a bomb Saturday in an empty church in a small town in northern Egypt, causing little damage and no injuries, security officials said.
Smoke billowed from the windows of the church and the assailants also snatched a cross from outside the building, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident with reporters. They said the assailants escaped. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-05/officials-bomb-detonated-in-e mpty-church-in-egypt.html
Quote:
Frank Wisner in - The Empire's Bagman
By VIJAY PRASHAD
From inside the bowels of Washington's power elite, Frank Wisner emerges, briefcase in hand. He has met the President, but he is not his envoy. He represents the United States, but is not the Ambassador. What is in his briefcase is his experience: it includes his long career as bagman of Empire, and as bucket-boy for Capital. Pulling himself away from the Georgetown cocktail parties and the Langley Power-point briefings, Wisner finds his way to the Heliopolis cocktail parties and to the hushed conferences in Kasr al-Ittihadiya. Mubarak (age 82) greets Wisner (age 72), as these elders confer on the way forward for a country whose majority is under thirty.
Obama came to Cairo in 2009, and said, "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone." Those words should have been cast in gold and placed in the portico of the White House. Instead, they drift like wisps in the wind, occasionally sighted for propaganda purposes, but in a time of crisis, hidden behind the clouds of imperial interests (or those of Tel Aviv). America presumes to know, and presumes to have a say equivalent to those of the millions who have thronged Egypt's squares, streets and television sets (one forgets about the protests of the latter, too tired to get to the square, nursing sick children or adults, a bit fearful, but no less given over to anger at the regime).
http://www.counterpunch.org/prashad02022011.html
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:26 pm Post subject:
Not a lot of democracy left in Egypt right now
Great pictures of the protesters dancing though.
Euronews wrote:
Egypt’s ruling party resigns, including Mubarak’s son
05/02 14:34 CET
State television in Egypt says the leadership of the ruling National Democratic Party has resigned, including Gamal Mubarak, the son of the embattled leader.
Earlier reports from the Al Aribya TV station and other news agencies that Hosni Mubarak had also resigned as head of the NDP have proved to be false.
The new secretary general of the party is Hossam Badrawi, seen as a member of the liberal wing of the party.
The Reuters news agency quoted a party official who said that even if Hosni Mubarak resigned from the party it would not affect his position as president. “These are two different positions,” the official said.
The outgoing leaders include secretary general Safwat el-Sherif, 77, who has been powerful in the Egyptian establishment since the 1960s and is a pillar of the old guard. Sherif is also speaker of the upper house of parliament.
Without a place in the leadership, Gamal Mubarak would no longer qualify as the party’s presidential candidate under the existing constitution.
Connecticut National Guard Detachment 2, Company I, 185th Aviation Regiment of Groton has mobilized and will deploy to the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, to support the Multinational Force and Observers.
The unit left Connecticut Jan. 15 for Fort Benning, Ga., for further training and validation. The unit operates C-23C Sherpa aircraft and has deployed three times in the last seven years in support of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The unit will provide an on-demand aviation asset to the Multinational Force and Observers commander to support its mission of supervising the security provisions of the Egypt/ Israel Peace Treaty.
The Pentagon is moving U.S. warships and other military assets to make sure it is prepared in case evacuation of U.S. citizens from Egypt becomes necessary, officials said Friday.
The Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship carrying 700 to 800 troops from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and the Ponce have arrived in the Red Sea, putting them off Egypt’s shores in case the situation worsens.
Pentagon officials emphasized that military intervention in Egypt was not being contemplated and that the warships were being moved only for contingency purposes in case evacuations became necessary.
In addition to the Marines, the Kearsarge normally carries around four dozen helicopters and harrier jets that would permit evacuations and other humanitarian operations, the officials said. More than 1,000 Marines from the Kearsarge were sent to Afghanistan last month on a temporary deployment, leaving roughly one-third still aboard, officials said.
In carrying out her mission, Kearsarge not only transports and lands ashore troops, but also tanks, trucks, artillery, and the complete logistic support needed to supply an assault.
The assault support system aboard ship coordinates horizontal and vertical movement of troops, cargo and vehicles. Monorail trains, moving at speeds up to 600 ft/min (3 m/s), transport cargo and supplies from storage and staging areas throughout the ship to a 13,600 square feet (1,260 m2) well deck which opens to the sea through huge gates in the ship's stern. There, the cargo, troops and vehicles are loaded aboard landing craft for transit to the beach. The air cushion landing craft can "fly" out of the dry well deck, or the well deck can be flooded so conventional landing craft can float out on their way to the beach.
Simultaneously, helicopters are brought from the hangar deck to the flight deck by two deck-edge elevators and loaded with supplies from three massive cargo elevators.
Kearsarge's armament suite includes the NATO RIM-7 Sea Sparrow point defense system for anti-aircraft support, RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles, 25 mm chain guns and the Phalanx close-in weapon system to counter threats from low-flying aircraft and close-in small craft. Missile decoy launchers augment the anti-ship missile defenses.
