Mubarak stepping down..?

[GraveDigger]

It appears that president Mubarak is going to step down today. I hope that the Egyptian people make the most of this opportunity for democracy to take root in their homeland. At this point it could go either way but I believe the peoples desire to have a better life will endure and overcome.

[f0reseen]

i agree 100percent. Hope the outcome is good!

[RoosterCogburn]

He didn't. He is trying to deceive the people again.

[SjaaKTreKHaaK]

The hole world want that he leave,

By diong this, he make his country an bad thing...

[Husa]

He actually will leave his "president" position in 6 months..

[Fb!N!nJa]

lol he didnt leave, he sed he will in september (husa posted), for now he gave up most of his power to vice president.. technology today declines any attempt of assasination

[PHANTASM]

He's not going to leave.

 

His army is ten times stronger than the Tunisian president, who was forced out of power a month ago. The Tunisian protests inspired the Egyptians.

 

I am glad to see that the protestors have rejected the offer of solidarity from Iran and Hezbollah. Perhaps there is hope.

 

Mubarak, however, has a very powerful army by Arab standards and could simply arrest all the protestors Belarus-style if he wanted to. He is waiting for them to get bord and go home.

 

I would love to see the old bastard step down, the more I hear about him the less I like him, but he has not held onto power for 30 years by being easily influenced by others.

 

The Israelis and US government probably told him "don't step down, we don't want the fundies to take over" and now he as the green light to stay.

 

They will have to do more than send twitter messages and update their Facebook protest pages to get rid of Mubarak.

[PHANTASM]

I have a number of thoughts about this.

 

1) I am very surprised Mubarak stepped down. Obviously a bad call on my part.

 

2) I think Obama wanted him to step down, and since the US controls the purse strings (we give Egypt over a billion $ a year, probably a lot more now than ten years ago), Obama has some degeree of leverage in the situation. Obama has given a speech where he talks about how awesome this Revolution is, and it is clear he wants some of the credit since it happened on his watch and he supported it.

 

3) It is interesting that Mubarak fled to Israel. Not an Arab country. Not the US.

 

4) Now that they are a military dictatorship, it will be interesting to see if they still have those elections, and whether the new regime will respect the hated treaty with Israel.

 

5) The new regime has already postponed the September election to "sometime next year", so it's anyone's guess really what will happen.

 

6) Egypt is a Sunni-majority country, so they may have problems with Al Qaida (Sunni terrorist) if the Muslim Brotherhood (the indigenous Sunni terrorist movement) or Islamic Jihad (the other major indigenous Sunni terrorist movement) does not actively try to influence or seize control of the new democratic government (if the military gives up control next year to a democratically-elected civilian government).

 

7) Hamas is also interested in Egypt. Hamas controls Gaza, which used to be Egyptian territory prior to the 1967 Israeli invasion of Egypt. Hamas has a slight degree of influence in Egypt, particularly the Sinai region, which they use as a conduit for smuggling weapons to Gaza. The Egyptian protestors have rejected Hamas, as well as everyone else, so I hope they can retain their commitment to a secular democracy.

 

8) Anybody know the name of the top general who is in charge now? I just hear "the military is in charge now", as if that is a good thing, and we should be celebrating this.

 

9) I'm glad the Egyptians are happy, I'm sure if I had to live under Mubarak I would hate the old bastard too. I'm glad they did not have a civil war or Tiananmen Square event, which I was kind of expecting.

 

10) Anyway, best of luck to Egypt.

[GraveDigger]

I have a number of thoughts about this.

 

1) I am very surprised Mubarak stepped down. Obviously a bad call on my part.

 

2) I think Obama wanted him to step down, and since the US controls the purse strings (we give Egypt over a billion $ a year, probably a lot more now than ten years ago), Obama has some degeree of leverage in the situation. Obama has given a speech where he talks about how awesome this Revolution is, and it is clear he wants some of the credit since it happened on his watch and he supported it.

