Posted on 02/02/2011 9:28:31 PM PST by bruinbirdman
~snip~
Precious few have bothered to ask exactly what it is that ordinary Egyptians are after. They should, because—beyond the general dissatisfaction with the Mubarak regime now visible on the Egyptian “street”—the values and beliefs of the protestors are likely to have a profound influence on the nature of the political order that will eventually emerge there.
On that score, it turns out, there’s ample reason for pessimism. As Caroline Glick, one of Israel’s most astute observers of regional affairs, pointed out this week in the Jerusalem Post:
“According to a Pew opinion survey of Egyptians from June 2010, 59 percent said they back Islamists. Only 27% said they back modernizers. Half of Egyptians support Hamas. Thirty percent support Hezbollah and 20% support al Qaida. Moreover, 95% of them would welcome Islamic influence over their politics…
Eighty two percent of Egyptians support executing adulterers by stoning, 77% support whipping and cutting the hands off thieves. 84% support executing any Muslim who changes his religion.”
Egyptian values, in other words, are far from liberal—even if some of the protesters currently out in the streets might be. This, of course, runs counter to the idea that has taken hold in many quarters: that the end of the Mubarak era will inexorably lead to democracy in the heart of the Arab world. But numbers don’t lie; Egyptian society as a whole is both religious and deeply conservative.
It is also desperately poor. National unemployment stands at around 10 percent, while a fifth of Egypt’s 80 million person population lives on less than $1 a day. And the Mubarak regime, for all its talk of economic prosperity, has consistently failed to create jobs, leading to massive brain drain and emigration. It’s no wonder that Egypt’s economy ranks among the most “unfree” in the Middle
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.forbes.com ...
They want a Islamic Democracy.
And our corrupt media not reporting how they are screaming “Jihad, Jihad” in the streets.
I do not believe I have seen this beast on this planet.
CA....
I keep hearing them say they are hoping for CHANGE.
The doofus brain-dead majority here fell for that empty platitude without considering there could be CHANGE different than what they hoped for. Now they have CHANGE they never dreamed of in their worst nightmares.
They Egyptians need to focus on that fact before they end up slaves to an Islamo-Facist regime that takes away what freedom and prosperity they do have and turns Egypt into another thought prison like Iran.
But Obama’s gonna heal the oceans or sumthin...
Can we give them our “Change”? As far as I’m concerned he’s available and it will bring him closer to his homeland.
And there’s not even a handle to flush that toilet.
Sharia.
Well, it’s tough to figure out whether the US dollar is going to be worth diddlysquat, or whether the US influence on the Islamists is going to be worth Zer0!
The State Run Media seems to not notice the distinct lack of female participation in these “freedom” protests.
Egypt is just following the common trend seen throughout the Islamic world. We all know what’s going on.
It should not come as a surprise if there is another Iran in the making. Another country in total control by Muslims is just what the Middle East needs and we want. Will be interesting to say the least
All we hear about is that Mubarak needs to go, that Obama agrees with the Egyptians in the street who want "change." We're not hearing what these people want, not hearing about the Muslim Brotherhood, not hearing about the radicalism, not hearing about any anti-American sentiment among protestors or what a post-Mubarak Egypt is likely to be like and mean for the rest of the Middle East including Israel.
The American People are being lead down the garden path by an apparently incompetent Obama and a sycophantic national press.
You'd think Mubarak was some horrific jihadist dictator and the people wanting him out immediately, unwilling to way for "free and fair elections" in Sept., just want freedom, liberal utopia and American-style democracy.
“All we hear about is that Mubarak needs to go, that Obama agrees with the Egyptians in the street who want “change.” We’re not hearing what these people want, not hearing about the Muslim Brotherhood, not hearing about the radicalism, not hearing about any anti-American sentiment among protestors or what a post-Mubarak Egypt is likely to be like and mean for the rest of the Middle East including Israel.”
I’ll play devil’s advocate for a moment. What should Obama be doing?
Whatever shakes out of that mix if Mubarak falls will be a hard-core theocracy, hellbent on exporting radical islam and destroying Israel. I don`t care how many of those diseased brains Mubarak`s men bash in, his staying on as ruler in Egypt is the only workable scenario for the West.
The MB has already stated it`ll close the Suez Canal and launch attacks on Israel. Considering the MB is the only alternative to Mubarak, give me Mubarak any day of the week.
What should Obama be doing? How about expressing support for a longtime American ally? Those simians in the streets need to be ruled with an iron fist. Better the dictator be an American friend.
One option rarely considered is to do nothing. There is an underlying distrust of the US in that region and if the US meddles we will receive all the blame and none of the praise.
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