@3, no kidding. I can't help but think the Egyptian army being heralded as heroes here is one of the great triumphs of political tomfoolery this generation will ever see.
The military hasn't rescued the people from the iron control they've had over the country for 30 years, they've simply made a big show of moving the sword from the army's left hand (Mubarak and the police) to its right (the spymaster Suleiman).
One does not envy Egyptians the moment when they realize how little has changed, but the test will be what they do with that information.
The only possible hope here is the relationship between Egypt's military and the U.S.'s. Whatever is going on in terms of encouragement to do the right thing, is not going to happen in public. Unlike other armies belonging to other despotic regimes, Egypt's doesn't have any independent source of budgetary support; they're quite dependent on us, and they are aware of it. That spells a little bit of leverage.
If the Obama Administration pulls this rabbit out of the hat, resulting in a free and democratic Egypt, they'll never get the credit for it. I only wish the opposite was true.
@4,5: i'm trying not to be a cynic here - there are presidential elections in 7 months. we won't know until then.
if the Obama admin. backs up our american "principles" (i.e. we support democracy, period) by making continued billions in aid contingent on freedom and fairness, then we will be helping. but mostly, it's not up to us.
Keep in mind, the Egyptian military doesn't just shoot people. The leadership in the military has at least partial ownership of a large percentage of the business in Egypt, especially the tourism industry. They want a stable government and a stable capitalistic economy because they make shitloads of money off of it. It's in their best financial interest for Egypt to be stable and capitalist and to at least appear democratic and safe to draw in the tourist dollars.
Please wait...
and remember to be decent to everyone all of the time.
The military hasn't rescued the people from the iron control they've had over the country for 30 years, they've simply made a big show of moving the sword from the army's left hand (Mubarak and the police) to its right (the spymaster Suleiman).
One does not envy Egyptians the moment when they realize how little has changed, but the test will be what they do with that information.
The only possible hope here is the relationship between Egypt's military and the U.S.'s. Whatever is going on in terms of encouragement to do the right thing, is not going to happen in public. Unlike other armies belonging to other despotic regimes, Egypt's doesn't have any independent source of budgetary support; they're quite dependent on us, and they are aware of it. That spells a little bit of leverage.
If the Obama Administration pulls this rabbit out of the hat, resulting in a free and democratic Egypt, they'll never get the credit for it. I only wish the opposite was true.
if the Obama admin. backs up our american "principles" (i.e. we support democracy, period) by making continued billions in aid contingent on freedom and fairness, then we will be helping. but mostly, it's not up to us.
El Baradai could wind up president.