Turmoil in Egypt

why not loan him mc cain and palin

they are surplus

 

You ARE stuck on Sarah Palin, aren't you?

 

absolutely, I sincerely hope she runs for president

 

There is frequent criticism of the US government in this thread and elsewhere for its foreign policies. It seems to me that the US, like any other country, is perfectly entitled to support other countries and generally conduct its business in a manner that favors its own objectives. However, it would be smart if the US leaders occasionally showed a little forward thinking.

In the past dictators were able to stay in power indefinitely but that era is ending IMHO. It can only be done by crushing the hopes of people which in turn requires total control of information, since - if people are able to see something better - once they know what they want they will strive to have it. Outside of N. Korea perhaps, I believe that degree of control can no longer be achieved indefinitely.

It is silly to support unsavory characters against the wishes and interests of a populace when it merely sets up an unstable situation that is going to bite you back one day. Like wacking a very large dog, it’s risky, short-sighted and nasty.

 

One more

 

Lived in Egypt for year...1981..Sadat assassinated two weeks after we arrived...Mubarak takes over...fast forward 30 years...time for Egypt to take it's place in the World...not just as a World Museum...the Middle East is getting really weird lately and I like it...

 

I would appreciate it if you do not post in my threads unless its on topic or serious.

 

Central bank seems to have the monetary side in order. the extent of economical damage is yet to be announced but stock exchange was hit very hard (20-30 Billion $) tourism is out, many foreign investors have pulled out as well.

The new ministers are showing a lot more care, seems they are trying to win the trust they lost back. NDP are as popular as AIDS now ... and a large portion have either resigned from the party or removed.

Things are settling down in the streets ....... and police are starting to show as well ....

 

Unfortunately i have no concrete answer to both questions. Currently too many parties are manipulating the political winds in Egypt.
Prior to this crisis i would say yes since we had the emergency law which entitled such actions, but lately the new reform are trying too hard to win the public's trust back and such actions would not help.

The people who did this had to get orders from some one though, who it is i am not sure.

In this moment any outside interference would be a problem. too many parties involved as is and the notion of asking another country for help is a dark area.

Food has stabilized now and what we need to do is rebuild things ourselves.
My personal advice is to have faith in Egypt and its people, so far the outcome of this crisis has been positive, major reform, audits on politicians, police are scared to go overboard, government - political parties and the people are all trying to reform.
I have faith in our abilities to stabilize our country so i guess we should hang tight for a little while and see how things develop while monitoring the situation.

 

Which parties are against the use of torture?
Are there any parties that were opposed to the USA sending prisoners to be tortured under extraordinary rendition?

You say that we should have faith in the Egyptian people, but it is difficult to have much confidence if the acceptance of torture is a national characteristic, and not just the psychopathic attitude of the military and the government.

It's great to hear things are calming down a bit for you!
All the best,
Leo.

 

Torture is not a national characteristic, it is a characteristic of certain regimes. Once adopted it is dificult to eradicate even following a regime change. The US has started down that slippery slope ... but it has been redefined as questioning under duress.

 

Every one ... no one openly admits to use of torture or police abuse. But having a corrupt systems means well connected people can get away with it.

Not sure i understand your point.

Who said normal? and who said national characteristic? and who said accept? Why do you think thousands are on the street protesting? How did you reach the conclusion that its not a psychopathic attitude?

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Thx leo its still a see-saw ride, we dont know where it will end ....

 

I think what Leo means by his second question is that its pretty widely known that the US sent prisoners not "responding" to interrogation techniques allowed under US law to Egypt for "further" interrogation. The assumption being that more aggressive methods were allowed there, bordering on if not actually including torture. These days we just use places like Guantanamo. A guy just died there after 9 years of incarceration and no charges ever having been filed, I think there up to 7 deaths in about 10 years, 5 suicides and 2 by natural causes. I think they attempted to try one case and it failed so now they just hold them without charges apparently till they die off.

There was a popular movie that dealt with the subject of people being sent to Egypt for interogation and so there's likely a lot of misconceptions here about what goes on there. At least that's what I'm learning as I read your posts. One think that I'm pretty sure does happen is that people disappear and are flown to secret installations around the world where they are held for interrogation. There have been several law suits by there families to discover there whereabouts and at least recover the bodies. One man in Canada ( a survivor ) filed suit for it having happened to him, I think it turned out that he won the case, apparently he had the same name as someone on a watch list somewhere. If I remember he was the subject of the movie I mentioned earlier. Its been a while since I saw it though and I cant recall the name of it at the moment and I could be mixing it up with another movie. Chances are I was out for a night on the town with a friend when I saw it and was pleasantly distracted.

 

How well is the western media covering the situation in Egypt ? I'm following the situation via BBC Africa Service on the Shortwave and Economist.com on the net.

Am I being exposed to the reality of what Egyptians think ?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2011/02/egypts_continuing_unheaval

 

Thx for the clarification boston ... no one wants blood on their hands and i sure hope the upcoming regime change means we dont have too ....

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Western media have had good coverage on some of the events, ignored others and where partially biased. Same goes for local news. But BBC does shine the light on whats going on.

Things have escalated again in Egypt, people are set on removing President mubark, some clashes and more protests ...
Estimates say about 8 billion dollars off foreign investors have pulled out of Egypt ...