However, the Kearsarge has also been used in missions to evacuate people stranded in war zones. Wikipedia describes this unique dual capability:
Kearsarge is fully capable of amphibious assault, advance force and special purpose operations, as well as non-combatant evacuation and other humanitarian missions. Since her commissioning, she has performed these missions the world over, including evacuating non-combatants from Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 31 May 1997 and rescuing Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady from Serb-controlled territory in Bosnia on 8 June 1995. Additionally, Kearsarge is fully equipped with state of the art command and control (C&C) systems for flagship command duty, and her medical facilities are second in capability only to the Navy's hospital ships, USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) and Mercy (T-AH-19). These facilities allowed Kearsarge to serve a dual role during the 1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as a platform for bombing missions against Serb forces in Operation Allied Force, and as a treatment facility for Albanian refugees in Operation Shining Hope.
The Los Angeles Times continues:
In addition, the aircraft carrier Enterprise is in the eastern Mediterranean. The Pentagon originally announced that the carrier was heading through the Suez Canal for the Arabian Gulf, but the crisis in Egypt appears to have prompted a decision to keep it in the Mediterranean at least temporarily.
Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea (as well as the Red Sea):
The Enterprise is the longest naval vessel in the world, and is powered by eight nuclear reactors. The Enterprise does not appear to have any dual role for evacuations, but is simply an offensive aircraft carrier.
Therefore, I see no clear indication that the U.S. government has affirmatively decided to directly involve our military in Egypt. However, it is obvious that the government is at least planning for the possibility.
A "very senior" member of the US Marine corps is telling people "multiple platoons" are deploying to Egypt, a source tells us.
There is a system within the US Marines that alerts the immediate families of high-ranking marines when their marine will soon be deployed to an emergency situation where they will not be able to talk to their spouses or families.
That alert just went out, says our source.
This senior Marine told our source that the Pentagon will deploy "multiple platoons" to Egypt over the next few days and that the official reason will be ‘to assist in the evacuation of US citizens."
Our source was told that "the chances they were going over there went from 70% yesterday to 100% today."
Yet another death
» شاهد متظاهر مصري يقتل بدم بارد في الإسكندرية!.avi
Link _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Egyptian Revolution 2011 COMPLETE. World MUST MUST watch this. Freedom for All! _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Egypt ~ 5-year-old leads 1M strong demo in Alexandria _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Senior US Marine Says “Multiple Platoons” Are Headed To Egypt
Nicholas Carlson
Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/senior-us-marine-says-multiple-platoons -are-headed-to-egypt-2011-2
Feb 6, 2011
A senior member of the US Marine corps is telling people “multiple platoons” are deploying to Egypt, a source tells us.
There is a system within the US Marines that alerts the immediate families of high-ranking marines when their marine will soon be deployed to an emergency situation where they will not be able to talk to their spouses or families.
That alert just went out, says our source.
This senior Marine told our source that the Pentagon will deploy “multiple platoons” to Egypt over the next few days and that the official reason will be ‘to assist in the evacuation of US citizens.”
Our source was told that “the chances they were going over there went from 70% yesterday to 100% today.”
We’re keeping these people anonymous because both would get in trouble for sharing this information with the press.
On Friday, the Pentagon announced it would move “U.S. warships and other military assets to make sure it is prepared in case evacuation of U.S. citizens from Egypt becomes necessary,” according the the LA Times. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Joined: 14 Dec 2005 Posts: 475 Location: North London
Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:23 am Post subject: Middle-class/Brotherhood revolution
The Cairo population is around 17m. The vast majority of the people are dirt poor. Many people live among rubbish and make their living recycling rubbish.
Where are the poor in this so-called revolution?
The focus is on Tahir Square precisely because there is no widespread, active movement supporting this revolution.
Why, when we hear from protesters on the UK mainstream media, do we not hear demands about improving the conditions for the poorest? Why do we not see people saying how wretched their lives are due to poverty?
The revolution is being conducted by the well-off. They are well dressed. They speak English. They have Twitter and Facebook. They are the well off middle-classes.
This is why the demands fit into approved Western liberal demands: an end to dictatorship; an end to corruption; democractic elections; the removal of Muburak. All very necessary but they are also bourgeois demands.
The other group is the Muslim Brotherhood. The UK media say they are not involved but we can see with our own eyes that this is not true. We receive pictures of large numbers of people praying in Tahir Square. They are the Muslim Brotherhood. They help to make up the numbers but have been instructed not to admit that they have been organised by the Brotherhood. Former US army intelligence officer and prosecutor, John Loftus says he has seen the CIA files. The Muslim Brotherhood was taken over by the CIA in the 1950s. Before that they were controlled by the British., http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/loftus101106.htm
Muburak is a dictator. He should go and Egypt should get democracy. But that’s not enough. Yet, it may be more than enough for the West. They no longer want Muburak in power and have organised the Twitter students and Muslim Brotherhood to get rid of him.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:26 pm Post subject: Re: Middle-class/Brotherhood revolution
Egyptian activists vigilant at regime coup hints
Wednesday 09 February 2011 - by Tom Mellen
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/10 0886
Egypt's democracy activists called on supporters today to expand their uprising in defiance of a warning from the new vice-president that their protests calling for President Hosni Mubarak to go could spark a coup.
Vice-President Omar Suleiman, whom Mr Mubarak has put in charge of managing the crisis, raised the prospect of a new crackdown on protesters on Tuesday.
Mr Suleiman told Egyptian newspaper editors that "the dark bats of the night" would emerge to "terrorise the people" unless demonstrators agree to enter negotiations.
While some opposition parties have sat down for talks on constitutional reform, the protest leaders insist that they won't talk before Mr Mubarak steps down - which the president is refusing to do.
