The jasmine revolution spreads?

[Tycow]

Looks like he finally took the hint. Only took weeks eh?

Just to flesh out that breaking news a bit here is a link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12433045

Logan in short post shocker!

[imperium3]

So unless I'm mistaken, right now Suleiman is the de facto dictator of Egypt?

Keep on protesting, guys...

[Xenon_Slayer]

So unless I'm mistaken, right now Suleiman is the de facto dictator of Egypt?

Keep on protesting, guys...

Nope, apparently according to their constitution, he's gone too. The military is in power at the moment.

[BeidAmmikon]

The People have shown that they do not need a leader, for them to be able to overthrow another. Look and learn what civil disobedience and People Power means.

This is what happens when the slaves obey no more - without slaves who would obey them, the masters are losing their power, and their way of life comes to an end.

They were subject to disinformation; they were handed a bone or two; they were ordered to leave the place; they were beaten by slaves proud of their mission; they were terrorized by fighter planes flying over them; they were set on fire by Molotov cocktails; they were shot dead by people who were supposed to protect them. And yet, they have not abandoned their fight.
You cannot say that these people are similar to the ones living in a democracy; they do not access the same information, they do not obey the same rules. And yet, they were brought out in the street by poverty and rising prices for food and housing, lack of jobs and a general lack of respect for their lives. Next time you, citizen of a democratic country, face evil, muster your dignity and courage while thinking about this day, and how Egypt came to it. Regardless what happens there from now on. From now on, you know that individual power can destroy the bedrock of evil. See to it, for the sake of your soul.

In your face, USA! In your face, Israel! The People have spoken!
Fawz! God be praised!

[Warenwolf]

The military is in power at the moment.

A military junta, heh?

We'll what future will bring...

[RegisterMe]

In your face, USA! In your face, Israel! The People have spoken!

Israel were very hands off (and worried), and the USA if anything helped with behind the scenes pressure on the regime, so I'm not really sure what you're trying to get at here.....

Anyway, good news. Let's hope that a) it is a transition to a more democratic form of government and b) that it is orderly and free of violence.

[BeidAmmikon]

In your face, USA! In your face, Israel! The People have spoken!

Israel were very hands off (and worried), and the USA if anything helped with behind the scenes pressure on the regime, so I'm not really sure what you're trying to get at here.....

WikiLeaks: Suleiman promised to stop Gaza elections
and many other reasons. The USA was backing up stability in Egypt for the sake of Israel.
I'm sure that now there's a flurry of paperwork in Washington and Tel Aviv - the leaders are asking all their "services" to provide exhaustive info on anyone who might be leading Egypt from now on, to come up with an image of what are they are about to deal with.

Right in their face!

In an hour, circa 13:30 ET, POTUS will declare the tragic loss of yet another foothold defended by a faithful servant. Israel hasn't declared anything as of yet, I suppose they are expecting their "friends" to give the tone first and give them a hint on what to say

EDIT: they've changed the hour of the address to around 15 ET, guess the piles of paper they've got to analyze just got higher in the meantime

[Incubi]

They think they have won and won their freedom. Wait untill they wake up tommorow and facepalm tehe fact that currenlty they are a Military state. With luck they folllow through with the promise to establish a Democracy.

[BeidAmmikon]

They think they have won and won their freedom. Wait untill they wake up tommorow and facepalm tehe fact that currenlty they are a Military state. With luck they folllow through with the promise to establish a Democracy.

There's a saying, perhaps you know it under another guise - "Changing of masters, joy of fools"
Just for teh record, here is the proof that I'm aware of it...

X to Mubarak: I think it's time you said goodbye to your people.
Mubarak: Why, where are they going?

[felter]

They have been a military state for the last 30 years, that was one of the reasons for the protests, as they did not think they still needed to be one.

The Chinese government have been predictable, they have been censoring all news about these protests. You would think they were scared of something.

Story.

[Shock223]

The Chinese government have been predictable, they have been censoring all news about these protests. You would think they were scared of something.

geeze, is the Chinese government that insecure that any hint of chaos is completely censored?

but then again, that's the thing about totalitarian governments. they may be stable in the short run but they fall apart in the long terms.

[brucewarren]

...is the Chinese government that insecure that any hint of chaos is completely censored?

And then some. This is the set of butchers that sent in the tanks in
tiananmen square against unarmed students.

To this day they refuse to even admit they did anything wrong.

