a thread about the civil unrest in egypt (& elsewhere in 'the region' if necessary)

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-egypts-day-of-reckoning-2196751.html

hillary right now tellin egypt to TURN THAT INTERNET BACK ON

TEAR THAT FIREWALL DOWN, MR MUBARAK

^^ this will be a headline soon if it isnt yet

haha yes that more what i was reaching for

egypt is gone off the net because of u

de nile of service

interviews on al jazeera seem to pretty much exemplify the state department position here: talking about how we're still besties with mubarak but making really vague remarks about how "our principles" require respect and support for the protesters, and refusing to reconcile or even acknowledge the contradiction while waiting out the crisis to see whom we have to negotiate with at the end.

reporters also keep saying things about the protesters in cairo and suez "welcoming" the military? and shaking hands in the streets? which seems like a really huge deal but which i can't get any details about.

reports are saying tens of thousands of protesters in egypt - in a city the size of cairo tens of thousands is not that big - def needs to grow to be effective

de nile of service

― maurice "baby doc" chevalier (brownie), Friday, January 28, 2011 1:18 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

fuckin nailed it

asp.net

Need to leave Mubarak a ladder to climb down xp, he can't be left with ordering fire as his only option. It might look duplicitous but it might work - trying to please a domestic audience shouldn't be a priority here.

Transition also needed or move up the September Presidential elections

curfew being totally ignored, NDP headquarters in cairo apparently firmly occupied by protesters. "no sign of police" in suez--just the army, whom the protesters are cheering. (in cairo they're being more aggressive with the army, at least outside the NDP building.)

Mubarak taking his time with the speech-writing eh

you can't rush inspiration

Polishing his prose with Nile water.

Obama doubtlessly making FDR's "our SOB" remaark about Mubarak

maybe a looter got his pen.

NDP headquarters in cairo apparently firmly occupied by protesters.

I have read that it was almost entirely burned down.

Best coverage on this is here: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

live stream here: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

xp -- it was! they are occupying the husk.

Unfortunately, I can't watch that AJE stream at work.

good info: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Apparently Syria is suspending Internet service as well.

my cousin who works for the state dept. just got assigned to egypt and moved there a couple weeks ago

exciting first day otj

I sent her an email saying whats up hows egypt

"I read a thread about it"

maybe someday she'll have enough internet to read that email

lol

al jaz reporting protesters finding ammunition that says "made in the usa" on it

I've never understood why anyone would stamp "made in ___" on a weapon. so stupid.

I remember some unedited footage aired on CNN a day or two after 9/11 from Afghanistan, and the presumably Taliban rebels were doing the same, holding up rocket launchers for the camera and showing the U.S. manufacturer info. If I remember right, it wasn't "Made in U.S.A." as much as the company name and city/state.

made in tulsa oklahoma whatever the fuck that is alalalalalalalala

born in the usa

designed by apple in california

watching Gibbs try to avoid saying that the US gov't continues to stand by Mubarak was relatively lolworthy.

"Does the administration continue to support Mubarak?"

"We're monitoring a fluid situation."

I read that as "we're monitoring a fuiud situation"

youth have formed a human chain around the national museum

ruling party hq "burnt down"

BBC reporter heavily beaten - he says there are many plainclothes police and they are "very very violent"

http://twitter.com/HosniMobarak

youth have formed a human chain around the national museum

yeah was so heartened when i saw this

also

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2011/1/28/1296235341346/An-Egyptian-anti-governme-007.jpg

An Egyptian anti-government activist kisses a riot police officer following clashes in Cairo. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

and now from bizarro world:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/258263/what-next-after-mubarak-michael-rubin

comments especially...

what will the army do, is the question, I guess

nro commenters standard line on anything happening in the middle east: IRAN IS BEHIND IT

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/258263/what-next-after-mubarak-michael-rubin

I couldn't finish this - every single sentence had something that was just flat-out incorrect in it.

NYT: My colleague Katrin Bennhold writes from Davos to point out that a senior Saudi official, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former director of Saudi Arabia's intelligence services and ambassador to the United States, was asked if a wave of democracy across the Middle East might be even more destabilizing than a nuclear Iran he had been warning against. He replied: "I don't know -- in Saudi Arabia we have neither nuclear weapons nor democracy."

lol

Reagan's Soldier

01/28/11 11:49

Link

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Iran is behind these protests. This is a clear attempt to bring an Islamist government to power in Egypt. The threat to America is dire. The threat to Israel is mortal.

America should launch airstrikes against the protesters. If Mubarak falls, and the new government includes any Muslims, we should launch a preemptive strike before the new government can hurt Israel.

what will the army do, is the question, I guess

― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Friday, January 28, 2011 4:00 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that is the question protestors pose