Posts Tagged ‘Mubarak’

Tripoli falls, Americans and free people everywhere rejoice

August 21, 2011

Government ethics 101:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

These words of Thomas Jefferson are the core principle of government. Perhaps nothing defines being American so much as a belief in these three sentences. So every American must be joyful at the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

The bloodbath that the evil dictator promised hasn’t occurred. His troops defending his capital seem to have melted away as the rebel army drove, almost anti-climactically, into Tripoli.

What comes next no one can say. The people who united to oppose the dictator soon will have nothing so powerful to unite them. Qaddafi claimed—like Mubarak before him—that he (more…)

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Pray for Egyptians and hope the Army protects the people, not the regime

February 10, 2011

 

It’s difficult to think of anything but Egypt, and the dangers that Egyptians face, tonight or tomorrow. Hundreds of thousands have gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, many having been there for a week or more. They were led to believe —by statements from a senior Army general who came to talk to them today—that “All your demands are being met.”

Their hopes were dashed by President Mubarak’s speech at 11pm Cairo time, in which he blamed the unrest on rash youth who had been stirred up by “satellite television stations” foreign provocateurs, and his favorite long-time bogeyman, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Mubarak spoke after the military high command had met, so it’s logical to assume that he has the support of the Army.

The demonstrators are angry. They’re not going to follow Mubarak’s suggestion that they return home and then to work. Tomorrow, Friday, the Egyptian weekend starts, and the biggest crowds yet will mob central Cairo. They likely won’t be docile and they might not be satisfied to stay in Tahrir, perhaps heading for the Presidential palace.

The Army has appeared to be on the side of the people up to now, but after today’s events it appears that it has decided to back the regime.

What’s an American to hope for? (more…)