Use access key #2 to skip to page content.

whereaminow (75.43)

Updates on the Revolution in Egypt (Spreading)

Recs

22

January 30, 2011 – Comments (14)

It's been said on CAPS often that we live in interesting times. We certainly do. Friend and foe alike, we all want the same thing. More freedom. Less oppression. (And a little extra dough hehe).

Here are the updates on the situation in Egypt. The unrest is spreading. Jordan could be next. Saudi is threatened.

From Mish:

Anti-government action in Jordan picked up and Jordanian Protesters Say Prime Minister Must Go

In Saudi Arabia, Dozens of protesters arrested in Jeddah

Bloomberg reports Saudi Stocks Decline Most Since May as Egyptians Defy Curfew

It's getting hot in here, so take off all your robes....

From Al Jazerra: Protests Erupt in Yemen

Dozens of activists calling for the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's president, have clashed with government supporters in Sanaa, the country's capital.

The Internet Gods Find a Way 

How Anonymous fought back in Egypt: Good old dialup. Anonymous set up a phone with an Egyptian number but located outside Egypt's borders. Flyers were then made with the dial-up number, username, and password and then distributed throughout Egypt. It wasn't highspeed, but it got some people back on the web.

Also assisting is a group called We Rebuild:

That's just what many Egyptians have been doing this week, as groups like We Rebuild scramble to keep the country connected to the outside world, turning to landline telephones, fax machines and even ham radio to keep information flowing in and out of the country.

Al Jazeera Ousted from Egypt

Does this mean an even harder crack down is coming, or that the situation is totally FUBAR?

The Egyptian authorities are revoking the Al Jazeera Network's licence to broadcast from the country, and will be shutting down its bureau office in Cairo, state television has said.

"The information minister [Anas al-Fikki] ordered ... suspension of operations of Al Jazeera, cancelling of its licences and withdrawing accreditation to all its staff as of today," a statement on the official Mena news agency said on Sunday.

Miltary joins Egyptian protestors

LATimes:

In the downtown area, demonstrations were mostly peaceful for much of Saturday. Unlike previous days in which police used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators, the only visible government security presence was a few military tanks and soldiers.

Many of the soldiers were unarmed, chatting with protesters, kissing babies and signaling their support with waves and thumbs-up encouragements. They made no effort to control or interfere with the protests.

David in Qatar

14 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On January 30, 2011 at 10:03 AM, catoismymotor (60.25) wrote:

Hosni does not want the revolution to be televised? Too little, too late! Kicking out Al Jazeera is just as bad as pulling the plug on Twitter, the internet and cell phones. Doing so will only fuel to the fire.

David, being in the region do you have some personal insight into just how fragile the House of Saud is? Do you think they are in trouble?

 

Report this comment
#2) On January 30, 2011 at 10:57 AM, whereaminow (75.43) wrote:

cato,

It's a double edged sword for the Saudis. On the one hand, they have the might of the US military stationed within their borders. On the other hand, that only angers many of the hardline Muslims even more. On top of that, the US isn't going to get involved in any civil unrest. On the other hand (yeah I know), the US will heavily influence any party that tries to step up.

Take a look at Egypt. This guy Sulemain (sp?) is being paraded as a possible successor. Well, he's a Pentagon puppet. So there is a reason the US media is talking about him as a likely replacement.

I think the chances of the Saudis going down are very remote. Obama doesn't threaten them to make reforms. They're way too valuable.

David in Qatar 

Report this comment
#3) On January 30, 2011 at 11:29 AM, GeneralDemon (25.46) wrote:

If memory serves, Osama's No.1 beef with the U.S. was it having its military in their holy land (Saudia Arabia). This was in the warning video released prior to 9/11 and the subject of a PBS Frontline program. Palestine was the No.2 issue.

Many parties will be scrambling to take advantage of this situation now, but I believe it was not spontaneous and is playing out as directed. 

Report this comment
#4) On January 30, 2011 at 11:42 AM, GeneralDemon (25.46) wrote:

Sorry, I posted prior to reading the Mish piece where he states:

Please remember Bin Laden's primary objection to the US was that US troops were on sacred Arab soil. So why do we do it? What has it brought us but misery?

