Egyptian unrest- Good or bad?

[NJMaverick]

In terms of our nation's interests are the riots against the government and the possible collapse of the Egyptian government a good thing or a bad thing?

[Shea]

I've been wondering the same thing. Does anyone know if these are Iranian-revolution-style right wing revolutionaries or are these protesters coming from the left?

[RoyGBiv]

(01-28-2011 01:06 PM)Shea Wrote:  I've been wondering the same thing. Does anyone know if these are Iranian-revolution-style right wing revolutionaries or are these protesters coming from the left?

As far as we can tell (and we can't be absolutely certain at this stage) this uprising is being fueled largely by secularists.

Now whether that turns out to be good or bad is a question in itself. There's no guarantee a secular government, if one were to emerge, would be friendly to Americans after we've propped up what a sizable minority in Egypt have considered an illegitimate regime ever since the assassination of Sadat.

[KonaKane]

It's a good thing. Mubarek is nothing less than a common despot, who has been using loopholes and legal trickery to stay in power far beyond the era he should have. I personally know a few Egyptians who have had their vocally anti-Mubarek friends or relatives "disappeared" by Egyptian security forces.

I would not only love to see this result in Mubarek's ouster, but hope that it ripples out to other Middle Eastern autocratic regimes. A wave of democracy is not a bad thing. Let the Jasmine Revolution spread.

[OptimistesMaddie]

It's not only Egypt, there are other countries that are experiencing the same kind of situations.

There is something going on. If Egypt continues to keep the internet, twittering etc off they will have an uprising that may be unstoppable.

I think this is significant...

[spazito]

I think it is a good thing, the people of Egypt have the right to determine the direction of their country regardless of the 'interests' of any other country, imo. They are demanding their democratic rights, how can that be a bad thing? I fear for them as we know all too well despotic countries can and will use violent force to shut such popular uprising down.

I was very impressed with the response from the President and the Secretary of State on the uprising in Egypt, calling for recognition of the legitimate concerns of the people of Egypt, return of the internet and cell phone communication and for both the government and the protesters to avoid violence.

[Capn Sunshine]

Unfortunately, The Muslim Brotherhood is trying to hijack this. Reporters this morning said that it was The Muslim Brotherhood that coordinated todays demonstrations via the mosques. Whether they succeed will remain to be seen.
It may be the secularists are sick of Moslem conservatives as well.

[RoyGBiv]

(01-28-2011 11:12 PM)Capn Sunshine Wrote:  Unfortunately, The Muslim Brotherhood is trying to hijack this. Reporters this morning said that it was The Muslim Brotherhood that coordinated todays demonstrations via the mosques. Whether they succeed will remain to be seen.
It may be the secularists are sick of Moslem conservatives as well.

From an article posted in another thread:

Quote:The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition organization in Egypt, is a first-rank enemy of Al Qaeda, and has been for decades. (A chapter in the recent “Self-Inflicted Wounds” from West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center lays out the feud, and how it has played out in Egypt, South Asia and elsewhere, in detail. Briefly, the Brotherhood’s goals have been more political and focused on individual governments—and thus less focused on what Bin Laden refers to as the “far enemy”—the United States homeland.)

http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/82...s-in-egypt

The media over here are playing up the role played by the Muslim Brotherhood because that's what our media do whenever there's a "scary Muslim" story around.

Based on what I was seeing from Twitter feeds and from independent reporters in Egypt blogging and tweeting before all that was cut off, the Brotherhood are involved and are welcomed by secularists and Christians protesters. This whole thing really is democracy at its most pure. It's a general uprising, not one limited to one sect of the populace.

There's an anecdote that came across Twitter. I can't of course vouch for its accuracy, but it sounds reasonable anyway. At some point during the protests, Muslim protesters needed to observe their time of prayer but were faced with riot police trying to move them and just waiting for an opportunity due to distractions and reduced numbers. Christian and secular protesters formed a ring around them so that they could observe their prayers and hold off the riot police.