Weekend Edition: Democracy In the Streets of Cairo

Latest The dictator told a western media personality that he was "tired of ruling", but if he resigned Egypt would decend into chaos. That disingenuous claim harkens back to another despot who said, "Après moi, le deluge". Cairo is relatively quite after a huge pro-democracy crowd celebrated their victory over counter-revolutionary forces in Tahrir Square. A standoff has ensued with the President hunkered down in a heavily guarded palace compound while freedom fighterscontinue to occupy the epicenter of the revolution, Tahrir Square.  Government leaders have resigned and Murbarak has resigned his position in the ruling party, but the main demand that he leave office has not been met. Apparently, Murbarak and his advisers believe he can outlast the street demonstrations. A direct assault on the palace by freedom fighters would cause the army to respond with superior force, undoubtedly resulting in a blood bath. But the longer the street protests continue, the greater the adverse impact on Egypt's moribund economy. As one protester put it, "all the cards are being played". The US special envoy to Egypt and professional diplomat, Frank Wisner, continues to support the dictator remaining in power during a transition to democracy.  Others including the protestors see the Egyptian system of laws as so broken that a complete break with the past is critically necessary before any legal reform can begin. Wisner's father help found the CIA and ran its clandestine service. Frank Wisner Sr. had a nervous breakdown after the Soviets crushed the Hungarian revolution of 1956. He committed suicide in 1967 at a secure CIA facility outside Washington DC. The younger Wisner reportedly has a close relationship with Mubarak since serving as US ambassador to Egypt under Reagan and Bush I.*

More: {3.2.11} Democratic fighters have driven out the pro-Murbarak forces from Tahrir square [photo] in the 10th day of what now must be termed a revolution. The Egyptian army is thought by informed observersto be the final arbiter of the future of Egypt. Whether the army will throw in with the democratic forces in the street hangs in the balance. As of now it is not in control of the situation. The generals' decision may be based on how deep and wide the pro-democracy forces are, as well as their willingness to endure and perhaps die for the cause. Already a dozen or more have died, gunned down by Mubarak "thugs" in running battles.

Update: {2.2.11}The forces of reaction have entered the fray as pro-democracy demonstrators suffer the blows of a regime bent on remaining in power. The army has declared its neutrality for now, and protesters have wisely rejected the dictator's offer to leave after elections are rigged in September. So Mubarak and his cronies have resorted to organized violence to resist popular demands he leave now. There are reports three people have been killed and hundreds injured in street battles.

{30.1.11} Ever notice how your government sides with the dictators whenever the status quo is threatened by a spontaneous eruption of the democratic impulse? The only recent exceptionsUS Person can think of are the several bloodless uprisings in Eastern Europe when the facade of communism crumbled at the end of the millennium. But those democratic movements served the strategic interests of the United States. Faced with a pan-national Islamic movement that has the potential to disrupt the balance of terror in the Middle East, the US mutes its criticism of the repressive dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, a long time US ally. V.P. Joe Biden said on TV, "I would not refer to him [Mubarak] as a dictator." The US has provided Mubarak's regime with $28 billion in aid in the past thirty years. In effort an effort to appease protesters calling for his resignation, Mubarak put forward Omar Suleiman, the powerful chief of Egyptian intelligence and CIA collaborator as his successor**. Events in Tunisia caught Obama & Folks flat footed, now they are scrambling to decide which side they should support in Egypt. In a popular 2009 Cairo speech Obama said that too often nations were treated as proxies rather than reflecting the will of the governed. Despite living under emergency rule for three decades, Egypt has well developed political parties and most do not want to support Islamic extremism. You can send your best wishes to the people of Egypt, who are fighting for their freedom after 30 years of oppression. Go to the Avaaz.org website and sign the petition calling for international solidarity with Egyptians.

**according to journalist Richard Neville writing at Counterpunch, Suleiman personally supervised the torture of suspected terrorist and Australian citizen, Mamdouh Habib, rendered to the Egyptians by the CIA from Pakistan. Habib was subjected to near drowning. His fingers were broken. He was electrocuted, beaten, and hung from hooks. When this torture was not enough to make him talk, a shackled Turkistan prisoner was murdered in front of him on the orders of Suleiman. Habib's "confession" was then used against him in a "trial" at Guantanamo. The long, shabby history of US meddling in Arab affairs through the support of oppressive regimes is bearing strange and unwelcome fruit. But no paid counter-revolutionaries can alter the motivation to put one's body on the altar of revolution after thirty years of repression.
*The Independent reports that Frank Wisner now works for the law firm of Patton Boggs which advertises that it advises the Egyptian military, the Egyptian Development Agency, and handles litigation for the Murbarak government in Europe and the US. Not surprisingly Wisner was until recently vice chairman of AIG the giant international insurance company rescued by US taxpayers. Mubarak picked up another personal endorsement from none other than 'Darth' Cheney who said the despot is a "good man". That ought to be the clincher.