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9 Comments

  • David

    Having seen the protests in Egypt I think Mubarak requires persuasion from Obama, the US (or any other western power who have bankrolled his oppressive dictatorship over the past 30 years). The Egyptian Army has said they will not attack the protestors. Mubarak’s number is up.

  • Simon

    LOL, Are you f* kidding?! Obama won’t do anything. Same as your whole country. Why? Because he’s your player, you pay him for supporting Israel as rightful country in ME. USA pay him billions of $ to keep egyptian border with Palestine safe from gun dealers and muslim mercenaries. Moreover Egyptians are bunch of pussies – they should burn their government to single root. All those guys they present as new leaders are colleagues of old rulers, so it won’t change anything.

  • justiceontherocks

    Run for a fifth term??? He’ll be lucky to last until the end of February.

  • reason

    Mubarak is one of the few things that has kept the volatile middle east on its hinges. Letting the Muslim brotherhood get voted into office would be disasters for that region and for the U.S. economy. If this whole hoopla turned into a domino you can count on the U.S. economy plunging into a depression, the start of WWIII, and the reinstatement of the draft. If the Egyptians know what is good for them they will let another moderate ruler come to power. If they don’t they can count on a future of hardship and destruction of their ancient civilization. I was appalled to see people on t.v. destroying their own rich history and burning up their own property. Some people just don’t get it. The 1.3 billion that we are giving to Egypt is chump change in comparison to the trillions of dollars a stable and productive middle east has allowed us to make. I wish the entire middle east was ready for an open democracy, but some of the countries are just not there yet. Some things take time, and patients is a virtue. I am sure the Bush administration wishes they had headed that advice in Lebanon before they ushered them into the arms of Hezbollah the lapdog of the Iranians. Bush sure chose the wrong country to invade, the Iranians are getting stronger by the second and want nothing more than to send the U.S. economy into the dark ages, wipe Israel of the map, and destroy Sunni Islam clamming dominance over all of our middle east allies.

  • asdf

    @reason: I disagree, the Muslim Brotherhood does not advocate violence like many commenters suggest, and even then there influence is limited. If Egypt were to become an actual functioning democracy, with seperation of powers, gays could use the courts to advocate their right to privacy and the right to be free from harassment. Autocrat though he may be, Mubarak had to be seen as “moral”, thus punishing queers. The Egyptian protests are about the economy and mass unemployment, lack of political rights, etc. And if you recall, the Suez Crisis din’t end in WWIII, and the British and French economies didn’t collapse. I think Turkey might be a good example, while the government may lean to the religious right, they haven’t suspended rights to gays that would be allowed to everyone else (except marraige, of course). That said though, gay rights has put substantial delays in its acceptance into the EU.

  • Danny

    It only seems fair that the public harmed by the actions of politicians get to ultimately decide the fate of those politicians – rule of law be damned when law violates human rights. Think of how many people are experiencing human rights violations right this second on Earth compared to the number of politicians perpetuating those violations. That is the ultimate outcome of majority rules, right?

  • reason

    @asdf: The Muslim brotherhood may claim to denounce violence, but they have been engaged in it. Come on are we talking about the same group? Gay Rights? I don’t think so, the brotherhood wants to put the state under Islamic law meaning segregation of women, separate curriculum, old testament justice for starters. Freedom does not even enter the equation becuase there will be none, they view the rulers of Saudi Arabia as to liberal.

    It goes beyond the Suez Canal, Egypt is a state that helps legitimize the United States across the region and makes it easier for pro-western states to do business with us. It even takes pressure of the monarchs in Saudi Arabia to continue to be one of our closest allies in the region. All of our allies from the Saudis to the Israelis have stated that the brotherhood is persona non grata, that carries a significant amount of weight, and that is a key factor in locking down my opinion. Why trade allies that have been tested through times since Roosevelt, and have traveled with us through trials and tribulations all over the globe working with every facet of our government from the shadows (CIA) to the apex(president), for an unknown that has already exhibited behaviors that are of deep concern.

    I wish that the middle east was free and achieved great success political, economically, and socially but I am not sure that it is possible. I generally subscribe to the realist prospective when it comes to foreign policy, plan for the worst and don’t cut open the gates to the lions den becuase you have a little hope that they might not attack you. The scenario down there is not ideal, but it has been contained enough for us to continue doing business. I personally think (agreeing with your economics was the ignition switch) the main thing that we should focus on is economics, generally when things are going good for people in that realm they are less apt to stick their nose in someone else business. Solid economic policy and investment in the future of Saudi Arabia is likely what has kept this thing that is spreading through the region out of their borders. They are trying to modernize as quickly as the populous will allow.

    As far as Turkey, they are actually backsliding. The progress that they had made is being erased by the new more religious party that is now in power. The religious political groups are not the ones that were responsible for the progress that you are talking about.

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