Posted January 30, 201114 yr Is it just me that cannot see this ending well at all? Mubarak is going to cling on to any hope of remaining in power he can. I can't see him telling the army to open fire on the protestors (I am sure he wants to do this, but the Americans will not allow it), but I just can't visibly see him giving up power, but the events of Tunisia are probably giving the citizens of Cairo hope..
January 30, 201114 yr If Mubarak falls that can only encourage demonstrators elsewhere in the region and we may see the domino effect as we did in eastern Europe two decades ago. If he holds on, the demonstrations elsewhere are more likely to fizzle out. In the past the main opposition has come from Islamist groups leading to the US and others adopting the "My enemy's enemy is my friend" principle. That's how the likes of Mubarak have been able to count on the support of the US despite leading increasingly autocratic regimes.
January 31, 201114 yr It's very early to tell... tomorrow's mass strike should reveal more clues about the future. My concern is the leadership vacuum right now -- if Mubarak resigns, who will take his place? I'm not convinced the Muslim Brotherhood would be an improvement, and virtually no other political institution exists. In a country that has been autocratic for decades and decades, there has been no way to build potential political leaders on an individual level. Sure, the youths are leading the riots today, but it won't be 21 year olds on Twitter vying for power tomorrow. It could be like Iran 1979 all over again -- the young liberals bring a revolution but aren't prepared or organized enough to take political leadership of the country. And then, of course, an autocratic, theocratic regime takes power. Or it could be like Iran 2009 when demonstrations are successfully quelled and all the momentum built just fizzles out. So basically, Iran is the case to avoid... Edited January 31, 201114 yr by Consie
January 31, 201114 yr Mubarak is going to cling on to any hope of remaining in power he can. I can't see him telling the army to open fire on the protestors (I am sure he wants to do this, but the Americans will not allow it), but I just can't visibly see him giving up power, but the events of Tunisia are probably giving the citizens of Cairo hope.. Sadly I think the US would much rather allow the army to fire on protesters than on Israel...
February 1, 201114 yr The fact of the matter is, really, the West is ultimately to blame for the situation that exists in Egypt.. Mubarak is in receipt of billions of economic aid from the West, and has been for decades, this aid came with no conditions and no pressure upon Mubarak to actually ensure plurality existed within Egypt, I believe that this whole sorry mess could've been avoided had the West put very stringent conditions on the aid they gave Mubarak... Mubarak is basically just another Western puppet, and if a political vacuum should follow his deserved well-overdue political demise, then we have no one to blame but ourselves if the "wrong" situation occurs, but we should cease and desist in propping up this thoroughly corrupt, evil dictator and his family.... The fact of the matter is the West's involvement in the Middle East since the 1940s has been utterly shameful, and now it's all deservedly beginning to unravel, if we dont like the results, well, we shouldn't have been meddling and propping up corrupt regimes in the first place....
February 11, 201114 yr I really think Mubarak made a big mistake by not going today. Now, the chances of Egyptians overthrowing the whole regime becomes much greater - which would potentially be very dangerous for everyone. If that happens, it could be what happened to Iran in the 70s, where, once the regime was overthrown, there was suddenly a huge void and so it was filled by Islamic hardliners that the Iranians didn't actually want - in Egypt's case, the pbvious comparison being the Muslim Brotherhood. The best thing for everyone would be for Mubarak to step down immediately and hand over to one of his deputies, who should then call proper, democratic elections in the next couple of months which would hopefully see the more moderate ElBaradei elected - but unfortunately, it seems Mubarak is too stubborn to go voluntarily, which increases the chance that Egyptians will see another corrupt, authoritarian regime replace this corrupt, authoritarian regime when it's inevitably eventually overthrown.
February 11, 201114 yr I'll wait a few days for the aftermath before I can decide whether it's worth celebrating. Hopefully we'll get announcements about new elections soon.
February 11, 201114 yr He finally got the message! The entire nation wanted him gone and about time as well. He didn't really have a choice. Could you imagine the security if he was left in charge.
February 11, 201114 yr I read in paper this morning that he was still there, and was quite sad for the people there :( hearing this later is really great news :D shows what people can do ^_^
February 12, 201114 yr The people should not feel afraid of the government, but the government should be afraid of the people.
February 12, 201114 yr The people should not feel afraid of the government, but the government should be afraid of the people. THIS.
February 12, 201114 yr The people should not feel afraid of the government, but the government should be afraid of the people. Indeed.... Something that Cameron and Osborne should bear in mind as well....
February 18, 201114 yr Not surprisingly, it seems that some of the ammunition and weapons being used against demonstrators in Bahrain and Libya were supplied by UK companies. Doesn't it make you proud to be British?
February 22, 201114 yr Not surprisingly, it seems that some of the ammunition and weapons being used against demonstrators in Bahrain and Libya were supplied by UK companies. Doesn't it make you proud to be British? Oh, yeah, flying the Union Jack proudly out of my bedroom window mate.... :lol: :lol:
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