The question was tongue-in-cheek rhetorical ... But the police are wearing body armor ...

I IM'd with a friend in Alexandria, Egypt a few hours ago and she says she is scared -- you can't blame her it's a mess there.

Gunfire from demonstrators

Quote:

[M]orsi has been under house arrests at an undisclosed location. Other Brotherhood leaders have been charged with inciting violence or conspiring in the killing of protesters. In his televised address, el-Beblawi (*military appointed interim president) said the government could not indefinitely tolerate a challenge to authority that the 6-week-old protests represented. "We want to see a civilian state in Egypt, not a military state and not a religious state," he said. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...lence/2658671/

Democracy is not 2 wolves and 1 sheep voting who is for supper ...

Probably read that in the media ...

The people tired of military rule that started when the Wafd ended with The Free Officers coup de ta. Most famous Presidents Nasser and Mubarak were little better than dictators installed by "fair elections" like they had in the old USSR. Like the USSR there were land reforms with a socialist label applied. The poor Egyptians still make mud brick on the banks of the Nile to build their crude dwellings in rural villages as they did in antiquity and much of the Muslim Brotherhood's majority support comes from that Rural environment -- their majorities do not come from more urbane and sophisticated Egypt.

Then comes the "Arab Spring" revolts and the military seizure of power from Mubarak, his resulting trial and imprisonment, and contentious election of Morsi (Mursi) the Presidential candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. The same Muslim Brotherhood that helped Nasser come to power and whom he tossed out and made his political enemy after Nasser established the UAR with Syria. During Mubarak's reign the same Muslim Brotherhood attacked Egyptian government assets and tourists causing extreme damage to the Egyptian economy, much of Egypt's foreign earnings were from tourism. It was in act of sabotage to the economy -- with enough economic suffering the Muslim Brotherhood could seize political power -- which they did accomplish. However, the Muslim Brotherhood only knows religious hate with terrorism and how to destroy; e.g., their close alliance with Hamas and maybe, unproven their ties to other Islamic Fundamentalists. However, the Muslim Brotherhood has persecuted the few Shi'ite Muslims in Egypt as well as the Coptic Christians -- so they are not about sectarian tolerance at all and that was one promise that they made to gain power that failure being one of the main reasons that the Military took control to preserve the secular nature of the Egyptian government -- one of the foundations of the Wafd's overthrow in the 1950's by the The Free Officers.

This is why in Syria Assad and his father continuously to this day have fought and Massacred over 10K Muslim Brotherhood "insurgents (enemies of the ruling Ba'th)" and civillians in Hama, Syria. The Muslim Brotherhood are sworn enemies of the Shi'ite and Ba'athist party member.

In Egypt many of those that supported Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood found that after he took power that his promises were just a ploy to get elected and install a new constitution, by force without any meaningful parliamentary debate, and rejected his plans with civil resistance by peaceful protest -- then the Military ousted the "elected" leader to avoid what they saw as becoming a civil war.

Bottom line the pro-Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood supporters are a vocal and violent minority now -- armed and in open revolt.

The USA, Canadian and European governments are totally hypocritical and playing to the masses with their condemnations of the current military installed interim government in Egypt. If armed demonstrators shot and/or killed 43 policemen in their countries they would act very similarly -- meet deadly force with deadly force.

That wasn't an insult -- most of the Media coverage of what happened the last few days is simpleton drama.

It's for the most part little better than "newsspeak"

If the OWS demonstrators had armed themselves and killed 43 New York police -- just what do you think would have happened?

If when Zimmerman was found innocent, if there were hypothetical demonstrations with armed "black radicals" that killed 43 police officers -- just what do you think would have happened?

If the Neo-Nazis decided to have a big demonstration in a European city and were ordered to disperse then decided to stand and fight then killed 43 riot police -- just what do you think would happen?

They would all hold hands and sing Kum by ya?
Of course not, civil order would be restored like what happened during the Watts, Detroit, Newark and other race riots of the 60's and 70's -- 1,000 to 3,000 people died in American cities in the race riots of that era.

If all the Pakis in Toronto started demonstrating and were armed with knives and hockey sticks then attacked and killed 43 police or military dispersing an unlawful assembly that was warned to disperse peaceably -- what do you think would happen?


I can't expect world powers to acclaim the response in Cairo and the resulting carnage. The Russian and Chinese Foreign ministers haven't done so so far. Why, because they understand the nature of the problem having experienced similar situations. There are not 100,000 dead like in Syria and hopefully Egypt will not take that path.

There is more than one reality in the world.

Obama and John Kerry are either acting out a plan or are just behaving like childish politicians -- now the UN Security Council is convening sessions and will be entertaining resolutions.

Next thing you know there will be calls for the sending of peace keeping troops. The is no real likelihood of any reconciliation in Egypt and prolonging civil strife there seems pointless ...

