Feb 3rd, 2011
A short time ago, Egypt's new Mubarak-appointed VP, Omar Suleiman, made a statement in which he apologized for the violence in Tahrir Sqaure while simultaneously blaming it on "outsiders" and "foreign" agitators. Suleiman's history as one of Mubarak's torturers is widely documented.
The following is an account of yesterday's clashes.
David D. Kirkpatrick and Kareem Fahim report:
"President Hosni Mubarak struck back at his opponents on Wednesday, unleashing waves of his supporters armed with clubs, rocks, knives and firebombs in a concerted assault on thousands of antigovernment protesters in Tahrir Square calling for an end to his authoritarian rule."
"The deployment of plainclothes forces paid by Mr. Mubarak’s ruling party — men known here as baltageya — has been a hallmark of the Mubarak government, and there were many signs that the violence was carefully choreographed.
The Mubarak supporters emerged from buses. They carried the same flags and the same printed signs, and they all escalated their actions, from shouting to violence, at exactly the same moment: 2:15 p.m. The protesters showed journalists police and ruling party identification cards that they said had been taken from Mubarak supporters who had been caught infiltrating Tahrir Square, also known as Liberation Square, and detained in a holding pen.
The preparations for a confrontation began Wednesday morning, a day after Mr. Mubarak pledged to step down in September while insisting that he would die on Egyptian soil. The president’s supporters waved flags as though they were headed to a protest, but armed themselves as though they were itching for a fight."
This is similar to what happened with the Basiji right after the Iranian elections last year, who infiltrated protesters. Hundreds of plain clothes pro-Ahmadinejad 'enforcers' beat up on the pro-Mousavi people, not caring about the proven election fraud. As in the colonial period, the many are pacified by the few, who exhaust and then threaten them with mercenaries.
ReplyDeleteWe should be grateful Henry Kissinger's not still Secretary of State. Old Super K. would dispatch these rogue opportunists clamoring to be free and be back home in time to catch The Late Show. Hey, from Chile to East Timor the K Man "gets er done".
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