The vice-president's warnings were the latest in a series of mixed messages from the government to the tens of thousands of protesters camped out on Liberation Square.
Officials have made a series of pledges not to attack, harass or arrest the activists in recent days, apparently under pressure from the US.
But at least two people were killed and several hundred were injured in clashes between police and demonstrators in the oasis town of El Kharga on Tuesday night.
Mr Suleiman's threat of a new crackdown was very thinly veiled as he warned that if dialogue were not successful the alternative was "that a coup happens, which would mean uncalculated and hasty steps, including lots of irrationalities."
Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for a coalition of the five main youth groups behind the epic rallies in Cairo's Liberation Square, said: "He is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody in the square will be smashed.
"But what would he do with the rest of the 70 million Egyptians who will follow us afterward?" Mr Samir asked.
More than Six thousand canal service workers launched an indefinite strike and sit-in in Suez on Tuesday to press their demand for improved pay and conditions.
Suez Canal Authority official Mohamed Motair insisted that that the workers were not involved in operations and that "the canal is operating normally."
Between 5 and 7 per cent of oil destined for Europe passes through the waterway daily and the effect on prices and supplies of any disruption would be severe.
Tarpley was interesting but INSIDE JOB is, well, about as wide of the mark as one can get.
insidejob wrote:
The revolution is being conducted by the well-off wrong!. They are well dressed wrong!. They speak English wrong!. They have Twitter wrong!and Facebook wrong!. They are the well off middle-classes wrong!.
The Division of Egypt: Threats of US, Israeli, and NATO Military Intervention?
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
Global Research, February 7, 2011
The protests in Tunisia have had a domino effect in the Arab World. Egypt, the largest Arab country, is now electrified with popular uproar to remove the Mubarak regime in Cairo. It must be asked what effects would this event have? Will the U.S., Israel, and NATO simply watch the Egyptian people establish a free government?
The parable of the Arab dictators is like that of the spider's web. Although the spider feels safe in its web, in reality the web is one of the frailest homes. All the Arab dictators and tyrants, from Morocco to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are in fear now. Egypt is on the brink of what could amount to being one of the most important geo-political events in this century.
Pharaohs, ancient or modern, all have their end days. Mubarak's days are numbered, but the powers behind him have not yet been defeated. Egypt is an important part of America's global empire. The U.S. government, Tel Aviv, the E.U., and NATO all have significant interests in maintaining Egypt as a puppet regime.
The U.S. and Israel want to use the Egyptian Military to Police the Egyptian People
When protests started in Egypt, the heads of the Egyptian military all went to the U.S. and consulted with U.S. officials for orders. The Egyptians are well aware that the regime in Cairo is a pawn in the services of the U.S. and Israel. This is why Egyptian slogans are not only directed against the Mubarak regime but are also aimed against the U.S. and Israel, in similarity to some of the slogans of the Iranian Revolution. The U.S. has been involved in every aspect of the Egyptian government's activities. Cairo has not made a single move without consulting both the White House and Tel Aviv. Israel has also permitted the Egyptian military to move into urban areas in the Sinai Peninsula.
The reality of the situation is that the U.S. government has worked against freedom in the Arab World and beyond. When President Obama says that there should be a period of "transition" in Egypt, it means that Mubarak and the Egyptian regime should stay intact. The U.S. does not want a people's government in Cairo.
Martin Indyk, a former Clinton Administration official at the U.S. National Security Council with an area of responsible for the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and an individual closely tied to the Obama Administration, told The New York Times that the U.S. must work towards bringing the Egyptian military into control of Egypt until a "moderate and legitimate political leadership [can] emerge." [1] Not only did Indyk call for a military takeover in Egypt, he also used U.S. State Department double-speak. What U.S. officials mean by "moderate" are dictatorships and regimes like Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Jordan, Morocco, and Ben Ali's Tunisia. As for legitimacy, in the eyes of U.S. officials, it means individuals who will serve U.S. interests.
Tel Aviv is far less coy than the U.S. about the situation in Egypt. Out of fear of losing Cairo, Tel Aviv has been encouraging the Mubarak regime to unleash the full force of the Egyptian military on the civilian protesters. It has also been defending Mubarak internationally. In this regard, the Egyptian military's primary role has always been to police the Egyptian people and to keep the Mubarak regime in power. U.S. military aid to Egypt is solely intended for this purpose.
Revolutionary Egypt: A Second Iran in the Middle East?
If the Egyptian people manage to establish a new and truly sovereign government, it would equate to a second Iran in the Middle East. This would cause a major regional and global geo-political shift. It would also deeply upset and cripple the interests of the U.S., Britain, Israel, France, the E.U., and NATO in what would amount to a colossal loss, like that of Iran in 1979.
If a new revolutionary government were to emerge in Cairo the bogus Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would be over, the starvation of the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip would end, the cornerstone of Israeli military security would be gone, and the Iranian-Syrian Awliyaa (Alliance) could possibly gain a significant new member.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed Tel Aviv's fears about Egypt allying with Iran and a new gateway of Iranian influence being opened in a speech by saying: "Tehran is waiting for the day in which darkness descends [in Egypt]." [2] Netanyahu is correct about one thing, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has been monitoring the events in Egypt very eagerly and the Iranians are awaiting the establishment of a new revolutionary government that could join Iran and the Resistance Bloc. Tehran has been overjoyed and Iran is abuzz with speeches by its officials about what they believe to be an "Islamic Awakening."
