Worth 1,000 Words

Feb 4th, 2011

An Egyptian anti-government protester uses debris to protect himself from the continuing attacks of Mubarak and Suleiman's Thugs.

Amanpour Takes It To The Strongman

Feb 3rd, 2011

FULL VIDEO OF TONIGHT'S ABC NEWS REPORT FROM CHRITIANE AMANPOUR IS BELOW.

I have two observation about the reporting today by Christiane Amanpour from Cairo. First, she is to commended for her profound bravery in journeying through a terribly dangerous situation to get her story. Second, she really didn't get much out of Pres. Hosni Mubarak other than confirmation that he is a delusional, besieged thug. 

From ABC:

"We had to take a route that ran through a neighborhood where there were pro-Mubarak supporters in the streets were setting up their own check points.

When we got stuck in a crush of traffic, we were surrounded by an angry mob.

Mubarak's Heavies

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."