All the President’s Men in Egypt

I talk to you during critical times that are testing Egypt and its people which could sweep them into the unknown.

The country is passing through difficult times and tough experiences which began with noble youths and citizens who have practiced their rights to peaceful demonstrations and protests, expressing their concerns and aspirations but they were quickly exploited by those who sought to spread chaos and violence, confrontation and to violate the constitutional legitimacy and to attack it.

Those protests were transformed from a noble and civilized phenomenon of practicing freedom of expression to unfortunate clashes, mobilized and controlled by political forces that wanted to escalate and worsen the situation.

Those were the opening lines of President Mubarak’s speech to the Egyptian people on Tuesday night, but the clashes he mentioned in the speech hadn’t taken place until Wednesday noon. That leaves us with two options: either the president enjoys a clear and rare foresight or he had already known that this was going to happen

I believe that this speech had been written for President Mubarak to be delivered after the clashes had occurred between the masses of peaceful demonstrators and the so called pro- Mubarak protesters in the Tahrir Square in the capitol Cairo.

However, because the drama of the Egyptian uprising is unfolding rapidly, the Egyptian regime blunders were inevitable. The regime has actually made quite a few blunders since the uprising started, like the deliberate and shameful security absence across the country and the suspicious jail breaks, but what the whole world witnessed on Wednesday morning in Tahrir – liberty – square is really unimaginable.

Throughout last week, anti-Mubarak protesters were demonstrating peacefully on a daily basis in Tahrir Square. On Tuesday, the numbers exceeded one million protesters, and despite the prior fear of loss of control over the crowds, the whole day went by smoothly with a display of jubilation and solidarity.

Seeing is believing, what everybody has been following on TV during the last week reflected a genuine and spontaneous grassroots movement that was making a strong and obvious statement in the most admirable and peaceful way.

But what we saw on Wednesday morning, thugs riding horses and camels holding whips and waving samurai swords storming into the peaceful crowds in a most obnoxious and vulgar display of terrorizing people is by no means something that any average Egyptian could easily identify as another government orchestrated raid by the Egyptian police militia of thugs.

I hate to elaborate on this ugly incident, but I’m afraid there is more to it than just the 7 killed and 800 wounded innocent protesters.  What the whole world witnessed taking place was not just mere clashes between protesters.  It was the brutal force of the regime stepping in, and in disguise, to terrorize and humiliate the protesters.  It was a demonstration of how dictatorships react to opposition, the ultimate display of disrespect for human rights. It showed to the whole world what the protests were about, it showed how the regime looked  down on the people of Egypt, and it showed how dispensable the man on the street was in the eyes of the regime.

I’m not talking about the violence that took place; rather I’m talking about who allowed this violence to erupt in the first place.  And even more, who is to benefit from it? Who facilitated and organized the transport, the supplying of weaponry, and admittance to the heart of the Square.

But most importantly, where are the security forces in that entire chaotic situation? Where is the government? Where is the army? Why hasn’t anyone stopped these criminal and violent accidents? Why are they being allowed to take place and proceed under the disgraceful surveillance of the Square military forces?

The deafening silence of the Egyptian government and the complete absence of the Egyptian police forces will only pave the way for the violence to sweep across the whole country.

Militias of thugs deployed by Mubarak’s regime are already erupting violence in many cities around Egypt. I wonder what happened to the emergency law implemented in Egypt or is this not an emergency according to all the men of the president in the interior and military ministry.

Only a criminal regime could allow such criminal acts to dominate and terrorize innocent people with impunity.

It is becoming obvious now that all parties involved or affected by this uprising are buying more time to sort out their private agendas in an attempt to come out of this without losing much.

The American administration wants to make sure that whoever succeeds Mubarak would follow in his steps in regard to the interests of the United States, and on top of which come the assurances that the peace agreement with Israel will be respected, and that the options for any Islamists rising to power would be limited to the minimum in Egypt. In this sense the American administration might have approved or turned a blind eye to the criminal counter attack of Mubarak’s loyalists.

The Mubarak regime is also buying time to wear down a nation on the verge of widespread violence that this regime has been inciting with the help of traitors and conspirators of the interior ministry and the ruling party.

The only party who wants to see this dilemma come to an end is the average Egyptian who doesn’t have the luxury of buying more time … or bread for that matter.

Most revolts are finally settled not by the crowds but by the words coming out of those who are controlling the security and military power in the country.

In the case of the Egyptian revolt, the crowds have been let down by conspirator security and impotent military men whom are obviously still siding with the president.

Any military unit could have easily controlled these ugly riots that are still taking place, which are being reported to the whole world to see,  and prevent it from spreading across Egypt and save the country before the advent of another Friday of rage.

Isn’t there anyone with a patriotic conscience to issue such an order and save Egypt from an impending disaster?

Aren’t there any patriotic men left in the world, or are they outbraved and outnumbered by all the president’s men?

Dr. Ashraf Ezzat is a medical doctor who writes articles about ancient Egyptian history, ancient Near Eastern history, comparative religion, and politics, especially the Arab- Israeli conflict. He can be contacted at: amenhotep.55@gmail.com. Read other articles by Ashraf, or visit Ashraf's website.

8 comments on this article so far ...