While the Arab members of the Resistance Bloc have made low-key statements about the protests in Egypt, non-Arab Iran has been vocal in its support of the protesters in the Arab World. Syria has made low-key remarks, because of its own fears of revolt at home. Hezbollah and Hamas have also been relatively low-key on their stances about the protests in the Arab World, because they wish to avoid being targeted by the Arab regimes through accusations of meddling.
At every opportunity the so-called "moderate" Arab regimes seek to demonize these Arab players. On the other hand the Turkish government, which maintains close ties to the Arab regimes, has also been virtually silent about the protests in the Arab World.
Israel is preparing itself for the possible reality that an unfriendly government will be taking office in Cairo, which is what will happen if the Egyptian people are successful. Tel Aviv has secret military-security contingency plans for Egypt. In the words of Netanyahu to the Israeli Knesset: "A peace agreement does not guarantee the existence of peace [between Israel and Egypt], so in order to protect it and ourselves, in cases in which the agreement disappears or is violated due to regime change on the other side, we protect it with security arrangements on the ground." [3]
Threats of U.S., Israeli, and NATO Military Intervention in Egypt: Recall the 1956 Invasion of Egypt?
There is also the chance of renewed war with Israel and even American and NATO military intervention in Egypt. The threat of military intervention in Egypt must be considered. In 1956, the British, the French, and the Israelis jointly attacked Egypt when President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Recalling 1956, the U.S. and NATO could do the same. General James Mattis, the commander of U.S. Central Command said that the U.S. will deal with Egypt "diplomatically, economically, [and] militarily" should access to the Suez Canal be shut by Egypt to the U.S. and its allies. [4]
In 2008, Norman Podhoretz proposed a unthinkable nightmare scenario. In this nightmare scenario the Israelis would militarily occupy the oil refineries and naval ports of the Persian Gulf to insure "energy security" and they would also launch a so-called pre-emptive nuclear attack against Iran, Syria, and Egypt. [5]
In 2008, the main questions that arose were: "energy security" for whom and why attack Egypt, where the Mubarak government has been a staunch Israeli ally?
Would the Israelis attack Egypt if a revolutionary government emerged in Cairo? This is what essentially happened a few years after Gamal Abdel Nasser took power from Mohammed Naguib in Egypt. Also, is such a military attack on Egypt tied to Israel's secret military-security contingency plans that Netanyahu assured the Israeli Knesset about.
Is such a nightmare scenario, which includes the use of nuclear weapons, a distinct possiblity? Podhoretz has close ties to both Israeli and U.S. officials. It should also be mentioned that Podhoretz is a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom for his intellectual influence in the U.S. and is one of the original 1997 signatories of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) along with Elliot Abrams, Richard Cheney, John (Jeb) Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Steen Forbes Jr., and Paul Wolfowitz. The PNAC has essentially outlined plans for transforming America into a global empire through militarism overseas and domestic militarization.
"Managed Chaos" and the Threats of Balkanization in Egypt: The Yinon Plan at Work?
Egypt cannot be managed by the Mubarak regime, the U.S., Israel, and their allies anymore. Thus, the U.S., Israel, and their allies are now working to divide and destabilize Egypt, as the most powerful Arab state, so that no strategic challenge can emerge from Cairo. The attacks on the peaceful protestors in Cairo's central Tahrir Square by Mubarak's club-wielding thugs riding camels and horses was a stage-managed event to build public support outside of the Arab World for having a dictatorial strongman in Cairo. It epitomized every stereotype and incorrect Orientalist attitude about Arabs and the peoples of the Middle East. It would come as no surprise if the U.S., Israel, and Britain played direct or advisory roles in the event.
In a major departure from reality, the Mubarak regime's state-controlled media is reporting popular support for Mubarak by millions of Egyptians and wide-spread approval of his speech and his "transitional government" plans. In a show of desperation, the same state-controlled media is also trying to blame Iran and its Arab allies for the Egyptian protests. Egyptian state-controlled media has reported that Iranian commandos and special forces, along with the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, have been on destabilization and sabotage missions against Egypt.
These types of accusations by the regime in Cairo are not new. Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, and Mahmoud Abbas also all do the same. The Mubarak regime has blamed Iran, Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement, Syria, and Hamas for meddling and inciting revolt several times in the past. When the Free Patriotic Movement criticized the Mubarak regime about the treatment of Egyptian Christians, the Mubarak regime accused Michel Aoun of sectarian sedition. On the other hand, Hezbollah was accused of attempting to create chaos in Egypt when Hassan Nasrallah asked the Egyptian people to show solidarity with the Palestinians and demand that their government allow humanitarian aid to go to the people of the Gaza Strip.
Managed Chaos at Work
Although Mubarak's thugs are also creating chaos in Egypt to try to keep his regime in power, the doctrine of "managed chaos" is being used by external actors with the Israeli Yinon Plan in mind. Making Egyptians fight against one another and turning Egypt into a divided and insecure state, just like Anglo-American Iraq, appears to be the objective of the U.S., Israel, and their allies. The building tensions between Egyptian Muslims and Egyptian Christians, which includes the attacks on Coptic churches, is tied to this project. In this context, on the thirteenth day of the protests in Egypt, the Mar Girgis Church in the Egyptian town of Rafah, next to Gaza and Israel, was attacked by armed men on motorcycles. [6]
The White House and Tel Aviv do not want a second Iran in the Middle East. They will do whatever they can to prevent the emergence of a strong and independent Egypt.
