Revolt/Revolution in Egypt

[ICantSpellDawg]

Twitter and al jazeera for breaking stuff, morning joe before work, wnyc on the way to work, bbc ness as my homepage, economist on the toilet and for 3 hours on sunday and 30 mins per night, foreign affairs once per month, the realclear sites for random articles, drudge report because i cant kick the habit

[Lemur]

A fantastic point, well-made:

There is no overstating the importance of the fact that these Arab revolutions are the works of the Arabs themselves. No foreign gunboats were coming to the rescue, the cause of their emancipation would stand or fall on its own. Intuitively, these protesters understood that the rulers had been sly, that they had convinced the Western democracies that it was either the tyrants’ writ or the prospect of mayhem and chaos.

So now, emancipated from the prison, they will make their own world and commit their own errors.

[Viking]

Egypt dissolves notorious internal security agency

Egypt's military authorities have dissolved the country's notorious internal security agency, which has been accused of human rights abuses.

The State Security Investigation Service (SSIS) will be replaced with a new "National Security Force".

The new agency would be tasked with "protecting the internal front and combating terror", state TV reported.

The actions of the SSIS helped ignite the popular uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak last month.

Same as in Tunisia, then. Going to be very interesting to see how this revolution thingy turns out in the longer run.

[Viking]

The Egyptian revolution - not so revolutionary after all?

Omran was asking about a recent law that Egypt's ruling military council stood poised to approve, which would make protests a criminal offense punishable by jail time and huge fines.

According to a spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces, the proposed law would ban protests that "conflict with the productivity of the country."

"Those involved will be jailed and fined a minimum of 500,000 Egyptian pounds," about $83,880, Maj. Amr Imam said.

[...]

Atiya was referring to the violent crackdown of a sit-in that was organized on March 9 in Cairo's Tahrir Square. The sprawling urban space became famous over 18 historic -- and sometimes bloody -- days and nights of protests that led to the February 11 resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

But unlike in those previous demonstrations, on March 9, the Egyptian military targeted the protesters. Soldiers dragged dozens of demonstrators from the square and through the gates of the landmark Egyptian Museum.

That is where, 23-year-old Ramy Esam said, he was beaten to a pulp.

"The torture took four hours," he said recently. He spoke lying face-down on his bed because his back, buttocks and legs were coated with hideous bruises, scabs and cuts.

[rory_20_uk]

Sounds very revolutionary.

Robespierre, Trotsky and Mao would be proud. It's not a proper revolution if those who gain power don't then immediately exercise it on any percieved dissenters as "enemies of the state". After all, the people put the current rulers into power, so this new lot of protesters are against the people - and so no punishment can be harsh enough, can it?

[Viking]

The military has always had power, hasn't it. Lenin, Trotsky and Mao are still on the steets.

[rory_20_uk]

Trotsky headed up the Secret Police under Lenin in the new USSR. Mao had his Revolutionary Guard.

[Viking]

Point is: what you see is more a continuation of the past - not a consequence of this so-called revolution.