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  1. bozh said on February 4th, 2011 at 9:30am #

    i suggest that generals in most ‘democracies’ r the best mafiosos money can buy.
    and there is no politico in egypt who doesn’t know that and what they’d do if one endangers their privileges.

    believe me, generals don’t like to be countermanded. so, don’t make them angry or anxious unless u have jets, tanks, etc..
    believe me, that’s the only language they understand. tnx

  2. Ismail Zayid said on February 4th, 2011 at 2:25pm #

    The deployment by Mubarak of the thugs, mostly secret srvice personnel, testifies to his dictatorial rule that devastated the freedom and life of his people. Yet, his rule was very popular with his friends in Washington and Tel Aviv. The transition in Egypt, that the US is talking about, to install his chief of secret service, Omar Suleiman, as a president, is a testimony to Suleiman’s devoted service and friendship with America and Israel. Surely, that is not what the massive numbers of protesters in Egypt want.

    Will the hypocrisy of the leaders of the so-called free world, begin to see the audacity of their claims in calling for the introduction of democracy in the Middle East?

  3. Rehmat said on February 4th, 2011 at 3:12pm #

    bozh what are you – an ‘anti-Semite’ Zionist?

    Don’t you know that the great majority of Israeli prime ministers have been former IOF or Jewish terrorist groups’ generals.

  4. commoner3 said on February 4th, 2011 at 5:19pm #

    The ONLY well organised and well funded opposition group in Egypt is the Muslim Brotherhood. They are reactionary organisation that wants to transform Egypt into an Islamic Theocracy. They talk democracy and all that bullshitting until they get to power and then they will show their ugly teeth and there will be repression and brutalities againt any opposition comapered what happened in Iran after the Mullahs took over. The Shah repression is dwarfed but what the Mullahs did.
    It is in the interest of Israel that the Arab Societies become reactionary theocratic societies INSTEAD of secular modern societies.
    Israel nutured and helped Hamas to grow and now the Palestinian People is divided and instead of fighting the Israelis they are fighting each other.
    Hamas gave the Israelis the excuse to destroy Gaza and cripple big segment of the Palestinian people institutions and organizations.
    I am not supporting or defending Abbas and do not forget that the ONLY supper power in the world today is the USA, and it and the EU are behindIsreal 100% and that limits the options for any player in the International arena.
    Yes, Mubarak stayed too long he should have gone la long time ago, but immediate “transition” will lead to the Muslim Brotherhood taking over.
    He should plan the transition by giving the leadership to a General from the army, or someone is supported by the army, because the army is the only force that can stand against the Muslim Brotherhood.
    Forget about that “democracy” nonsense. Democracy will not work in Egypt and will lead to chaos and anarchy and instability.
    Real “Democracy” is very rare in the world. What we have in the US is a government by the Moneyed/Corporate elites and there is no REAL difference between Democrats and Republicans.
    Egypt fundemental problem is not lack of democracy, but population explosion. People breed like rabbits and the economy and the land cannot suppport and feed all these people and provide jobs for them! Egypt is the biggest importer of wheat in the world which consume a lot of its resources that should have been devoted for development instead of feeding the population.
    Any next ruler of Egypt will face the same daunting economic problems and I hope he will start a birth-control plan to limit the growth of the population. I hope he will have the courage and determination to confront the opposition from Muslim Clerics and religious people.

  5. jayn0t said on February 4th, 2011 at 8:21pm #

    ‘commoner3’ says “Hamas gave the Israelis the excuse to destroy Gaza”. There is something suspicious about this ‘gave the excuse’ argument. The French Resistance gave Klaus Barbie the excuse to murder thousands of Jewish civilians. The Paris Commune gave the authorities the excuse to murder the communards. You don’t give someone an excuse. This is particularly true of Israel. Israel doesn’t do excuses.

  6. commoner3 said on February 5th, 2011 at 4:15am #

    What is ominous is the strong similarity of the attitude and behaviour of the US toward the Egyptian turmoil to its attitude and behaviour toward the Iranian revolution where the US used its influence with the army officer corps to prevent any attempt by the army to confront the rebellion.
    It looks in both cases the US was paving the way for new regimes that are easier to pick a fight with in the future!!!! Why???!!
    In both cases both the Mullahs of Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt have a long history of secret dealings with the CIA before the “revolutions”.
    Whatever is happening in Egypt, if the US got its way insisting on immediate “transition”, the Muslim Brotherhood will take over installing a theocratic oppressive regime much much worse than anything before them and the result will be a far cry from any “National Liberation Movement”!!

  7. bozh said on February 5th, 2011 at 6:40am #

    rehmat,
    imo, u’r not setting a q.–u’r condemning! thus, u show disrespect. show first of all respect for basic human rights and then ask not a question but questions.
    it is the myth that there is only one question and one answer.
    but i am getting tired of constant personal attacks from some people and continuous deletion of my posts by the masters of free speech.
    it is time to spend more time on other sites!

  8. penelope said on February 6th, 2011 at 11:26am #

    “The American administration wants to make sure that whoever succeeds Mubarak would follow in his steps in regard to the interests of the United States,”

    clinton & obama, faces upturned in the moonlight, believe they are directing stars.