[Scarecrow]

Ya know Beid, if you were to stand up or move your wallet we could all probably understand you alot better.

[Shock223]

what is interesting is the nature of the revolution. unlike the Iranian revolution which ended up with a hostage crisis, we have (largely) peaceful protest which now will hopefully end up with a peaceful transition to a democracy.

just food for thought.

[philip_hughes]

So... will the people be able to wrestle power from the military? Watch this space.

[Shock223]

So... will the people be able to wrestle power from the military? Watch this space.

i doubt that military will do that. the people got a taste of victory and know that they have power to change it.

that and the US Aid is still prompting up the Military so if they do anything radical, that would be cut along with angering the people all over again.

but then again, power makes people do stupid things...

[logan86]

Well it's nice to see that this has ended in what appears to be good news! I wonder what we will hear of this from now. I only ask because I don't know if anyone else has noticed but we've barely heard a peep out of Tunisia since the revolution there. You'd think they just disappeared from the face of the earth. I can't even find any current news stories even when I've looked!

As for what will happen now. I imagine that the military will do as they've said. For a start doing what they've promised means that they all get to keep their jobs, pay and billions of dollars of US support at the highest level. They actually have nothing to lose from going along with the whole democracy angle. I mean, democracy doesn't mean less military after all. Or is there some other angle I'm missing here? I'm genuinely asking because there might be something that I don't know about or just another side to it that I haven't thought of. But I can't see any reason for the military not to go along with it.

Or is it just that a democratically elected government might not keep the same military leaders in place as the last government appointed? Because if so then one could imagine that they wouldn't have much choice in the matter. After all we've already seen that all the actual soldiers on the ground are firmly on side with the protesters. But once again, I might just be missing some obvious point or something

As for Israel, I don't think they have much of a choice in the matter. I think that all they could do would be to hope that who ever comes into power is favourable towards them. Not that I really approve of their official attitude to this whole thing anyway. It's sad that their official position has basically been, "better for the egyptian people to suffer if it keeps us on top." You'd think that it might have been smarter for them to preempt this whole thing and get the unknown future government on side by supporting the protesters, as Obama and Cameron have already been doing actually.

[Tracker001]

Switzerland freezes assets tied to Mubarak .

GENEVA -- The Swiss government on Friday froze any assets belonging to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak or his family in Switzerland.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel said the order took effect immediately but gave no details on what bank accounts or other assets Mubarak or his family might have in Switzerland.

http://www.kfoxtv.com/money/26835185/detail.html

The one thing I'v heard throughout the last 18 days is that the Egyptian ppl trust the military .
It's wait and see for now.
..........
Tunisia

Mr. Foued Mebazaa addresses Tunisian people
Interim President Foued Mebazaa expressed, in an address delivered on Wednesday evening to the Tunisian people and aired on Tunisian national TV, his pride at the Tunisian Revolution, the “revolution of dignity and freedom,” emphasising that its results have become tangible in the political field, towards materialising the ambitions of the people, which requires from all to defend and support this revolution, in spite of the critical stage the country is living through.

Mr. Foued Mebazaa stressed the efforts exerted by the Army and National Guard, along with the citizens, in establishing security and stability, saying that despite the improvements noted, there are still some areas which are suffering some hardships, which requires the combined efforts of all as part of patriotism to restore stability and ensure security of the citizens and their property

Front Page
http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/ < linkage

...............

Other news :

Major British tour operators to resume travel to Tunisia
TUNISIAONLINENEWS- British three major tour operators, Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice decided to resume travel to Tunisia by the end of this month, reported on Wednesday “Air-journal.fr”.

The measure follows the British Foreign Office’s decision to relax its advice against “all but essential travel” to Tunisia.

[Aye Capn]

If the new head-general-in-charge tears up our treaties then it's a disaster, so I guess it could be worse. But what it looks like is a wash: Swapping out the figureheads appeases the masses, all our treaties remain intact, the peace is maintained ... three cheers for the status quo? Meh, whatever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll-bxodxjts

[Warenwolf]

Some info is starting to emerge about the new leader of the junta.
Not encouraging read actually:
(source)

Charming and courtly, he is, nonetheless mired in a post-Camp David military paradigm that has served his cohort's narrow interests for the last three decades. He and Mubarak are focused on regime stability and maintaining the status quo through the end of their time. They simply do not have the energy, inclination or world view to do anything differently.

Middlerank officers openly despise him on the other hand.