[ Breaking News ] 'Strong likelihood' Mubarak will step down tonight, CIA director says

[jaxx]

Breaking News Alert: 'Strong likelihood' Mubarak will step down tonight, CIA director says
February 10, 2011 11:07:26 AM
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CIA Director Leon Panetta, in testimony before a House intelligence committee Thursday, said, "There is a strong likelihood that Mubarak will step down this evening," referring to the Egyptian president.


http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/K...5SQB4/MQ/h

Wow, just Wow. The people have spoken.

[jaxx]

<snip> The military's supreme council was meeting Thursday, without Mubarak, its commander in chief, and announced on state TV its "support of the legitimate demands of the people," AP said.

A spokesman said the council was in permanent session to explore "what measures and arrangements could be made to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people."

Gen. Hassan al-Roueini, military commander for the Cairo area, told thousands of protesters in central Tahrir Square, "All your demands will be met today."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con..._natlalert

[Peacetrain]

Suliman is a scary character in his own right. I hope it is not out of the frying pan into the fire..

Keeping a good thought for the people of Egypt.

[Treestar]

I suppose they will schedule some elections? But who is to run - not an easy thing to do.

Stepping down peaceably is something Mubarek should get some credit for. He could have made it difficult.[/align]

[There Is No Spoon]

It's nearly 8PM in Cairo - has he stepped down yet?

[atomic]

I'll believe it when I see it. Mubarak is clinging to power. His appointed VP should go with him.

[Born_A_Truman]

He's on MSNBC now. He seems to be dancing around.

[Born_A_Truman]

Doesn't sound like he's stepping down. Just re-stating he won't run for re-election. Will continue until September elections.

[RoyGBiv]

Al Jazeera is the go-to source for news on this.

Here's their live-blog. It gives you a good summary of what has been said and how the crowd is reacting to it.

Quote:11:05pm: He's not going anywhere soon. The volume in Tahrir Square has just ramped up in anger. the carnival atmosphere is changing very, very quickly.

I have exhausted my life defending the homeland and its security. I went to war, I lived through occupation and I lived through teh liberation of Sinai. I have faced death on many occasion.

11:03pm: Mubarak says the priority is to "restore confidence to our nation".

Egypt is braving hard times, where we cannot tolerate these circumstances to continue. Our economy has suffered losses and damages - and day by day it will end up where the youth, who are calling for more reform will be the first victims.

Is that a threat?

11:00pm: He says the current moment "is not related to my personality".

All Egyptians are in the same trench and we should continue engaging in our national dialogue we started, without enmity, to restore confience to our economy, peace and stability to our citizens and to restore the normal way of life to the Egyptian street.

10:58pm: Mubarak is speaking about his military achievements and hundreds of thousands can be heard chanting against him on Al Jazeera's split screen.

10:55pm Mubarak: "I have laid down a clear vision on how to resolve the crisis ... I have amended 6 constitutional articles and annul one. I confirm that I am prepared to propose or amend others as required"

10:52pm Mubarak says that he will not be leaving office immediately, as demanded by the protesters:

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2...t-protests

[There Is No Spoon]

Holy crap, the headline on Boston.com said he was stepping down, letting military take over.

Sooo, I reloaded page to post here and now he's NOT leaving office!!

WTF?????????????


"Egypt's Mubarak stays in office, transfers some power"

and...


Egypt's Mubarak transfers power to vice president

By Maggie Michael
Associated Press / February 10, 2011

CAIRO—Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced he is handing his powers over to his vice president, Omar Suleiman, and ordered constitutional amendments. But the move means he retains his title of president and ensures regime control over the reform process, falling short of protester demands.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middlee...News_links

[RoyGBiv]

(02-10-2011 03:34 PM)There Is No Spoon Wrote:  Holy crap, the headline on Boston.com said he was stepping down, letting military take over.

Sooo, I reloaded page to post here and now he's NOT leaving office!!

WTF?????????????

Most of the US reporters dealing with this don't have a single clue about the culture they're covering. This is one result of the direction the media has gone in this country, opting for entertainment and good looks over hard news and genuine analysis. John Stewart and other satirists aren't dealing with this well either.

There have been a few articles in Salon and Vanity Fair (when the hell did Vanity Fair become such a bastion of actual intellectual journalism?) that explore all this in far more detail.

Anyway, it boils down to this: He transferred some of his power to Suleiman, which really means nothing. Suleiman isn't going to do anything that opposes Mubarak. He sill holds his office and insists he will not submit to what he calls "foreign pressure" and step down before September elections.

The protesters are not happy with this, and it will continue.

[Born_A_Truman]

WTF? Is it power or greed or both that keeps him from stepping down??!! I can't write what's on my mind because my warning level would shoot through the roof! It's like he just shot a big finger to the Egyptian people.

[RoyGBiv]

(02-10-2011 03:43 PM)Born_A_Truman Wrote:  WTF? Is it power or greed or both that keeps him from stepping down??!! I can't write what's on my mind because my warning level would shoot through the roof! It's like he just shot a big finger to the Egyptian people.

Well, he's basically a dictator. Dictators tend not to willingly step down. I think the general consensus is that power becomes its own end. He probably genuinely believes no one can do it better than he can.