 

3) It is interesting that Mubarak fled to Israel. Not an Arab country. Not the US.

 

4) Now that they are a military dictatorship, it will be interesting to see if they still have those elections, and whether the new regime will respect the hated treaty with Israel.

 

5) The new regime has already postponed the September election to "sometime next year", so it's anyone's guess really what will happen.

 

6) Egypt is a Sunni-majority country, so they may have problems with Al Qaida (Sunni terrorist) if the Muslim Brotherhood (the indigenous Sunni terrorist movement) or Islamic Jihad (the other major indigenous Sunni terrorist movement) does not actively try to influence or seize control of the new democratic government (if the military gives up control next year to a democratically-elected civilian government).

 

7) Hamas is also interested in Egypt. Hamas controls Gaza, which used to be Egyptian territory prior to the 1967 Israeli invasion of Egypt. Hamas has a slight degree of influence in Egypt, particularly the Sinai region, which they use as a conduit for smuggling weapons to Gaza. The Egyptian protestors have rejected Hamas, as well as everyone else, so I hope they can retain their commitment to a secular democracy.

 

8) Anybody know the name of the top general who is in charge now? I just hear "the military is in charge now", as if that is a good thing, and we should be celebrating this.

 

9) I'm glad the Egyptians are happy, I'm sure if I had to live under Mubarak I would hate the old bastard too. I'm glad they did not have a civil war or Tiananmen Square event, which I was kind of expecting.

 

10) Anyway, best of luck to Egypt.

you mentioned the Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1967.., that was only in response to the unprovoked attack by Egypt. Israel did not initiate the 6 day war. I know that you know this but others who read this post possibly do not.

[Crasher]

What caused them to overthrow their leader (president) anyway? Anyone know?

[RoosterCogburn]

All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing

[JoeDirt]

Phantasm your knowledge of middle eastern politics is like George W Bush's knowledge of the word nuclear.

 

1. Of course he stepped down, you would as well if a bunch of generals with guns told you to.

2. Obama and west had nothing to do with this, this was all done by Egyptians.

3. He is not in Israel, he is a resort town of Sharm el Sheikh.

4. Its a military council which is nothing new for Egypt, and they said that elections in September are on, and they asked people to respect police and their authority. They will also respect their deal with Israel.

5. Stop watching Faux news.

6. Muslim Brotherhood already said last week they are not interested in running for office. Don|t get what you are trying to involve al qaida or islamic jihad when they haven't been relevant there for years.

7. Hamas are a bunch of Shia nubs backed by Iran through Lebanon they are a joke.

8. Its a military council.

9. Don't worry they will be crying for him when economy turns to shit by the end of the year.

10. @ grave Israel occupies a territory that was carved out by UN that came from Jordan,Egypt and Lebanon. And if you studied a bit about 6 day war you would know that Israel did indeed attack first.

[PHANTASM]

Phantasm your knowledge of middle eastern politics is like George W Bush's knowledge of the word nuclear.

 

1. Of course he stepped down, you would as well if a bunch of generals with guns told you to.

2. Obama and west had nothing to do with this, this was all done by Egyptians.

3. He is not in Israel, he is a resort town of Sharm el Sheikh.

4. Its a military council which is nothing new for Egypt, and they said that elections in September are on, and they asked people to respect police and their authority. They will also respect their deal with Israel.

5. Stop watching Faux news.

6. Muslim Brotherhood already said last week they are not interested in running for office. Don|t get what you are trying to involve al qaida or islamic jihad when they haven't been relevant there for years.

7. Hamas are a bunch of Shia nubs backed by Iran through Lebanon they are a joke.

8. Its a military council.

9. Don't worry they will be crying for him when economy turns to shit by the end of the year.

10. @ grave Israel occupies a territory that was carved out by UN that came from Jordan,Egypt and Lebanon. And if you studied a bit about 6 day war you would know that Israel did indeed attack first.

