World

Massive Egyptian Rally Reaches 250,000

CAIRO (AP) — More than a quarter-million people flooded Cairo’s main square Tuesday in a stunning and jubilant array of young and old, urban poor and middle class professionals, mounting by far the largest protest yet in a week of unrelenting demands for President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power.

The crowds – determined but peaceful – filled Tahrir, or Liberation, Square and spilled into nearby streets, among them people defying a government transportation shutdown to make their way from rural provinces in the Nile Delta. Protesters jammed in shoulder-to-shoulder, with schoolteachers, farmers, unemployed university graduates, women in conservative headscarves and women in high heels, men in suits and working-class men in scuffed shoes.

They sang nationalist songs, danced, beat drums and chanted the anti-Mubarak slogan “Leave! Leave! Leave!” as military helicopters buzzed overhead. Organizers said the aim was to intensify marches to get the president out of power by Friday, and similar demonstrations erupted in at least five other cities around Egypt.

Massive Egyptian Rally Reaches 250,000

Soldiers at checkpoints set up at the entrances of the square did nothing to stop the crowds from entering.

The military promised on state TV Monday night that it would not fire on protesters answering a call for a million to demonstrate, a sign that army support for Mubarak may be unraveling as momentum builds for an extraordinary eruption of discontent and demands for democracy in the United States’ most important Arab ally.

“This is the end for him. It’s time,” said Musab Galal, a 23-year-old unemployed university graduate who came by minibus with his friends from the Nile Delta city of Menoufiya.

Mubarak, 82, would be the second Arab leader pushed from office by a popular uprising in the history of the modern Middle East, following the ouster last month of Tunisia’s president.

The movement to drive Mubarak out has been built on the work of on-line activists and fueled by deep frustration with an autocratic regime blamed for ignoring the needs of the poor and allowing corruption and official abuse to run rampant. After years of tight state control, protesters emboldened by the Tunisia unrest took to the streets on Jan. 25 and mounted a once-unimaginable series of protests across this nation of 80 million people – the region’s most populous country and the center of Arabic-language film-making, music and literature.

The repercussions were being felt around the region, as other authoritarian governments fearing popular discontent pre-emptively tried to burnish their democratic image.

Massive Egyptian Rally Reaches 250,000

Jordan’s King Abdullah II fired his government Tuesday in the face of smaller street protests, named an ex-prime minister to form a new Cabinet and ordered him to launch political reforms. The Palestinian Cabinet in West Bank said it would hold long-promised municipal elections “as soon as possible.”

With Mubarak’s hold on power in Egypt weakening, the world was forced to plan for the end of a regime that has maintained three decades of peace with Israel and a bulwark against Islamic militants. But under the stability was a barely hidden crumbling of society, mounting criticism of the regime’s human rights record and a widening gap between rich and poor, with 40 percent of the population living under or just above the poverty line set by the World Bank at $2 a day.

Troops and Soviet-era and newer U.S.-made Abrams tanks stood at the roads leading into Tahrir Square, a plaza overlooked by the headquarters of the Arab League, the campus of the American University in Cairo, the famed Egyptian Museum and the Mugammma, an enormous winged building housing dozens of departments of the country’s notoriously corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy.

Protester volunteers wearing tags reading “the People’s Security” circulated through the crowds, saying they were watching for government infiltrators who might try to instigate violence.

“We will throw out anyone who tries to create trouble,” one announced over a loudspeaker. Other volunteers joined the soldiers at the checkpoints, searching bags of those entering for weapons. Organizers said the protest would remain in the square and not attempt to march to avoid frictions with the military.

Two dummies representing Mubarak were hung from traffic lights. On their chests was written: “We want to put the murderous president on trial.” Their faces were scrawled with the Star of David, an allusion to many protesters’ feeling that Mubarak is a friend of Israel, still seen by most Egyptians as their country’s archenemy more than 30 years after the two nations signed a peace treaty.

Massive Egyptian Rally Reaches 250,000

Every protester had their own story of why they came – with a shared theme of frustration with a life pinned in by corruption, low wages, crushed opportunities and abuse by authorities.

Sahar Ahmad, a 41-year-old school teacher and mother of one, said she has taught for 22 years and still only makes about $70 a month.

“There are 120 students in my classroom. That’s more than any teacher can handle,” said Ahmad. “For me, change would mean a better education system I can teach in and one that guarantees my students a good life after school. If there is democracy in my country, then I can ask for democracy in my own home.”

Tamer Adly, a driver of one of the thousands of minibuses that ferry commuters around Cairo, said he was sick of the daily humiliation he felt from police who demand free rides and send him on petty errands, reflecting the widespread public anger at police high-handedness.

