Egyptian government on last legs, says ElBaradei

I wonder what kind of government would be in place if this one falls?

FOX News just reported that tanks at or near the Suez Canal have fired on the protestors and that some of the tanks are being attacked by protestors. It's about to get ugly over there.

Add to this that if the Muslim Brotherhood (which is Egyptian for 'Taliban') takes power then before the end of the year you can count on them eradicating every ancient Egyptian artifact and temple they can.

Mmm, the corrupt devil we know or the crazy Jihadi's who are waiting to take over. A real Hobsons choice.

Chatter among some of my friends who are still 'in' is that these uprisings are not coincidental and that there are definite Saudi ties to these events (which explains the relative calm in SA).

We may be seeing the birthing of the new fundamentalist pan-Islamic Caliphate.

Think of Russia in 1917. The Bolsheviks didn't take over because they were the most popular alternative after the Kerensky parliament collapsed. They won by default because they were the best organized group remaining. Ditto with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. This could end up almost identical to Iran in 1977 thanks to the rest of the anti-government opposition being so incoherent and disorganized.

Islamic fundamentalists in control of the most populous Muslim country in the world? It's as big a nightmare scenario as Pakistan collapsing and the Taliban taking control of the the nuclear arsenal. At this point the least worst outcome is if the Egyptian military stages a coup and exterminates most of the opposition leadership.

Syria has shut down the web.

If Egypt falls it will be like Spain defaulting on their debt. They will take everyone down with them.

Wow, this is a fast turn around. Hopefully something better takes its' place, but that seems unlikely.

I read that so far the protesters have been middleclass, secular types and that the Muslim Brotherhood has been mostly silent. So maybe there's some hope, tho we saw what happened in Iran - that didn't turn out well.

The key lies in who the police/military stand with.

This whole thing started when a student critical of the police died by 'choking on a bag of drugs he was trying to conceal from police', but cell pictures of his battered corpse told a different story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/world ... abuse.html

So, we know where the police stand.

This whole thing started when a student critical of the police died by 'choking on a bag of drugs he was trying to conceal from police', but cell pictures of his battered corpse told a different story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/world ... abuse.html

So, we know where the police stand.

It's not that simple. In Tunisia too, the police were corrupt and repressive, but once it became clear the protesters might be successful, many police joined them. Then they'll be corrupt and repressive for whoever gets in power next, unless of course democracy really does flourish. Doubtful, that.

The Egyptian police and military are now attacking foreign journalists (Google News).

Military be more important.



Bet the Brotherhood is just waiting in the wings, ready

to offer their brand of peace and love.

The Ayatollahs werent around for Iran in 1977, look how that turned out.