 

I heard on NPR (National Public Radio) a liberal station, on my way home from work Friday that the Egyptian military was postponing the election until next year. They said they were doing it to give people more time to get organized.

 

NPR is the exact opposite of Fox News. They even played Obama's speech. They also said on NPR that Mubarak was going to Israel after he leaves that resort town where he has a house.

 

I hope they respect their treaty with Israel. But the Israelis are deeply worried that they will not.

 

I never voted for George Bush. I always thought he was a retard.

 

As for a future outbreak of terrorism I hope I am wrong.

[PHANTASM]

Hmm just saw this article:

 

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/13/2065199/egypts-army-pledges-new-elections.html

 

 

Egypt's army pledges new elections within 6 months .McClatchy Newspapers

CAIRO -- CAIRO-Egypt's new military rulers said Sunday that they would dissolve parliament, suspend the constitution and hold elections for a civilian government in as soon as six months, addressing some of the demands of the protesters who ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

 

As Cairo returned to its daily routines on the first working day since the revolution, the announcement set a short timetable to organize elections while allaying fears about open-ended military rule. The military took power upon Mubarak's resignation Friday.

 

The decision by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces not to form an interim civilian government and to rule by decree in the meantime, however, left questions. Among them: What role will civilians play in the transition, and who will be on the committee to draft changes to the constitution?

 

Meanwhile, Israeli officials said they're unruffled by the regime change in their neighbor and leading Arab ally. A day after the Egyptian army said it would honor all international treaties - an apparent nod to its 1979 peace accord with Israel - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that the nations would maintain a strong relationship.

 

"I don't think the relationship in Israel and Egypt is under any risk, or that any kind of operational risk is waiting us just behind the corner," Barak said on ABC's "This Week."

 

In Cairo, the army moved more quickly to dismantle the vast protest camp in Tahrir Square, removing tents and barricades and opening roads to traffic. Some protesters resisted and continued to occupy parts of the square, although most complied with the soldiers' request to leave.

 

Among protesters' key demands was rewriting Mubarak's authoritarian constitution, which sets no presidential term limits, restricts political candidacy to members of his National Democratic Party and leaves little room for judicial oversight in elections. The military said it would form a committee to draft amendments, which would be voted on in a referendum, but it didn't provide details.

 

Protesters also called for scrapping Mubarak's rubber-stamp parliament after elections in November that were widely criticized as a sham. His party won 97 percent of the seats after independent experts accused it of harassing journalists, intimidating and arresting opposition members, and stuffing the ballot boxes.

 

Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, who was appointed by Mubarak during his final days in office, and Mubarak's Cabinet, will remain in their roles and continue to manage day-to-day government functions until a new Cabinet is formed.

 

But the military leadership, headed by Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi, appeared to leave some ambiguity. It didn't specify who would form the new Cabinet and when it would happen. And it also wasn't clear whether the military would rule beyond six months if elections aren't held by then.

 

Experts said the military is trying to strike a balance between promoting reforms and maintaining stability after the swift pace of the revolution.

 

They noted that some senior officials from the Mubarak era had lost their posts, including former Interior Minister Habib al Adly, who presided over a reviled police force and was fired in an 11th-hour attempt to calm the protests, and former Information Minister Anas el Fekki, who resigned over the weekend. Egyptian prosecutors have frozen the men's assets and barred them from leaving the country.

 

 

/endcopy

 

So, Friday they said the elections will be postponed until next year, and now it will be within six months.

 

Mubarak said he would not step down, and the next day he steps down.

 

The Army is shutting down the protests. The Israelis are happy. Perhaps new palms have been greased.

 

Well, at least we know who is in charge now, at least for today: Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi, whoever he is.

[RoosterCogburn]

SarahPalin tweeted she is on top of the situation in Egypt---Sh­e will be flying to Cairo,Illi­nois to make a speech as soon as she gets her passport.