“They would force me to share my breakfast with them … force me to go fetch them a newspaper. This country should not just be about one person,” the 30-year-old lamented, referring to Mubarak.

Among the older protesters there was also a sense of amazement after three decades of unquestioned control by Mubarak’s security forces over the streets.

“We could never say no to Mubarak when we were young, but our young people today proved that they can say no, and I’m here to support them,” said Yusra Mahmoud, a 46-year-old school principal who said she had been sleeping in the square alongside other protesters for the past two nights.

Authorities shut down all roads and public transportation to Cairo, security officials said. Train services nationwide were suspended for a second day and all bus services between cities were halted.

All roads in and out of the flashpoint cities of Alexandria, Suez, Mansoura and Fayoum were also closed.

Still, many from the provinces managed to make it to the square. Hamada Massoud, a 32-year-old a lawyer, said he and 50 others came in cars and minibuses from the impoverished province of Beni Sweif south of Cairo.

“Cairo today is all of Egypt,” he said. He told of the bribes he must pay to authorities to keep his office open, adding, “I want my son to have a better life and not suffer as much as I did … I want to feel like I chose my president.”

Tens of thousands also rallied in the cities of Alexandria, Suez and Mansoura, north of Cairo, as well as in the southern province of Assiut and Luxor, the southern city where some 5,000 people protested outside its iconic ancient Egyptian temple on the east bank of the Nile, officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Normally bustling, Cairo’s streets outside Tahrir Square had a fraction of their normal weekday traffic.

Banks, schools and the stock market in Cairo were closed for the third working day, making cash tight. Long lines formed outside bakeries as people tried to replenish their stores of bread, for which prices were spiraling.

An unprecedented shutdown of the Internet was in its fifth day after the last of the service providers abruptly stopped shuttling Internet traffic into and out of the country.

Cairo’s international airport remained a scene of chaos as thousands of foreigners sought to flee.

The official death toll from the crisis stood at 97, with thousands injured, but reports from witnesses across the country indicated the actual toll was far higher.

Massive Egyptian Rally Reaches 250,000

The protesters – and the Obama administration – roundly rejected Mubarak’s appointment of a new government Monday afternoon that dropped his interior minister, who heads police forces and has been widely denounced by the protesters. Mubarak was shown making the appointment on state television but made no comment.

Later Monday, Vice President Omar Suleiman – appointed by Mubarak only two days earlier in what could be a succession plan – went on state TV to announce the offer of a dialogue with “political forces” for constitutional and legislative reforms.

Suleiman did not say what the changes would entail or which groups the government would speak with, but most protest groups quickly announced their rejection of any negotiations until Mubarak steps down.

The various protesters have little in common beyond the demand that Mubarak go.

A range of movements is involved, with sometimes conflicting agendas – including students, online activists, grass-roots organizers, old-school opposition politicians and the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.

Perhaps the most significant tensions among them are between young secular activists and the Muslim Brotherhood, which wants to form a state governed by Islamic law. The more secular are deeply suspicious the Brotherhood aims to co-opt what they contend is a spontaneous, popular movement. American officials have suggested they have similar fears.

A second day of talks among opposition groups fell apart after many of the youth groups boycotted the meeting over charges that some of the traditional, government-condoned opposition parties have agreed to start a dialogue with Suleiman.

Nasser Abdel-Hamid, who represents pro-democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, said: “We were supposed to hold talks today to finalize formation of a salvation front, but we decided to hold back after they are arranging meetings with Sulieman.”

The U.S. State Department said that a retired senior diplomat – former ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner – was now on the ground in Cairo and will meet Egyptian officials to urge them to embrace broad economic and political changes that can pave the way for free and fair elections.

AP correspondents Maggie Michael, Maggie Hyde and Lee Keath contributed to this report.

Comments (151)

  • Ronko
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:50am

    Good camera angle, making it appear larger then it should be. The Egyptians are going to be played for fools and I hope they realize what’s coming their way if the Brotherhood takes over.

    Report Post »  
  • crystalinwi
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:49am

    so, you overthrow the entire government because 250k people show up (out of 80 million), yet, Beck’s rally on 8/28 is barely mentioned by anyone in the main stream media when well over 500k show up more like 750k out of 320 million), ummm, yeah . . .

    Report Post »  
    • Lloyd Drako
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 2:12pm

      Yeah, but Beck’s purported 500k were not clamoring for the ouster of Obama.

      In fact, as I recall, Beck’s rally was not political at all:)

      Report Post » Lloyd Drako  
  • va_magoo
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:46am

    Why is 250,000 in Egypt called MASSIVE PROTEST and 500,000 at 8-28 rally is called insignificant?