A free Egypt could prove to be a much bigger threat than non-Arab Iran within the Arab World to the objectives of the U.S., Israel, and NATO.
The Return of the Egyptian Eagle as the Champion of Arab Independence?
Egypt was once a major strategic challenge to the U.S., Israel, France, and Britain in the Arab World and Africa. Nasserite Egypt aided the Algerian Resistance against the French occupation of Algeria, openly supported the Palestinians against the Israeli occupation of their homes, supported the Yemenite Resistance against the British occupation in South Yemen, challenged the legitimacy of the British-installed Hashemites and the American-supported House of Saud, and offered support to national liberation and anti-imperialist movements. Cairo under a revolutionary government, whether deeply tied to Islam or not, could give the Arab World a new leader that would revive pan-Arabism, make Tel Aviv further nervous about trying to launch wars, and rally the Arabs and other peoples worldwide in revolt against the global confederacy formed by the U.S. and its allies.
Egypt is not free from bondage yet. The Egyptian people must also address the role of global capitalism in supporting the Mubarak regime. At the same time they must remain united. If they are successful, they will make a huge impact on the history of the current century.
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Association (CRG).
NOTES
[1] Elisabeth Bumiller, "Calling for Restraint, Pentagon Faces Test of Influence With Ally," The New York Times, January 29, 2011; Indyk's words are as follows: "What we have to focus on now is getting the military into a position where they can hold the ring for a moderate and legitimate political leadership to emerge."
[2] Attila Somfalvi, "Natanyahu: Democratic Egypt no threat," Yedioth Ahronoth, February 2, 2011.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Adrian Croft, "U.S. sees Suez Canal closure as inconceivable," eds. Peter Griffiths and Elizabeth Fullerton, Reuters, February 1, 2011.
[5] Norman Podhoretz, "Stopping Iran: Why the Case for Military Action Still Stands," Commentary Magazine, vol.125, no. 2, (February, 2008): pp.11-19.
[6] "Church in flames in Egypt's Sinai: witness," Agence France-Presse (AFP), February 6, 2011.
[7] "Senior US envoy presses for democracy in Tunisia," Agence France-Presse (AFP), January 24, 2011.
Strikes are spreading and have occurred in many parts of Egypt now.
Mubarak announced via his spokesman Syleiman that all public sector employees will get an automatic 15% rise and it only took two weeks of struggle. By implication another 6weeks of struggle and their rises will be another 60%.
Hague flew out to give his colonial lectures in Tunisia as if anyone listens to him anymore. The West is frightened of an Arab Chavez as Egypt is the leading Arab nation which no longer feels the dead weight of defeat at Israels hands in the early 1970's.
Israel has lost two wars in Lebanon and the USA has lost two major wars of late and has gone in to total indebtedness. The climate is now ripe to change the world balance of forces against the banksters and no amount of lecturing from afar will put the lid back on the bottle of Egypts social explosion...
Joined: 14 Dec 2005 Posts: 475 Location: North London
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:22 am Post subject: Middle-class revolution
Quote:
Tarpley was interesting but INSIDE JOB is, well, about as wide of the mark as one can get.
insidejob wrote:
The revolution is being conducted by the well-off wrong!. They are well dressed wrong!. They speak English wrong!. They have Twitter wrong!and Facebook wrong!. They are the well off middle-classes wrong!
In response to my middle-class point, an active supporter of the protests, Cairo Rising says:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/02/473698.html
re middle class/brotherhood revolution
09.02.2011 14:23
You make a fair point about the middle class nature of the Tahrir occupation. The uprising does need to expand out of the square and challenge the status quo - at the moment the regime may withstand the ongoing peaceful protest
However, about the brotherhood - just because people are praying in the square does not mean they are Muslim Brotherhood - this is total rubbish
Cairo Rising
Homepage: http://reportsfromtheegyptianuprising.wordpress.com/
At the moment, I see no potential for the Tahrir protests to include workers and poor people because I have not come across any protester making that link. There were strikes going on before the protests. It is not surprising that strikes would happen at the same time as the protesters.
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:07 pm Post subject: Re: Middle-class revolution
insidejob wrote:
At the moment, I see no potential for the Tahrir protests to include workers and poor people because I have not come across any protester making that link. There were strikes going on before the protests. It is not surprising that strikes would happen at the same time as the protesters.
Hundreds of slum dwellers in the Suez Canal town of Port Said set fire to parts of the governor's headquarters, angry over the lack of housing.
Unless you know Arabic and have access to people on the ground we dont know what is precisely going on. But when a dictatorial lid blows up, it is inevitable that eventually workers and social classes other than the upper middle class will join the fray. Everyone is going to vent their demands one way or another.
Even the dictator Suleiman is threatening 'dark bats from the night' making a return, ie a new military coup. THis is a revolution in the making. Many are trying to influence it even the Americans by threatening to withold their subsidy, which the Saudis said they would now cover. Either which way, Egypt, America, Israel aren't going to be the same again.
What went on for 3 decades wont continue in the same manner for another 3. America this time round is a busted flush.
