Well, the world just changed.
Hey, I told you it would yesterday. Then I told you never mind, it wasn’t changing quite yet.
CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt resigned his post and turned over all power to the military on Friday, ending his nearly 30 years of autocratic rule and bowing to a historic popular uprising that has transformed politics in Egypt and around the Arab world.
The streets of Cairo exploded in shouts of “God is Great” moments after Mr. Mubarak’s vice president and longtime intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, announced during evening prayers that Mr. Mubarak had passed all authority to a council of military leaders.
“Taking into consideration the difficult circumstances the country is going through, President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave the post of president of the republic and has tasked the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to manage the state’s affairs,” Mr. Suleiman, grave and ashen, said in a brief televised statement.
Even before he had finished speaking, protesters began hugging and cheering, shouting “Egypt is free!” and “You’re an Egyptian, lift your head.”
“He’s finally off our throats,” said one protester, Muhammad Insheemy. “Soon, we will bring someone good.”…
Here are other versions of the story: BBC, WSJ, Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, Jerusalem Post, Al Jazeera (English version, that is) and more…
There’s a bunch more I could say, and probably should say, but I’ll go ahead and get this up so y’all can discuss it, and maybe I’ll add my thoughts within the comments thread.
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Now it actually gets REALLY interesting. Events have been moving so quickly that any thoughts one might have often turn out to be superseded within days, sometimes hours. For me the biggest question is what impact this might have on internal politics in Iran. From what I gather, both the regime there as well as the domestic opposition are trying to “own” the Egyptian revolt. If there is a large enough group in the middle who are discontented with the oppressive tactics and economic mismanagement of the Iranian regime, I suspect they will not buy Ahmedinejad’s claims of solidarity with pro-democracy protesters in Egypt.
The key for them will be fair and free elections. We’ll have to wait and see about that.
As an aside, where Mubarak is holed up is certainly one place that makes the world seem microscopically small. One can see four countries across a body of water that looks about as big as Lake Murray – Isreal, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. I wonder what he’s thinking about his neighbor’s across the bay? And what they are thinking of Egypt now?
Will Egypt tilt toward extremism? Or will it follow a more balanced path? And can they trust their military, or will they find themselves with a more repressive government? I hope that the Egyptian people can pick their way safely through this maze.
I was listening to Rush Limbaugh today and predictably he was blaming President Obama regarding Egypt.
Also called the Egyptian people “leftists communists” as if to dismiss their concerns and problems with their dictator – and somehow this was a reflection on President Obama. (like the people there have had a real choice)
I guess 3 failed marriages, a drug addiction, and living in a 25 million dollar mansion on the Florida east coast isn’t great preparation for having empathy for people that have lived in abject poverty under a dictator in Egypt.
I am not really a fan of the President. But it’s interesting to hear the lengths people go to in order to blame him for virtually everything that happens anywhere in the world.
You have to actually hear Rush say it to get the full twilight zone impact:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201102110045
Rush has become more disciplined and careful over the years, so these moments when the mask really slips are now somewhat rare. His daily schtick is now clinical, predictable, and expertly profitable. Thus it was rather remarkable to hear him stride so aggressively into the Idiot Swamp today. I guess it’s only legitimate when it happens in the Eastern Bloc and the U.S. President at the time happens to be a Republican. Otherwise it can only be an enviro-feminist rent-a-mob.
I have felt an admiration of the Egyptian citizens as they have protested peacefully and thankful that their military kept it peaceful. In a strange way, it was the same feeling I felt for the Israelis during the 1st war with Iraq. My memory is of Israeli citizens at a concert with their gas masks as they trusted us to handle Iraq’s threat against them. The Israelis exhibited great courage then, and the Egyptians have exhibited great courage for the past month. I hope they are greatly rewarded with a safe and free society.
I posted it in the ‘heads-up’ from yesterday, and I think it bears repeating.
While the Egyptian army has never minded having one of their own in power, th generals themselves are traditionally reluctant to rule. The Egyptians are good people; I hope the transition is to a representative democracy in some form and that the transition is smooth.
@jfx and @Barry: since you mentioned Rush, one of the amusing spectacles on the sidelines during this whole Egypt thing has been watching the right-wing fragment and at times erupt in open feuding over this, as in Bill Kristol vs. Glenn Beck.
As for how our country has conducted itself through the public and behind-the-scenes actions by our President and team, I think Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy says it all in this post:
http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/11/mubarak_leaves_at_last
Interesting relationship regarding non-violent demonstrations:
Egyptian Activists Inspired by Forgotten Martin Luther King Comic
Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/02/11/martin-luther-king-comic-egypt/#ixzz1DnS16WBf