Thread: Unrest in Egypt (and the surrounding area)

Following the news right now, sounds like things are going crazy down in Egypt and also Jordan apparently. Maybe we should just have an islamic revolution right now and get it all over with.

Yes, the King of Jordan has sacked his government and promised reform, mainly as a pre emptive move against a situation like that in Egypt.

FREE SHOWERS IN EGYPT!

just kidding. I think it's amazing to see the people going as long as they have been with the protests.

Follow the story 24/7 here.

Man, this is just fucking crazy. Just the images of over a milllion (est.) people gathering in the square at night is insane, by itself. But just the way everything plays out is incredible. Of course, Mubarak comes out and tries to keep himself in office for as long as he can, but he's met with nothing but more outrage. They say they are going to protest for as long as they can, and one man was talking about plans to storm the Presidential palace by Friday.

Never seen anything like it...

It was a couple of hundred thousand, but yeah, it's awesome stuff to see.

Originally Posted by Xei

It was a couple of hundred thousand

Haha. Yeah. That's what I figured.

Mubarak just said he wouldn't run for "reelection" next term (supposedly in September). The guy is freaking 82 years old, I'm surprised he still wants to be in office for that long.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

The guy is freaking 82 years old, I'm surprised he still wants to be in office for that long.

Some people never learn to share their toys. Lol.

It sounded like he was preparing to leave soon and leave things to his son, before any of this even happened. So its just his plan he had to start with, switching out his son with someone he might think make a good puppet. I don't really see the people accepting that.

Looks like things are getting even worse now, with pro-Mubarak groups clashing with the anti-Mubarak groups. Men riding in on camels with clubs and other weapons, beating up protesters and journalists; speculation that many of them are being paid off by the government...craziness.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

Men riding in on camels with clubs and other weapons, beating up protesters and journalists;

Lmfao, now that's my kind of dictatorship.

I just saw some guy pwn himself with a Molotov Cocktail, after trying to throw it on a building. It was just a random guy in a wide shot of the clashing crowds, and I don't even think the network noticed it. He ran off camera, engulfed in flames. Lol. Wow.

Over 600 people wounded in this latest clash, alone.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

Looks like things are getting even worse now, with pro-Mubarak groups clashing with the anti-Mubarak groups. Men riding in on camels with clubs and other weapons, beating up protesters and journalists; speculation that many of them are being paid off by the government...craziness.

Well in any endemically corrupt state there will be plenty of people with vested interests who are by default in the pockets of their autocrat.

I hear Egypt is nice this time of year.

There are reports that all the pro government protesters keep attacking people, and reports that some were caught with police and government ids on them. Seeing as how all the police and security people disappeared days ago and still haven't appeared, it seems very likely that they are the ones who are causing the trouble. I mean the government even said the police were going to return but instead of them returning pro government protesters appeared instead.

So they showed a police van mowing people down in the street, yesterday, on CNN. A buddy of mine posted this on Facebook, and at first I thought the first vid was going to be the same one I saw. It wasn't.

My friend in Egypt was online today.... : politics

Shit is crazy, man...

Before seeing all of this stuff happening I knew pretty much nothing about modern day Egypt. But following this story over the past week or so and seeing these people protest has been quite inspiring. Where many other parts of the world would descend into complete anarchy, a lot of these protesters have stood their ground and stayed true to their cause. They could go mad and tear the country apart in anger, but they don't want that. They want a peaceful country with a leader who will treat them well. That isn't too much to ask.

I have a lot of respect for these people. I'm sure they'll get exactly what they want in the end, I just hope they get it without any more bloodshed.

There, no one has a gun. Imagine how different it would be if it took place in some where like in the US, where half of them owned guns.

Originally Posted by Alric

There, no one has a gun. Imagine how different it would be if it took place in some where like in the US, where half of them owned guns.

Exactly. I can't even imagine what it would be like, if that kind of shit went down, here.

Also, this:
"Thugs" destroy Al Jazeera office in Cairo

Well the protesters there can't really do anything, so they are just sitting tight in that main square. Some people were thinking of raiding the presidential palace, but realistically they can't do it. If he has any loyalty from the military they would all be gun down in front of the building. If half the protesters had guns, I suspect that would go for it. That is probably why its a protest and not a revolt. If you are unarmed and can't do anything, you protest. If you got weapons and can fight, you revolt. Of course, a revolt is far more bloody.

The fact that you have a gun doesn't mean you can take on an army.

An unarmed mob can't take on an army either, but an army can't exactly shoot at an unarmed mob (they can but they would lose popular support forever).

People in Iraq do it all the time. The population of America is probably better equipped than the insurgents in Iraq, and we are talking a hundred thousand people at once, not a handful at a time. They could most definitely take on the army. I think the army would avoid it regardless of what the crowd was made up of, since shooting a bunch of people will always cause a huge outcry against them.

Also, flamethrowers.