[RoyGBiv]

I fear that this is going to get really, really ugly before it is all over.

Mubarak is, imo, trying to bait the protesters into doing something that will "require" a violent response, and after that it's just mop-up.

Via Al Jazeera, one of the chants being heard after the speech: "We're off to the presidential palace. We're going as millions of martyrs."

[Born_A_Truman]

(02-10-2011 04:09 PM)RoyGBiv Wrote:  I fear that this is going to get really, really ugly before it is all over.

Mubarak is, imo, trying to bait the protesters into doing something that will "require" a violent response, and after that it's just mop-up.

Via Al Jazeera, one of the chants being heard after the speech: "We're off to the presidential palace. We're going as millions of martyrs."

Yes, he talked to them like children. He's taunting them to go off so he can crush them. I only hope the people and military show restraint and don't fall for his game.

[jaxx]

So the old man didn't step down and keeps his power while he plays with the people. What good will come of that? RoyG I wonder at his manipulations too. It's like he is dangling the carrot and then jerking it back when the people celebrate what doesn't happen. Mind games of the worst type.

It's like he is inviting their hatred and reveling in it. Twisted.

[Cha]

Bob Cesca's analysis..

Breaking News from Egypt

Mubarak to people: "Suck it."

Everyone believed Mubarak was announcing his resignation. He did no such thing. Something awful comes next.

http://www.bobcesca.com/

[azmouse]

I doubt the people of Egypt thought it would be easy to oust Mubarak. They've had to deal with him for 30 years.
What is happening now is probably no shock to them.
I hope things end well for them and they get the government they want.

[Cha]

Article from NYT on Mubarak's refusal to step down..

>snip<

The declaration by Mr. Mubarak that he would remain president marked another pivotal turn in the largest popular revolt in Egypt’s history, and some protesters warned that weeks of peaceful protests might give way to violence as early as Friday’s demonstrations. The 17-minute speech itself underlined the yawning gap between ruler and ruled in Egypt: Mr. Mubarak, in paternalistic tones, talked specifics of constitutional reform, while sprawling crowds in Tahrir Square, in a mix of bewilderment and anger, demanded he step down.

“It’s not about Hosni Mubarak,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/world/...ml?_r=1&hp

Seems right now it is about Mubarak.

>snip<

"After the speech, the mood in Tahrir Square, celebratory throughout the day, suddenly turned grim, as angry protesters waved their shoes in defiance — considered a deeply insulting gesture in the Arab world — and began chanting “Leave! Leave!”

Mohamed ElBaradei, the opposition leader and Nobel laureate, called for the military to intervene to avoid an outbreak of violence. “Egypt will explode,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “Army must save the country now.”

CNN reported hours after the speech that it had confirmed that “thousands” of protesters had reached the presidential palace in Heliopolis, a district of Cairo five to six miles from the city center.

By midnight local time, about 2,000 protesters had made their way from the square to the Radio and Television Building, which protesters loathe for propaganda that has cast the demonstrators as troublemakers. Armor was positioned along the street, and the building itself was barricaded with barbed wire, tanks and armored vehicles that kept protesters away. Many said they planned to sleep there, in yet another move to broaden their protests that have so far focused on Tahrir Square and the nearby Parliament building."

[RoyGBiv]

Quote:Responding to the Worst Speech Ever

It's hard to exaggerate how bad Hosni Mubarak's speech today was for Egypt. In the extended runup to his remarks, every sign indicated that he planned to announce his resignation: the military's announcement that it had taken control, the shift in state television coverage, a steady stream of leaks about the speech. With the whole world watching, Mubarak instead offered a meandering, confused speech promising vague Constitutional changes and defiance of foreign pressure. He offered a vaguely worded delegation of power to Vice President Omar Suleiman, long after everyone in Egypt had stopped listening. It is virtually impossible to conceive of a more poorly conceived or executed speech.

...

Obama doesn't have a lot of great options right now. Its policy of steadily mounting private and public pressure to force Mubarak to leave, and for his successor to begin a meaningful transition to real democratic change, seems to have almost worked. But for now seems to have foundered on Mubarak's obstinance. The administration, which is conferring even as I wrote this, can't be silent in the face of Mubarak and Suleiman's disastrous decision. It needs to continue to pound on its message that it demands that a real transition begin immediately, and to do whatever it can to make that happen now... even if its leverage remains limited. It should express its sharp disappointment with what it heard today, and continue to push the military to avoid using violence in the tense hours to come. Mubarak's speech today, with its frequent references to foreign pressure, poses a direct challenge to Obama (and also suggests how much pressure he was in fact receiving). Those who are suggesting that Obama wanted Mubarak to stay are nuts. Now it's time to double down on the push for an orderly transition to real democracy before it's too late --- and that is now.

http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/201...c4f4910a,0

[Cha]

Thank you for his, RoyG.

Yeah, the last quote I saw from Pres Obama before "The. Worst. Speech. Ever." was .."I think I've talked him into resigning". "Think" being the operative word.

All of a sudden Mubarak gets stubborn. That pic of Mubarak in the NYT article I linked is the worst photo ever! Not one to instill confidence.

[jaxx]

This just took a day longer than the pundits would allow. LOL now they can eat crow.