    Report Post » va_magoo  
  • chuck
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:45am

    Egypt is a tinderbox ready to blow. If Mubarak steps down, then the jockeying for power really begins, and I think the Army wins, after much carnage! If he does not step down, all of those people will get very angry and push the envelope in those pictures become cannon fodder. So, either way, this is a mad, mad, mad, mad, world! And there are people here, socialists/progressives, of the left, who want this type of thing, in the good ole US of A…ain’t that special? Good luck and God’s speed.

    Report Post »  
  • ltb
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:41am

    I like Glenn, but he is on the wrong side of history. Everything that is going on in the Middle East has been foretold in the Bible and if Glenn wouldn’t waste his time at a Mormon temple, he would understand that there is not a single thing anyone can do to prevent what is about to happen to the world. According to the Bible, ALL of the nations around Israel will besiege Israel, not some, but ALL (Zec 12:2). That means that there can’t be an Egypt with a government that honors peace treaties with Israel and that means there can’t be a Jordan that is friendly to Israel. Egypt will fall to people who hate Israel and Jordan will also fall to people who hate Israel.

    …..

    “They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the LORD’S wrath. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, for it has made them stumble into sin.” (Eze 7:19)

    Report Post » ltb  
    • Untameable-kate
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:54am

      Mormons read the bible AND the book of Mormon. No reason to attack Becks religion, Mormons are Christians too.

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • ltb
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:22pm

      I used to think some Mormons were Christians, but now I understand that Mormonism is an offense to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Below are the heresies of Mormonism as described by Ed Decker, who was a Mormon and member of the Melchizedek priesthood (a Temple Mormon) for twenty years before becoming a Christian:

      - Mormons believe the cross of Christ is foolishness and thus you will not find a cross in or on top of a Mormon temple. Thus a Mormon could say “Do not make the pathetic error of ‘clinging to the old rugged cross’.”

      - Mormons believe the blood Jesus Christ shed on the cross is not what saves and thus Mormons will not use red wine or red juice for communion but they use water. Thus a Mormon could say “A slain Christ has no meaning.”

      - Mormons believe that salvation is not found in placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone but in good works. Thus a Mormon could say “My salvation comes from me.”

      - Mormons believe that God is one of many Gods and that every good Mormon man can become a God himself. This belief is called the law of eternal progression and is best described in this popular Mormon saying, “As man is, God once was, and as God is, man may become.“ Thus a Mormon could say that ”The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.”

      …..

      “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Gal 1:8-9).

      “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? (Gal 3:1-5).

      Report Post » ltb  
    • firstlast
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:29pm

      Mormons added to and took away from the Bible, clearly fobidden in the Christian religion. They also believe they can attain their own God status as individuals in afterlife, which clearly differs from the monotheistic Christian religion and the affirmation that there is only one God. Mormons have living prophets and apostles through succession. They believe in three hierarchies of heaven, attained through degrees of righteousness (Christianity promotes salvation through faith, rather than works). Joe Smith taught that God once had a physical body and Mormons too can attain Godhood, ruling in seperate Kingdoms in an eternal hierarchy. Adam brough Eve from another planet to Earth, and then became mortal eating the forbidden fruit. Theres much much more…

      Report Post »  
    • Lloyd Drako
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 1:02pm

      Curious, isn’t it, how religions keep trumping other religions?

      Christianity trumped Judaism by claiming that the Messiah had already come.

      Mormonism trumped conventional Christianity by claiming to have what amounts to a New New Testament.

      Meanwhile, Islam trumped both Judaism and Christianity by claiming that the Koran was what the Jewish Prophets, including Jesus, had taught, but that their teachings had been corrupted by wicked men.

      Each, of course, claims that its revelation is the final one.

      Report Post » Lloyd Drako  
    • ltb
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 1:37pm

      Jesus didn’t “trump” Judaism, He was the Jewish man and God of the Jews who fulfilled the laws of Judaism and satisfied the sacrifice that animals sacrificed in Judaism could never satisfy. Islam is a pagan religion that worships a demon god (i.e., allah), who tells Muslims they must deny the triune God of whom Jesus is a part. Mormonism was just the last attempt by Satan to draw people away from the truth, which is that you will go to Hell if you reject the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for your sins. Instead of scoffing at Jesus, why don’t you spend some time researching his life, his death, his resurrection and his claims?

      Report Post » ltb  
    • Lloyd Drako
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 2:35pm

      @LTB:
      Not scoffing at Jesus at all, love Jesus in fact.
      But I’ll say this: one thing I like about Mormons is that they’re not so prone to threaten nonbelievers with Hell!