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:10 pm Post subject: Re: Middle-class revolution
conspiracy analyst wrote:
insidejob wrote:
At the moment, I see no potential for the Tahrir protests to include workers and poor people because I have not come across any protester making that link. There were strikes going on before the protests. It is not surprising that strikes would happen at the same time as the protesters.
Hundreds of slum dwellers in the Suez Canal town of Port Said set fire to parts of the governor's headquarters, angry over the lack of housing.
Unless you know Arabic and have access to people on the ground we dont know what is precisely going on. But when a dictatorial lid blows up, it is inevitable that eventually workers and social classes other than the upper middle class will join the fray. Everyone is going to vent their demands one way or another.
Museum workers in Cairo and transport workers have gone on strike despite the 15% increase announced by the government of public sector employees. These will spread as people no longer feel frightened by the terror machine of the Mukhabarat. The dictatorship is falling and is looking how to sustain itself.
Even the dictator Suleiman is threatening 'dark bats from the night' making a return, ie a new military coup. THis is a revolution in the making. Many are trying to influence it even the Americans by threatening to withold their subsidy, which the Saudis said they would now cover. Either which way, Egypt, America, Israel aren't going to be the same again.
What went on for 3 decades wont continue in the same manner for another 3. America this time round is a busted flush.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:36 pm Post subject:
Report: Egypt used Israeli technology to disable state's internet
Palestinian Information Center
February 9, 2011
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Egypt used advanced Israeli technology to disable the internet across the nation during the first week of popular revolutionary protests that began January 25, the Israeli Yediot Ahronot newspaper said.
The ruling regime was forced to ask for Israeli technology experts to block the internet in order to curb the swelling of protests that eventually demanded the ouster of President Mubarak, Ynet reported Wednesday.
The Nyrus software company designed a highly sophisticated program used to cripple the country's internet access, a leading communications source in Israel said.
The company has a deep track record of providing special technologies to the largest government internet supplier in Egypt and has also served telecom companies in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It specializes in the production of giant computers used by intelligence agencies across the world for purposes including eavesdropping on phone calls, monitoring voice communications over the net, recording internet activities, restoring emails and disabling the web in any country when needed.
Joined: 14 Dec 2005 Posts: 475 Location: North London
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:49 pm Post subject: Poor people's revolution?
Quote:
conspiracy analyst wrote:
Hundreds of slum dwellers in the Suez Canal town of Port Said set fire to parts of the governor's headquarters, angry over the lack of housing...Museum workers in Cairo and transport workers have gone on strike despite the 15% increase announced by the government of public sector employees... Unless you know Arabic and have access to people on the ground we dont know what is precisely going on..
Very interesting and valid point.
But I repeat what I have said. No protester I have heard on the media has said anything whatsoever about the poor.
I have to say, though, I am a bit dismissive about anything going on in Port Suez. The minute the protests began oil prices went up. They want us to believe that the protests will stop somehow oil shipping down the Suez. Protests and strikes in Suez are probably being arranged to justify hikes in the oil price.
by John Pilger, February 10, 2011
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The uprising in Egypt is our theater of the possible. It is what people across the world have struggled for and their thought controllers have feared. Western commentators invariably misuse the words "we" and "us" to speak on behalf of those with power who see the rest of humanity as useful or expendable. The "we" and "us" are universal now. Tunisia came first, but the spectacle always promised to be Egyptian.
As a reporter, I have felt this over the years. In Cairo’s Tahrir (Liberation) Square in 1970, the coffin of the great nationalist Gamal Abdul Nasser coffin bobbed on an ocean of people who, under him, had glimpsed freedom. One of them, a teacher, described the disgraced past as "grown men chasing cricket balls for the British at the Cairo Club." The parable was for all Arabs and much of the world. Three years later, the Egyptian Third Army crossed the Suez Canal and overran Israel’s fortresses in Sinai. Returning from this battlefield to Cairo, I joined a million others in Liberation Square. Their restored respect was like a presence – until the United States rearmed the Israelis and beckoned an Egyptian defeat.
Thereafter, President Anwar Sadat became America’s man through the usual billion-dollar bribery and, for this, he was assassinated in 1980. Under his successor, Hosni Mubarak, dissenters came to Liberation Square at their peril. Enriched by Washington’s bag men, Mubarak’s latest American-Israeli project is the building of an underground wall behind which the Palestinians of Gaza are to be imprisoned forever.
Today, the problem for the people in Liberation Square lies not in Egypt. On 6 February, the New York Times reported: "The Obama administration formally threw its weight behind a gradual transition in Egypt, backing attempts by the country’s vice president, General Omar Suleiman, to broker a compromise with opposition groups … Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was important to support Mr. Suleiman as he seeks to defuse street protests…"
Having rescued him from would be assassins, Suleiman is, in effect, Mubarak’s bodyguard,. His other distinction, documented in Jane Mayer’s investigative book, The Dark Side, is as supervisor of American "rendition flights" to Egypt where people are tortured on demand of the CIA. He is also, as WikiLeaks reveals, a favorite in Tel Aviv. When President Obama was asked in 2009 if he regarded Mubarak as authoritarian, his swift reply was "no." He called him a peacemaker, echoing that other great liberal tribune, Tony Blair, to whom Mubarak is "a force for good."
