Earlier, we posted the BBC interview with American stock trader and analyst, Alessio Rastani. His pronouncement was basically that the sky will soon be falling and the grounds wil shake. Seriously. Here's a somewhat less alarmist (although not by much) report from Europe via PBS.
When Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said these words yesterday, many were stunned. Personally, I don't think any of Mubarak's people could have put it better. They really, really don't get it.
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.
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.
"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."
"I'm meeting with a retired general at a Tel Aviv hotel. As I take my seat, he begins the conversation with: “Well, everything we thought for the last 30 years is no longer relevant."
That pretty much sums up the disorienting sense of shock and awe that the popular uprising in Egypt has inflicted on the psyche of Israel’s establishment. The peace treaty with a stable Egypt was the unspoken foundation for every geopolitical and economic policy in Israel for the last 35 years, and now it’s gone. It’s as if Americans suddenly woke up and found both Mexico and Canada plunged into turmoil on the same day.
"Everything that once anchored our world is now unmoored," remarked Mark Heller, a Tel Aviv University strategist. "And it is happening right at a moment when nuclearization of the region hangs in the air."
The events unfolding throughout Egypt are provoking an interesting variety of responses from the right. First, there is this very sober and thoughtful essay in The National Review by Duncan Currie:
"The history of democratic Christendom," (Reuel Marc)Gerechtwrotein TheWeekly Standard, suggests that "you don't get to arrive at Thomas Jefferson unless you first pass through Martin Luther."
This photo is causing quite the stir around the world. It should. It shows an Egyptian protester holding one of the hundreds of spent tear gas canisters that litter the streets of Cairo. As you look at it, remember that it was our tax dollars that payed for it's manufacture. It was our tax dollars that payed for it's shipment it to Mubarak's regime. It was our country that made it possible for a people crying out against their own tyrannical government to be abused with "low-intensity" chemical weapons.
History seems to be repeating itself. In a stunning scene many are comparing to the moment when "Tank Man" stood alone in the path of soldiers moving into Tienanmen Square more than two decades ago,
an Egyptian protester this afternoon obstructed an advancing water cannon unit in the streets of Cairo. The video below shows the event. As of this writing, Egypt has blocked Twitter and 3 are dead amidst calls for President Hosni Mubarak's resignation. There are reports the president's family has fled the country.
Early reactions on the part of authorities were muted. We see again what is always the case with repressive regimes. When you loose the yoke of real tyranny, even very briefly, it does not take long for a people to bare their anger and their bravery.
