So Mubarak IS stepping down. The military is taking over, which is good because it’s seen as the counterweight to the secret police, I guess. So what happens after that?
That said, this is some outstanding and inspiring television.
So Mubarak IS stepping down. The military is taking over, which is good because it’s seen as the counterweight to the secret police, I guess. So what happens after that?
That said, this is some outstanding and inspiring television.
Comments are closed.
Knock on wood. Keep your fingers crossed. Etc.
Problem is with Suleiman taking total control of the gov’t — will have to see where the military actually comes down…and on WHOM.
They’ve been doing their own torturing, btw, as reported in The Guardian. Were these rogue units? Were they acting on orders to try to intimidate the protesters with a final round of beatings and electric shocks? Who knows.
More on Suleiman’s intel and torture/rendition activities on The Leonard Lopate Show’s backstory feature. Guest is Lisa Hajjar, associate professor a thet University of California at Santa Barbara. Audio only, no transcript.
I had not known Sileiman flew to Libya where a US rendered detainee ended up, the guy whose torture forced “confession” of knowing Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda were working together — one of the pieces of intel Colin Powell used which was patently false. The prisoner was quite well when he spoke to human rights activists prior to Suleiman’s arrival, but by the time Suleiman flew back to Egypt the prisoner had “hung himself,” was found dead in his cell.
it’s only good if the military is later willing to be under civilian control and will lift the state of emergency. i’m not sure that they ever will, which essentially makes this a step sideways. rule by mubarak under a state of emergency that suspended civil liberties is not different from rule by field marshall tantawi under that same state of emergency.
on the other hand, mubarak had to go and you can’t have elections instantaneously. so at least this is a step forward in that sense.