The grisly Suleiman is now the peacemaker and the force for good, the man of "compromise" who will oversee the "gradual transition" and "defuse the protests." This attempt to suffocate the Egyptian revolt will call on the fact that a substantial proportion of the population, from businessmen to journalists to petty officials, have provided its apparatus. In one sense, they reflect those in the Western liberal class who backed Obama’s "hope and change" and Blair’s equally bogus "political Cinemascope" (Henry Porter in the Guardian, 1995). No matter how different they appear and postulate, both groups are the domesticated backers and beneficiaries of the status quo.
In Britain, the BBC’s Today program is their voice. Here, serious diversions from the status quo are known as "Lord knows what." On 28 January the Washington correspondent Paul Adams declared, "The Americans are in a very difficult situation. They do want to see some kind of democratic reform but they are also conscious that they need strong leaders capable of making decisions. They regard President Mubarak as an absolute bulwark, a key strategic ally in the region. Egypt is the country along with Israel on which American Middle East diplomacy absolutely hinges. They don’t want to see anything that smacks of a chaotic handover to frankly Lord knows what."
Fear of Lord Knows What requires that the historical truth of American and British "diplomacy" as largely responsible for the suffering in the Middle East is suppressed or reversed. Forget the Balfour Declaration that led to the imposition of expansionist Israel. Forget secret Anglo-American sponsorship of Islamic jihadists as a "bulwark" against the democratic control of oil. Forget the overthrow of democracy in Iran and the installation of the tyrant Shah, and the slaughter and destruction in Iraq. Forget the American fighter jets, cluster bombs, white phosphorous, and depleted uranium that are performance-tested on children in Gaza. And now, in the cause of preventing "chaos," forget the denial of almost every basic civil liberty in Omar Suleiman’s contrite "new" regime in Cairo.
The uprising in Egypt has discredited every Western media stereotype about the Arabs. The courage, determination, eloquence, and grace of those in Liberation Square contrast with "our" specious fear-mongering with its al-Qaeda and Iran bogeys and iron-clad assumptions, bereft of irony, of the "moral leadership of the West." It is not surprising that the recent source of truth about the imperial abuse of the Middle East, WikiLeaks, is itself subjected to craven, petty abuse in those self-congratulating newspapers that set the limits of elite liberal debate on both sides of the Atlantic. Perhaps they are worried. Across the world, public awareness is rising and bypassing them. In Washington and London, the regimes are fragile and barely democratic. Having long burned down societies abroad, they are now doing something similar at home, with lies and without a mandate. To their victims, the resistance in Cairo’s Liberation Square must seem an inspiration. "We won’t stop," said the young Egyptian woman on TV, "we won’t go home." Try kettling a million people in the center of London, bent on civil disobedience, and try imagining it could not happen.
Allies of Empire? If students of current affairs learned anything this past week, it is that Egypt is not Tunisia. When the people took to the streets of Tunis in their masses, the Ben Ali clan took the hint, packed up their loot, and split.
Hosni Mubarak is no Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. A former general, Mubarak is a creature of the military and much like Pakistan, being an ally of the world’s richest country, has paid dividends to a whole cohort of the military, the better to protect a military dictatorship. They have grown fat and corrupt on a generation of U.S. money and they don’t want to give it up. That’s why you see Mubarak’s thugs beating protesters in broad daylight, lobbing Molotov cocktails at unarmed civilians, and terrorizing journalists. They don’t want the Baksheesh to end. And those thugs? Cops mostly, out of uniform.
The problem in Egypt has never been just a dictator. It’s been the dictatorship, a system of repression and terrorism which has been supported by the U.S. for decades. Why do you think the army is so strong? To fight Israel? Libya? The Sudan? Nope. It’s to keep the people in check, in fear, in terror. It ain’t to protect them, for the army is the tool of Mubarak and those that pay him.
A recent Newsweek article called the array of U.S. allies in the Middle East Mafia states designed to enrich families and serve the Empire. The people are incidental, means to an end. But, if they are Mafia states, the unasked and unanswered question is who is the Don?
Further, this journalistic description, while appealing, isn’t entirely accurate. For these nations are vampire states, draining the life, blood, spirit and dreams of the people. They are parasite states, lifeless relics of a bygone era that must be sternly fought for the light of freedom to dawn over Arab skies.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:40 am Post subject:
New Year's Eve Church Bombing in Egypt a False Flag?
Had it not been for the remarkable uprising in Egypt this last week and a half, the church bombing that killed 24 in Alexandria last New Year's Eve would easily serve as justification to fear Muslim extremists in the region. Instead, we have learned now that Habib el-Adly, former interior minister of Egypt, is a suspected mastermind in the deadly church attack with the intent to blame it on Islamists, escalate the Egyptian government's crackdown on them, and gain increased western support for the Egyptian regime.
The two patsies, Jundullah leader Mohammed Abdelhadi, and frequent prisoner and Muslim Brotherhood supporter Mohamed Khaled, were apparently set up to meet after the explosion by interior ministry officer Major Fathi Abdelwahid to evaluate the success of the attack. During their meeting, Major Fathi Abdelwahid and his security forces promptly arrested the patsies. This neat operation with the "suspects" in custody was suddenly upended when mass uprisings lead to the prison break. The two patsies fled to the British embassy in Cairo and reported that the plot was developed by Interior Minister Habib el-Adly.