      Report Post » Lloyd Drako  
    • ltb
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 8:34pm

      Lloyd Drako, I’m glad you love Jesus and sincerely hope you know him, but people who are not saved will go to Hell. I didn’t make that rule up, I didn’t invent Hell and contrary to what you might think I don’t even want to see someone like Osama Bin Laden go to Hell; however, Jesus talked about Hell 16 times and people who reject salvation through his sacrifice on the cross will go to Hell. If a father and his son were hiking, and the boy was getting ready to go into a cave full of rattle snakes, would you be angry with the father for warning the child about the snakes?

      Report Post » ltb  
    • idrathermisstotheright
      Posted on February 2, 2011 at 12:30am

      Hey Lesbian Transgender Bisexual stuff a sock in it and leave Glenn and his religion alone!

      When I say stuff a sock it’s not in your bra btw.

      Report Post » idrathermisstotheright  
    • ltb
      Posted on February 2, 2011 at 9:55am

      idrathermisstotheright
      Posted on February 2, 2011 at 12:30am
      Hey Lesbian Transgender Bisexual stuff a sock in it and leave Glenn and his religion alone!
      When I say stuff a sock it’s not in your bra btw.

      —–

      Well said, you really showed your IQ with that one.

      “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” (2 Ti 3:1-7)

      “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Th 2:10-12)

      Report Post » ltb  
  • Sister_Mary
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:41am

    I’m sure the LS Media will say it was over a Million – they always get there numbers skewed like at Becks rally on 8/28…..

    Report Post » Sister_Mary  
  • glennrocks
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:17am

    Why are we giving Egypt 1.2 billion a year, Yet we are firing teachers? Obama is the worst President ever. He is even making Carter look good.

    Report Post »  
  • bandito1
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:17am

    Nice touch but the unintended consequences would be an all out attack be the rest of the world on us and what few allies we have left. But still a nice touch.

    Report Post »  
  • bandito1
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:12am

    Is it so bad if the people get what they want and we stop backing dictators? Why don’t we let them do what they want and watch their so called “free state” implode? If the Muslim Brotherhood takes charge let the real masses know that we will stand by any true uprising that allows true freedoms and respects human rights. Other than that cut off the funding for any government(feed the people, don’t line the pockets of the government) and cut off any weapons going to these countries. The truth will rise to the top if you stop funding the lies that interupt it’s rise.

    Report Post »  
  • Helldogger
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:10am

    In 6 months it’ll look like Lebenon & be twice as dangerous. Time to cancel on that trip to see the pyrimids.

    Report Post » Helldogger  
  • 2gether
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:09am

    Co-op the spontaneous popular movement….sound like the GOP or the Tea Party Express trying to co-op the tea party activist grass roots movement? We cannot allow the mainstream political parties to take over the tea party movement. Citizens need to be educated on what the tea party activists really want and not what the press and the government wants them to think we want.

    Report Post »  
  • Hoosier Daddy
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:03am

    Is that an M1-Abrams in the photo? Have we advised Israel how to knock out US-made tanks yet? They will need that info if they don’t already have it. Of course I’m assuming the Islamofascists will take over Egypt and have all those great US weapons to use against the hated Jooos. After all, our sh*t stain of a boy-king wants it that way.

    Report Post » Hoosier Daddy  
  • BQI
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:57am

    Could all of this be in line with end of times or other theories of an oncoming worldwide event. Today @ BQI we are running a story called “2012” where we bring together all of the divergent theories, predictions etc that identify 2012 as a prophetic date. We have dedicated our site to this article and Glenn Becks work that will be done this week. We all need to be informed and thinking “outside the box”

    http://www.blackquillandink.com “2012” Today’s Featured Article.

    Report Post » BQI  
    • Major Tom
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:46pm

      no doubt one of glenn’s few remaining loyal listeners.

      Report Post »  
    • BQI
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 2:17pm

      @ MAJOR TOM

      No doubt you have not seen the light.

      Report Post » BQI  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:54am

    Come on, it’s easy to get Mubarak to set them free. I got it from a good source.
    1. Turn all water to blood.
    2. Frogs
    3. Gnats or Lice
    4. Flies
    5. Livestock Diseased
    6. Boils
    7. Thunder and Hail
    8. Locusts
    9. Darkness
    10. Death of the Firstborn
    That should do it.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • TSUNAMI-22
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 1:46pm

      Interesting how history repeats itself, isn’t it?