But, is Mish a little bit naive when he states that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' is a flawed strategy when that is age-old standard politics?

Report this comment
#5) On January 30, 2011 at 12:25 PM, whereaminow (75.43) wrote:

GD,

Mish might have been referring to our habit of supporting guys that eventually turned on us, because at the time it was politically convenient to throw our weight behind them.

I noticed that a State Dept official (can't remember the name) emphasized once again that America should be able to influence Egyptian affairs no matter the outcome. Is that really what America should be doing?

Btw, Stock Market Logic just arrived. I think it was you that recommended it to me.  

David in Qatar 

Report this comment
#6) On January 30, 2011 at 1:30 PM, GeneralDemon (25.46) wrote:

David,

Same old, same old (U.S. with its tentacles in every country's business).  I believe it is just the Truman memorandum in action. As to the question of "is that what America should be doing?" -it seems to have worked so far.  One day the fat lady will sing though - I hope I'm not around for that!

I hope you take from Stock Market Logic what I did - ideas for, or new directions for your own investigations or modeling. As you, like me (I think), are a critical thinker, you won't assume the conclusions stated with every methodology identified in the book is correct. - or it may have been correct once but is it now?

That book has increased my overall return by thousands of Dollars over the years (I bought my copy in the eighties).

An example of just one item (of the many) from the book that changed my investment method:

The dimmishing reward in risk eliminated for having 32 stocks versus 16 in your portfolio, or 16 versus 8. -great stuff!

Please let me know how you like it (I hope it makes you lots of money).

GD

 

Report this comment
#7) On January 30, 2011 at 1:51 PM, 100ozRound (30.50) wrote:

Protests now in Yemen, Jordan, and Albania. 

Who's next?

Report this comment
#8) On January 30, 2011 at 4:52 PM, SkepticalOx (99.43) wrote:

So there is a reason the US media is talking about him as a likely replacement. [Suleiman]

No they aren't. The most credit they have given him is as a "transition" leader until "free and fair elections". Most in the U.S. seem to make an effort to point out that he's Mubarak's right-hand man and the protestors aren't happy at all with that.

I know you have a pretty dim view of U.S. mainstream media, and it's probably well deserved - but I don't think anyone truly believes that Suleiman will be acceptable as a replacement for the Egyptians. (from what I'm seeing from the major networks and papers in the US).

Report this comment
#9) On January 31, 2011 at 3:51 AM, whereaminow (75.43) wrote:

U.S foreign aid goes directly to other governments and their leaders, not to the proletariat. In Egypt’s case, which is not an exception, Mubarak has used the cash pilfered from U.S. citizens to fund his dictatorship and build a police state and intelligence apparatus that is most likely the envy or admiration of our domestic tyrants. It may seem outrageous that our U.S. leaders would be jealous of the Egyptian state, but don’t be naïve. Since the U.S. can’t yet convince Boobus Americanus that torture is okay even when the U.S. does it (though that reality is not far off and by any legitimate definition, "we" already torture), the U.S government’s favorite country to render "war of terror" suspects to be interrogated is Egypt where it is no secret that torture is used routinely. As long as the CIA can use Egypt’s secret prisons, the money keeps flowing. Mubarak’s regime has honed its evil skills first on political opponents, dissidents and anyone deemed an enemy of the state. The Egyptian State Security Investigations Department (SSI), headed by Omar Suleiman, the former national intelligence director and newly appointed Vice President of Egypt, has even gone so far as to humiliate, beat, whip and cut with razors women related to the accused. When the police bus comes to pick up an Egyptian, it probably doesn’t cross their mind immediately that the vehicle was probably bought with money from the United States Agency for International Development, and had been intended for school children and not for transporting citizens to torture prisons.

More here. I had a polysci teacher in college say that foreign policy was by nature amoral. Maybe so. But when immoral states act amorally, you get interesting results.

David in Qatar 

Report this comment
#10) On January 31, 2011 at 8:00 AM, Upstar75 (< 20) wrote:

Hi David, I have read many of your most and like to thank you for taking time and helping us along the way with valuable information.