Apparently, under el-Adly's orders, Major Fathi Abdelwahid recruited the Jundullah leader and the Muslim Brotherhood supporter to wire a car with explosives, hire a driver (Abdelrahman Ahmed Ali) to bring the explosives to the church, then detonate the bomb. The two escapees claim Major Fathi Abdelwahid detonated the bomb before driver Ahmed Ali could escape.
After this information hit the English embassy and various news outlets, Egypt's general prosecutor opened a probe on former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly's role in the bombing via proclamation 1450, which refers to British intelligence documents and points to the news reports sourcing a UK diplomat. This diplomat explained the reasons why Britain has insisted on the immediate departure of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his regime, especially his interior ministry's security apparatus previously directed by el-Adly.....
http://weeklyintercept.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-years-eve-church-bombi ng-in-egypt.html
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:31 pm Post subject: From 9/11 to 2/11
From 9/11 to 2/11
What we’ve all seen through all these years – through 3440 long days or exactly 113 months – has really just been their grossly distorted projection of this evil muslim monster that supposedly was responsible for horrific acts of violence like the September 2001 WTC attack and the July 2005 London Underground attack. But now we see the true arabs and the true muslims, fighting peacefully side-by-side with their christian and koptic brethren and sisters to relieve themselves of the yoke of an anti-democratic and pro-zionist dictator in the shape of so-called president Hosni Mubarak.
Today their struggle succeeded! And the careful but dangerous process begins to form a new future for Egypt, the Greater Middle East and, frankly, the entire world. We cried for you, we cried with you, and some day we hope we will laugh with you! And join you in the struggle for real democracy even in our part of the woods. Peace! Love! Revolution! Democracy!
You taught the world how to write on the wall, now you must teach us all how to read the writing.
Source: From 9/11 to 2/11 _________________ > this is a crisis i knew had to come
> destroying the balance i'd kept
> turning around to the next set of lies
> wondering what will come next
[ passover / joy division ]
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:47 pm Post subject: Re: From 9/11 to 2/11
Hallelujah ... to that.
TorsteinViddal wrote:
But now we see the true arabs and the true muslims, fighting peacefully side-by-side with their christian and koptic brethren and sisters to relieve themselves of the yoke of an anti-democratic and pro-zionist dictator in the shape of so-called president Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptians vow to continue protests
Sat Feb 12, 2011 12:55PM
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Egyptian protesters wave national flags in Cairo's Liberation Square on Feb. 12, 2011.
One day after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, thousands of protesters have vowed to stay in Cairo's Liberation Square until their demands are met.
Activists have demanded the release of political prisoners, the lifting of a 30-year-old state of emergency and the disbandment of military court. They say demonstrations will continue until the army accepts the reforms.
Political groups are also calling for the formation of a government led by civilians.
The Muslim Brotherhood says the military should hand over power to a civilian-led government.
A senior Muslim Brotherhood official, Rashad Bayoumi, said a civilian government must run the country until free and fair elections are held.
He also called for a constitution that guarantees freedom and human rights.
Meanwhile, the April 6th Youth movement also called for the formation of a civilian-led presidential council to run the country during the transition period.
The call came after Mubarak handed power over to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces, which is headed by Defense Minister Gen. Mohammed Tantawi.
The transition of power to the military comes while Mubarak, Vice President Omar Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq are all former military men. Analysts believe despite the transition Mubarak would still remain in power.
This is while millions of Egyptians have for the past 19 days called for the departure of Mubarak and the establishment of a democratic government.
Experts say the Egyptian revolution may fail to bring about reforms unless the military establishment is taken over by a civilian-led government.
"We have succeeded in a very important step which is getting rid of [President Hosni] Mubarak. But Mubarak for the past five years has not been governing this country. He's been sitting in Sharm el-Sheikh where he is now," Zulficar, a political analyst, told Press TV on Friday.
Zulficar added that Mubarak "hardly ever comes to Cairo. It (Egypt) has been run by Vice President General Omar Suleiman who was vice president until a couple of hours ago, may still be. It was run, from security point of view and from a foreign policy point of view by Omar Suleiman. He is a close friend of the Israelis and of the Americans. Nothing has changed."
He further said that the Egyptian revolution "is only the very beginning of a long process. We must be sure that we have civilian rule and not military rule. We must be sure that the remnants of this regime that are still in positions of power do not remain in these positions."
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:26 pm Post subject: Re: Poor people's revolution?
insidejob wrote:
Quote:
conspiracy analyst wrote:
Hundreds of slum dwellers in the Suez Canal town of Port Said set fire to parts of the governor's headquarters, angry over the lack of housing...Museum workers in Cairo and transport workers have gone on strike despite the 15% increase announced by the government of public sector employees... Unless you know Arabic and have access to people on the ground we dont know what is precisely going on..
Very interesting and valid point.
But I repeat what I have said. No protester I have heard on the media has said anything whatsoever about the poor.
I have to say, though, I am a bit dismissive about anything going on in Port Suez. The minute the protests began oil prices went up. They want us to believe that the protests will stop somehow oil shipping down the Suez. Protests and strikes in Suez are probably being arranged to justify hikes in the oil price.
It is clearly likely any strike, protest, instability will hamper shipping through Suez
Even if it's simply down to no one available to sign of the paperwork _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
EGYPT - PREPARE FOR ANGLO-AMERICAN INVASION (QUEL SURPRISE - NOT!) _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
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