In case you have any illusions of this situation's peaceful resolution ...

#OpEgypt



Muslim Brotherhood -- seems to define an oxymoron to me ...

Every account I have read in every media source quotes the same number but I wasn't there to actually count the bodies.

No one seems to be contesting the security forces count and there was funeral yesterday

http://www.enca.com/africa/egypt-pol...-repel-attacks

Quote:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...97F0G920130816 Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim has said 43 policemen were killed, a toll the Brotherhood dismissed as part of propaganda to demonize the group and justify an even tougher crackdown. The burnt-out remains of police vehicles still lay abandoned on roads near where the main pro-Mursi sit-in was dispersed.

According to Reuters photos/eyewitnesses 4 policemen for sure and counting.

https://d3819ii77zvwic.cloudfront.ne...13/08/main.jpg
A police vehicle is pushed off of the 6th of October bridge by protesters close to the largest sit-in by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in the eastern Nasr City district of Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013. Egyptian police in riot gear swept in with armored vehicles and bulldozers Wednesday to clear the sit-in camps set up by supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president in Cairo, showering protesters with tear gas as the sound of gunfire rang out. (AP Photo/Aly Hazzaa, El Shorouk Newspaper)

https://d3819ii77zvwic.cloudfront.ne...ypt_Darg-3.jpg
A member of the security forces is dragged and stripped of his vest by protesters after his police vehicle was pushed off the 6th of October bridge by protesters. (AP Photo/Sabry Khaled)

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/liv...MLEgypt~p3.jpg

Quote:

Egyptian police officers participate in a funeral where coffins are seen covered with national flags for policemen who were killed during Wednesday's clashes in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013. Egyptian authorities on Thursday significantly raised the death toll from clashes the previous day between police and supporters of the ousted Islamist presiden ... http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_23867533

None of this proves 43 police dead but then there is no proof now of the pro-Morsi / Muslim Broterhood's death counts either.

Like most violent political events there never is a full accounting of all the dead.

I am not trying to justify all that has happened the past few days in Egypt just to point out that if you try to attack riot police and soldiers in all likelihood if you are not shot you will be beaten badly.

And I have a horse in this race -- Maya wont be able to join me in Athens next month because she needs to renew her passport and get a visa to Greece -- so I am pissed off about this whole thing on a personal level.

I am getting a lot of background info from her point of view, feet on the ground so to speak, as she feels a deceived person by the whole revolution and counter revolution that has occurred in the past 2 years in Egypt. She lives in Alexandria, Egypt on the Mediterranean coast -- Egypt's second largest city.

Her Internet went off when they declared the state of emergency there yesterday at the time I was trying to ask her what she was hearing locally on the police death toll and if it was a true number.

News from Alexandria, Egypt -- Maya's internet is working:

Quote:

EST -4gmt (12:08:42 PM) maya: hi (12:08:46 PM) me: hi didn't see (12:08:55 PM) me: u still there (12:09:21 PM) maya: yes (12:09:23 PM) maya: how ru (12:09:36 PM) me: im OK and you? (12:09:50 PM) me: quieter today? (12:10:25 PM) maya: no more trouble (12:10:27 PM) maya: very bad (12:10:33 PM) maya: we r stuck at home (12:10:58 PM) me: there are riots in alexandria ? (12:11:11 PM) maya: yes (12:11:23 PM) maya: and they tried to attack police offices (12:11:27 PM) me: stay inside where it is safe (12:11:31 PM) maya: but i didnt watch the news today (12:11:35 PM) maya: very depressing (12:11:49 PM) me: are there really 43 police dead? (12:12:08 PM) maya: yes (12:12:08 PM) me: that is what they are saying in the media (12:12:24 PM) me: and the pro morsi deaths? (12:12:50 PM) me: they say 628 official MB claims 3000 (12:15:00 PM) maya: there r dead but not that much (12:15:37 PM) me: ok stay inside and away from the trouble (12:16:37 PM) maya: i am (12:17:15 PM) maya: but i was waiting for ramadan to end (12:17:26 PM) maya: then we had the feast and holidays (12:17:31 PM) me: do you have food in the house (12:17:36 PM) maya: after the feast troubles started (12:17:40 PM) me: ate it all? (12:17:42 PM) maya: i cant do anything now (12:17:47 PM) maya: yes my area is safe (12:18:05 PM) maya: we have grocery shops and fruit and vegtable shops in my area (12:18:12 PM) me: shoppes are open to buy food? (12:18:38 PM) me: go early in the AM safer (12:20:19 PM) maya: yes (12:20:21 PM) me: the UN is meeting in Egypt's crisis now but I don't think anything will happen -- talk talk drama (12:20:44 PM) me: a show for the world to watch (12:21:56 PM) maya: yes

There is your answer ...