What is your take on the Egypt situation?
This is how I see it right now:
-The Egyptian government is corrupt and oppressive. However, while it may be internally tyrannical, it is generally on good terms with foreign countries.
-The revolution is seeking to overthrow this government because their rights have been slowly disappearing. However, these revolution is violent and the groups seeking to gain power are just as bad (Islamic extremists and such) and may lead to foreign conflicts
What do you think about this?
(please correct me if I am wrong, I have tried to read up on the subject but I may have missed something
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17 Answers
It looks like a nationalist uprising against an oppressive and corrupt government. It doesn’t have very much at all to do with Islamic extremism.
Riots have more to do with the Suez Canal than frustrated Egyptians. Look to Iran.
Revolution generally is violent. Just ask the french king.
I think it’s great that people are joining together to fight for their rights. I wish we could all do that on a regular basis.
The reports I hear say the the violence is provocations by the police.
Yes, the Mubarak regime has remained friendly to the West. But it’s about time we let our foreign policy walk the walk. Either we support freedom or we don’t. This revolution is about gaining freedom to hold government accountable. Every other little dweeb group just wants to jump on it and coopt it for their own. If someone does coopt it, then the Egyptians will merely be exchanging dictator for another. The new one will probably be far worse.
I have friends there and I haven’t been able to reach them. This is scary, and I hope they are safe. I don’t know any way to help besides petitioning our own government to cut ties with them, but, alas. Some level of our government will make deals with theirs if our government doesn’t condemn things too strongly in order for us to have access to the energy to power my computer or send snail mail and thus petition my government to stop supporting dictatorial regimes.
My head hurts.
Unemployment is high and people are starving. They tend to get a bit upset when that happens. I just hope it doesn’t happen here in the US.
The middle class which has been particularly oppressed by this single party government ruled by a has been 85 year old “dictator” is saying time for a really big change here.
1. I don’t think it’s clear that the Muslim Brotherhood stands to gain the most from this revolution. The people protesting don’t seem allied with Islamic extremists for the most part (which is why the protests are actually effective).
2. I don’t think the protests are particularly violent compared to other full-scale political revolutions.
I say, good for the protesters, and good luck to them. (But I hope they don’t let the Muslim Brotherhood co-opt a government that rises from the ashes.)
Sorry to say. I did watch the news but still I could not understand why they were fighting and bombing. Though I am quite dissapointed with the protesting and even other people dying. I have always wanted to go to Egypt as a business woman. I know that I will stop but I am still scared… thinking what if it starts again while I am in that country.
I am confused also, many sources seem to portray this a democratic uprising but a few coincidences concern me. 1) Sudan, Yemen, & Jordan seem to be going in unison w/ protests, those countries do not have a good track record of international cooperation, however, wouldn’t we want overthrow there because of that reason? 2) Trashing & looting of museum’s etc similar to Taliban. 3) Muslim Brotherhood sees the Koran as a “constitution” for statehood structure-that means Islamic Theocracies like Iran, Pakistan etc.4) A polarized Egypt prone to Muslim rule will send the region into chaos, create war with Israel-very bad situation obviously. Don’t know which side to support, regular people demanding better, or geopolitical understanding?
@learning99, Jordan’s track record is among the best in the middle east…
The trashing and looting is not similar to the Taliban. The Taliban blew up Buddha statues for religious reasons—it wasn’t looting. Looting occurs everywhere there is an absence of police presence. Also, Egyptians have for the most part defended their museums.
The Muslim Brotherhood is indeed a matter of concern, but they have not made up the bulk of the protesters.
As to your final point, this is a difficult question. Do we support democratic governments, even if the will of the people is to elect theocratic regimes, like Hamas? I say we do, because the alternative—supporting pro-Western strongmen hated by their people—is not sustainable, and in the long run causes more problems than it solves.
We cannot impose our values on these countries by force, and every time we have tried to do so, the theocratic Muslims dig in more and gain more followers and power.
Thank you for your clarifications, points well taken. While I know the majority of either Muslim, Arab or otherwise indigenous peoples practice peaceful coexistence in all sorts of societies around the world, like our democracy 2% of the population determine the outcome of the other 98%, I grow concerned with some of the fanaticism touted by the Islamic powers to be, that appear to have little regard for some issues, womens rights, cruel & unusual punishments etc etc, sometimes I feel like in a reverse logic kind of way, there is more fairness obtained by forcing peoples to accept the larger picture. In America while we sung home of the free, it wasn’t until 1964 that actually was the case. I do agree that imposing our beliefs is untenable and can’t be done at the end of the gun.
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