Updated Title: World Revolution 2011

[SmootSmack]

This live video of the protests in Egypt is stunning

Al Jazeera English - Live Streams - Watch Now - Al Jazeera English

[Tiggwin]

you know.. thats a hell of a thing when you have to call in the military to protect you from the police. Hard to get my head wrapped around that idea

[Alvin Walton]

Good video clip here too.

YouTube - Dramatic video as thousands clash with Egypt riot police in Cairo

[Lotus]

This is history in the making...the Arab world is getting turned upside-down.

[firstdown]

I have not had the chance to keep up with the story. So the military came in and started protecting the citizens protesting against the cops?

[Alvin Walton]

This shows no sign of slowing down.
I bet Hosni is outa there before Wednesday.

[Hog1]

Originally Posted by Tiggwin

you know.. thats a hell of a thing when you have to call in the military to protect you from the police. Hard to get my head wrapped around that idea

Not to worry.....the DC cops are to lazy for any of that..........

[FRPLG]

This is gonna keep happening over there. I guess the good news is that maybe...just maybe the people in that area of world are starting to want some serious change.

[JoeRedskin]

^^ Unless the serious change is the radical muslim faction that promises security, bread and education and, in return, only asks that you hate the USA your heart and soul.

The US needs to get behind any emergent democratic faction and support it - even if it costs us the Saudi's total support. The hard part will be telling who is an emergent democratic faction and who is an emergent fascist/authoritarian faction.

[firstdown]

A friend of mine told me last night that his parents are over there stuck in this mess. They have been under lock down and seems to be safe but with this stuff you never know what can happen. He said they tried talking them out of taking the trip but they went anyways.

[Tiggwin]

Originally Posted by firstdown

A friend of mine told me last night that his parents are over there stuck in this mess. They have been under lock down and seems to be safe but with this stuff you never know what can happen. He said they tried talking them out of taking the trip but they went anyways.

Firstdown, my prayers are with your friend and his family. I hope they can get out of this mess safely.

[Tiggwin]

Originally Posted by firstdown

I have not had the chance to keep up with the story. So the military came in and started protecting the citizens protesting against the cops?

Thats what was being reported in the news on Friday. Also I have seen footage where the citizens are waving to the Soldiers and the Soldiers are just sitting there waving back. Its as if they have no desire to continue to support Mubarak.

[firstdown]

So why is Obama supporting this up rising? There is a chance that this could become another Iran.

[CRedskinsRule]

Not much discussion on this, but Jordan's King just fired his Cabinet:
Jordan's king fires Cabinet amid protests - Yahoo! News

Seems like the whole Islamic culture is in the midst of a populist backlash. And it seems like the two opposing sides are democratic forces and extremists. What options does the US have in supporting the rise of democracies? Can we do anything without a backlash from our major supporter, the Saudi's - who have 0 interest in democratic reform? If the extremists get control of Egypt and/or Jordan, how does that affect our goals and withdrawal timelines in Iraq?

This could be a turning point in Mideast culture that either moves us forward for decades to come, or if bungled, we could set back any progress we have made (fleeting as it is) for the same decades.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by firstdown

So why is Obama supporting this up rising? There is a chance that this could become another Iran.

Clearly the US is caught between a rock and a hard place with this issue. There are legitimate democratic forces that are involved in the peaceful, so far, demonstrations, and they are voicing legitimate concerns so we as a country and by our supposed ideology need to be supportive of those groups and ideas. On the other hand, the Egypt-Israeli cooperative peace, such as it is, is vital to our national interest as long as we support Israel's right to exist, and Mubarak has a long standing relationship with the US, hard to break those ties without scaring our other allies. (there was a reason why the founding fathers warned of foreign entanglements!)