Live Coverage: Developing Situation in Egypt

[apples]

Did anyone see it? Is it on now?

[GeronL]

The media is already giving Obama credit for persuading Mubarak to step down.

lol.

Will they still do that if the Muslim Brotherhood starts wholesale slaughter once they get in power?

[apples]

The media is already giving Obama credit for persuading Mubarak to step down.

lol.

Will they still do that if the Muslim Brotherhood starts wholesale slaughter once they get in power?

They will do as they do for the Mexican border. Say nothing

[apples]

anyone see it?

[Vonne]

Will they still do that if the Muslim Brotherhood starts wholesale slaughter once they get in power?

As concerned as I am, about religious parties coming to power in Egypt.  I'm fairly certain, that the independent army which has built it's self up over three decades as a moderate and rational force, wouldn't allow that.  Five to ten years from now, things may be different.

Bringing actual democracy to a country ruled as a dictatorship for longer than many of their citizens have been alive, will certainly have some unpredictable results.  Certainly not everyone will be pleased or happy.  We really should pray for a peaceful, moderate, and rational change of leadership.  

[Vonne]

anyone see it?

Sadly no    I'm not near a television.

[apples]

for anyone who missed it.....

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0211/obama_after_calling_mubarak_9ee28de0-15e8-4d96-aeec-b5e5c66d5bfd.html

WHAT HE WANTED: President Obama begins: "Over the past few days, the American people have watched the situation unfolding in Egypt. We've seen enormous demonstrations by the Egyptian people. We've born witness to the beginning of a new chapter in the history of a great country and a longtime partner of the United States."

He says his administration has been in "close contact" with Egypt and others in the region. "We've stood for a set of core principles," he says, commending Egypt's military for allowing peaceful protests. He adds, again, that the United States supports more rights for Egyptians, like the freedom of expression.

"Going forward, the United States will continue to stand up for democracy and the universal rights that all human begins deserve, in Egypt and around the world," he says. He then calls for the "need for change."

[jafo2010]

If the Muslim brotherhood seizes power in Egypt, you better believe it will be a blood bath.  And if that does happen, if the question is, will Obama be given credit for that too.....well....everyone on this site should know the answer to that.  As a Muslim, and he is one in mindset if not reality, one tends to be quiet about the transactions of other Muslims, unless they get in your way, then you get to call them INFIDELS, and kill them so you can get into heaven.

Maybe Mubarak should have turned to the Israelis for help, because believe me, the president of the USA is a true empty suit.

[JohnBrowdie]

well, turning it off didn't seem to accomplish anything.  maybe they thought everyone would go home and play farmville if they turned the broadband back on.

Egypt Restores Internet Service

The Egyptian government restored Internet service to the country Wednesday, ending an unprecedented week-long shutdown aimed at making it harder for protesters to organize.

In the end, the shutdown proved less an impediment than a source of fresh anger among ordinary Egyptians who suddenly lost contact with friends and family overseas. Protesters had no trouble pulling together larger and larger crowds, culminating with an estimated 250,000 people that gathered in central Cairo Tuesday to demand an end to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule.

The government restored Internet services back Wednesday, said Hassan Kabbani, chief executive of cellphone-service provider MobiNil. Websites that had been inaccessible for days, including the Central Bank of Egypt's, were available again at midday, and it was possible again to use services like Facebook chat.

The move appeared to be part of a broader appeal to return to normalcy following Mr. Mubarak's announcement late Tuesday that he wouldn't seek re-election this fall. An army spokesman appeared on television to ask protesters to return home and help "bring stability back to the country."

More

[apples]

Anderson Cooper Attacked by Mob in Egypt

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/anderson-cooper-attacked-mob-egypt-95628

Anderson Cooper was attacked in Egypt Wednesday.

CNN producer Steve Brusk Tweeted, "Anderson said he was punched 10 times in the head as pro-Mubarak mob surrounded him and his crew trying to cover demonstration."

Cooper then escaped to the roof of a nearby building, where he said on air that he and his crew were trying to get to a neutral zone between protestors and pro-Mubarak supporters when they "were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters punching us in the head. The crowd kept growing, kept throwing punches, kicks...suddenly a young man would look at you and punch you in the face."

I posted here. I am thinking this will be the ongoing Egypt thread?? Let me know if management likes the idea.

[JohnBrowdie]

I posted here. I am thinking this will be the ongoing Egypt thread?? Let me know if management likes the idea.

it's a wonderful idea.  if it's a big enough development to warrant it's own thread, feel free to do so.  smaller developments can be posted here.  and use your own judgment .  that's always good enough for us.

[JohnBrowdie]

mubarak told obama to "get bent".

One sign of his determination, analysts said, was a tough statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry saying foreign calls for a democratic transition to begin now were "rejected and aimed to incite the internal situation in Egypt."

"This appears to be a clear rebuff to the Obama administration and to the international community's efforts to try to help manage a peaceful transition to from Mubarak to a new, democratic Egypt," said Robert Danin, a former senior U.S. official now at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

More

[apples]

Egypt crisis: Mubarak supporters on horseback attack anti-government protesters

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8298587/Egypt-crisis-Mubarak-supporters-on-horseback-attack-anti-government-protesters.html

In chaotic scenes, the two sides pelted each other with stones, and protesters dragged attackers off their horses.

This is the first significant violence between supporters of the two camps in more than a week of anti-government protests.

It erupted after President Mubarak went on national television on Tuesday night and rejected demands he step down immediately and said he would serve out the remaining seven months of his term.

On Wednesday morning, a military spokesman appeared on state television and

[JohnBrowdie]

one favor that the unrest in eqypt is doing for the administration is keeping the furor over obamacare (specifically, it's being declared unconstitutional and the repeal efforts) below the fold.

[apples]

Does the White House Think Mubarak Is a Coptic Christian?

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/258749/does-white-house-think-mubarak-coptic-christian-paul-marshall

My esteemed colleague Lela Gilbert has forwarded this amazing post from an Atlantic blog. Marc Ambinder, White House correspondent for National Journal and a contributing editor at The Atlantic, reports (emphasis added):

    A number of White House officials were given an Encyclopedia Britannica-like briefing about the basics: how many U.S. citizens were inside the country and contingency plans to get them out; reminders that Egypt wasn’t a Muslim country; Hosni Mubarak was a Coptic Christian of a certain sect; the Muslim Brotherhood was at once an opposition political party and a co-opted part of the social system . . .

However, there is no shadow of a suggestion of a suspicion that Mubarak is a Christian (even of a “certain sect”),