I would like to put my own thoughts on some of the comments if you don’t mind.

GeneralDemon - “If memory serves, Osama's No.1 beef with the U.S. was it having its military in their holy land (Saudia Arabia). This was in the warning video released prior to 9/11 and the subject of a PBS Frontline program. Palestine was the No.2 issue.”
It is not Osamas beef (He is a moron and no one really thinks highly of him except the uneducated, previous criminals turned hard core Muslims and the fanatics. However according to the words of the prophet, as he struggled uniting the Arabic peninsula he did not want any foreign soldiers on the soil. This of course is well know to the Muslim and the Saudi inviting the US Troops has always been questioned in regards to this so they moved the based outside of SA.

Unfortunately the Palestine issue had always been what has caused many of the problems with the Muslims we face today. But lately many of the conflicts in the world has caused deaths of many Muslims, Iraq, Chechnya, Bosnia etc. and this has fuelled the hatred towards US even more as we all know not much goes on without knowledge of the US.

David in Qatar – “I noticed that a State Dept official (can't remember the name) emphasized once again that America should be able to influence Egyptian affairs no matter the outcome. Is that really what America should be doing?” It is not so much what America should be doing it is what Israel together with  America wants to do in this case as Egypt is so close to the Israeli border that instability in the country will cause massive problem for Israel. To keep Israel safe many of the Middle Eastern counties have had corrupted leaders with the support from the US.
I do want to emphasise that I do not mind US supporting other counties but in this case when you support a selfish and greedy bastard then it will eventually back fire. Many of the leaders have been stealing for so long and neglecting the country for so long that now we are witnessing the result.

As a final thought in general and I know some won’t like it at all, reason for all this unrest in the Muslim world is because of the situation in Palestine. When it comes down to it, despite the twisted and manipulated mainstream media in US and Europe THE LAND WAS TAKEN FROM THE PALESTINES. There was no legal right to establish Israel but it was established in the heart of the Muslim world.
As long as this conflict is ongoing and as long as US supports Israel we will never have peace.

Report this comment
#11) On February 01, 2011 at 5:19 AM, whereaminow (75.43) wrote:

GeneralDemon,

Thanks again for the recommendation. I hope it helps me half as much as it did for you.

ALCON,

I heard that Chris Matthews openly called for Mubarak to crush the dissenters. Is this true? Anyone have a clip?

David in Qatar 

Report this comment
#12) On February 01, 2011 at 10:21 AM, kdakota630 (32.05) wrote:

Not quite saying he needs to "crush the dissenters", but...

Report this comment
#13) On February 01, 2011 at 12:36 PM, smartmuffin (< 20) wrote:

David,

 DO we all really want the same thing?  Search around, there's no shortage of video clips of protestors who insist what they really want is a fundamentalist Muslim government committed to one goal, the destruction of Israel.  People who don't hate Mubarak because he's a brutal dictator, but who hate him because he's a "puppet of America"

Now, whether that particular viewpoint is a lunatic fringe held by a small, irrelevant minority, or whether it just plain doesn't exist at all, depends on the source of where you're getting your news from, but I'm sure intelligent minds can agree it is there.  Personally, I know very little about the middle east and I'd probably defer to you on this one.  What do you estimate the percentage is?

Report this comment
#14) On February 02, 2011 at 9:15 AM, whereaminow (75.43) wrote:

smartmuffin,

Well I don't know. I'd be guessing, but if that's what you want I'm happy to offer a guess. Just don't hold me to it.

The Israel-Palestine issue seems to be the driving force behind all ME populist politics.  Obviously Mubarak is an ally of Israel, which is more important to populist sentiment than the fact that he is also a DC whore and the recipient of much American taxpayer welfare.

This is typical though. America's amoral, immoral, whatever, foreign policy creates popular resentment. The resulting popular uprising is worse (for American government interests) than the bad guy they supported. Then these American stooges have the gall to say that this is an excuse for more money, more intervention, etc.

Sickening, isn't it?

David in Qatar

 

Report this comment

Featured Broker Partners


Advertisement