Egypt

[Paul ™]

Surprised no thread on here about what's going on over there

It looks like people power has got rid of the Government...

[reni]

I don't sense any real feel for action just yet in this country.Even the unions are stopping short of industrial action and talking of mass demonstration for the time being.They're also talking up the student demos as being a good indicator of how to make a protest ...fat lot of good they got Eh?

However give it another 4-6months when the cuts are felt then I think we might have a situation!!!

[Alcatraz]

I think you'd be crazy to draw any parallels between Tunisia and Egypt and this country. These are long standing dictatorships finally being overthrown.

This all has the power to dramatically alter the face of the Middle east. Jordan and Yemen are next. The US must be shitting themselves

[lost]

The unintended consequences of quantitative easing have been that the money has flown into commodities pushing up food and oil prices, a great example of the butterfly effect. If we are fighting Islamic fundamentalists in one of these countries in a few years I wonder if people will be able to see the connection.

[gratedenini]

The unintended consequences of quantitative easing have been that the money has flown into commodities pushing up food and oil prices, a great example of the butterfly effect. If we are fighting Islamic fundamentalists in one of these countries in a few years I wonder if people will be able to see the connection.

[llcoolphil]

It looks like people power has got rid of the Government...

[diddly-dee]

Very good point. When I see the demos going on there (and elsewhere) I cannot help think of the Fire Extinguisher thread on here.

They dont f**k about about over there do they... and I think that in a very base level sense... those people on the street there are more "genuine" in their need. D`yer know what I mean.

It goes back to a point i made that we,here, aren`t too bad off (i say that in a relative way).

Keep harping back to the Poll Tax...but that was the last time I see genuine feeling on the streets.

At the risk of being shot down... I think (from what I read)..that a good majority of students wont have to pay the amounts that were bandied about.

But, I suppose thats slightly irrelevent... what will it take to see Eygypt/ Tunisian type protests on our streets?

It all is very worrying I think.. the World is beginning to implode.

den

[diddly-dee]

Only sort of so far - the dictator has promised to appoint a new government. I dont think this will stop until Mubarak goes, though the bigger issue, possibly, is what fills the void if he does - and the wider impact that has on middle east politics. Another proper democracy in that neck of the woods would certainly help things though

[gratedenini]

I noted william 'i sup fifteen pints and share a room with a young man me' hague said, in the context of very angry protestors being on the streets of cairo, alexandria, suez etc. that the Government of Egypt "should listen to its people". It's a pity he's not as willing to accommodate demands when students, anti G20/climate change protestors in this country throw a few plackards as plod. Maybe he'll be a bit more inclined to be a bit more receptive to 'the people' after March 26th this year?

[llcoolphil]

Part of the issue of Middle East 'democracy' is that in both Algeria and occupied Palestinian territories the 'wrong' people won the elections when they had a go at democracy (an Islamic party in Morocoo and Hamas in the occupied territories) and the existing regimes refused to give up power (with the support of the west to keep them in place). As such, the existing regimes have no legitimacy, but the alternatives are repugnant to the west. So the situation you get is an increasingly disenfranchised and radicalised populus and the kind of 'powder keg' you may well see going kaboom across the whole of North Africa and the middle east in the coming months.

[gratedenini]

It'a real worry. If Mubarak does go, you can only think Eygpt goes the way of Islamic mentalists and Israeli mentalists need little invitation to start sticking their noses in as it is.

[llcoolphil]

Yeah. too right. The World seems so small now doesn`t it...and I`ve felt for a while,that any major shite is gonna come from that part of the World.

But of course, economics will be a major player..the balance is definetely changing and all this unstabilty is really worrying.

Y`know when you are in a place...somewhere in the middle of nowhere..and you are sat thinking this place would never be affected by any wars?

Those places are few and far between now. I`ve turned into a right owld fanny me!

den

[gratedenini]

Im pretty sure you'll be safe in Hartlepool, unless the monkeys decide to rise up and extract some revenge

[rabid]

I noted william 'i sup fifteen pints and share a room with a young man me' hague said, in the context of very angry protestors being on the streets of cairo, alexandria, suez etc. that the Government of Egypt "should listen to its people". It's a pity he's not as willing to accommodate demands when students, anti G20/climate change protestors in this country throw a few plackards as plod. Maybe he'll be a bit more inclined to be a bit more receptive to 'the people' after March 26th this year?

[Snufflebutt]

In one way, I think its brilliant. However, a look at history shows that Egypt (and Tunisia) becoming democracies as a result of these revolutions is miles away (see history of Iran....) I'm not particularly cock-a-hoop about having an Ahmadinajad on the Mediterranean. Thats of course assuming Mubarak is foced from office - which he will be, in all probability, sooner rather than later.

[diddly-dee]

I like your posts DD..I think you talk sense, but Sir... you are a plagerist.

Now haddaway n shite!

den

(whats a parellel universe btw?)

[diddly-dee]

CS gas used by Plod

As you can see from the link above, we're not a bazillion miles away from Egypt in the UK. Except the police in Egypt are propping-up a political regime, whereas in the UK it seems they're more concerned with protecting corporate interests.

[Paul ™]

Its all kicking off again

[The Nal]

Its all kicking off again

[Snufflebutt]

I think what Mubarak has done is by far the best option with regards the stability of the country. Him leaving immediately would have created a power vacuum that could have been exploited by extremists. But he just did it far far too late. Now, theres a reasonable chance of some sort of civil war - the scenes on the news do not look too pleasant. Hopefully he'll announce that the date of the election is to be brought forward.

[grumpyhack]

I'm not too convinced by his claim that he wants to live out his days in Eygypt. Once he's been offered a safe haven and secured the millions he's squirreled away I suspect he'll be off.

Whatever the Middle East outcome the one thing I fear we can be sure of is that petrol prices will go through the roof.

[llcoolphil]

I'm not too convinced by his claim that he wants to live out his days in Eygypt. Once he's been offered a safe haven and secured the millions he's squirreled away I suspect he'll be off.

Whatever the Middle East outcome the one thing I fear we can be sure of is that petrol prices will go through the roof.