      The best part about ALL of this, is that in the end – the bad guys will lose. So it is written, so shall it be done. ~wink~

      Report Post »  
  • kissmyazobama
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:48am

    Hang on to your hats………..gonna be a wild ride

    Report Post » kissmyazobama  
  • doncorleone
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:46am

    watch dearborn mi., a witches brew in a state in economic chaos, with a sharia foothold that’s been in place awhile.

    Report Post »  
  • etetetet
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:42am

    I know, send in announced President of the World – Billyboy. He’ll fix it all. Why he can work with the one who will come from the East.

    Report Post »  
  • leo346
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:41am

    Tell me something that I find weird when you look at these protesters, is quite a lot of the signs are in english hasn anyone else picked up on this.

    Report Post »  
    • etetetet
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:49am

      During the past 90 or so years, as the US was the Industrial giant and major provider to the world, the US currency was the stable. In addition, this required the other industrial nations to learn, speak, and write English – something most Americans do not realize. I’ve had the blessings to travel all over this world to the industrialized nations, and found they they (most) required their kids to learn English (and sometimes other languages) from the beginning of the young school age (5-6 years old). Obviously, the world is changing, and who knows we keep going down the path were going, and we’ll all be forced to speak, write and understand Chineese – that is if we want to sell our goods and services (what’s left).

      Report Post »  
  • GUT_CHECK
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:38am

    did you see what Ron Paul said about all this?
    it’s still on youtube, ya know?
    check the clips of the 2008 debates,
    he has been on top of this for 30-40 years
    maybe 50

    Dr. Ron Paul 2012
    “Solution Personified”

    Report Post »  
    • TheBMT
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:06am

      actually he has a new update about this at the Campaign for liberty website.

      Report Post »  
  • Ezekiel38
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:38am

    God bless the Coptic Egyptians! This is a sad thing happening Egypt. A small percentage of the population is demanding change and our Prez is backing them! Wished the Tea Party had that voice!

    Report Post »  
  • SREGN
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:38am

    Why are so many of the protest signs in English?

    Report Post »  
    • TheBMT
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:04am

      lol, believe it or not, alot of people in the arab countries can speak english as a second language. I was surprised too a year ago when I found that out. Makes you look at them a little different when they are speaking the same language doesn’t it?

      Report Post »  
    • Lloyd Drako
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:30am

      Why are so many of the protest signs in English? 2 reasons:

      1. to get the protesters’ message out to as many people around the world as possible

      2. like much of the rest of the world, Egypt was once part of the British Empire, so a lot of the elites and middle class people there speak English.

      Report Post » Lloyd Drako  
    • 8jrts
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:51am

      I haven‘t commented on this whole Egypt situation as I don’t have an answer or suggestion, but I do wonder about the fact that in the riots around the world, protesters always have signs directed at the USA either asking us for help and support or blame us. But in our protests, we do not ask other countries to come in and help or support our internal causes, nor do we blame others for the problems or differences we have with our government.

      Report Post » 8jrts  
    • NUTHRDUMBCONSERVATIVE
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:15pm

      @8JRTS But that would make us…exceptional. No, Obama said we are no more exceptional than the British or the Greeks. After all, every other country in the world has a constitution that guarantees individual rights…well at least they all have governments just like ours with a parliment…but they defend their allies around the world and then allow them to govern themselves when they leave…

      Report Post »  
    • 8jrts
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:25pm

      NUTHR……….Amazing…isn’t it?

      Report Post » 8jrts  
    • Lloyd Drako
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:37pm

      @8Jrts:
      The US has provided Mubarak with a lot of support for his military, so it’s natural for protesters in Egypt to blame the US for keeping him in power, and at the same time to appeal to the “better angels of our nature” to stop supporting him.

      Also, it’s widely known around the world that the US is in fact exceptional in that it pays rhetorical homage to democracy, and from Wilson to G. W. Bush, has even at times attempted to spread democracy by force of arms.

      So it’s to be expected that protest signs in Egypt and elsewhere appeal to America rather than, say China, Russia or even Europe.

      Report Post » Lloyd Drako  
    • WHITE LOTUS2x
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 1:14pm

      The Enlish language is as powerful as the american doolar. I hope it stays that way.

      Report Post »  
    • 8jrts
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 1:30pm

      I probably just don’t know enough about this, but seems to me that lately the world sees us as the enemy, but continually asks for our help, then blames us again if it doesn’t work out they way the they want it to. We pour money into countries that hate us, at the expense of our citizens. Our President cowers to dictators, and we are not the “super power” anymore even if we still have the compassion we always have had. I just wonder when China, for example, will be asked for help as they are now the one’s being considered the super power. In Egypt, I don’t know what “faction” will take power, but I hope democracy will prevail.

      Report Post » 8jrts  
  • vetswife
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:38am

    Did you hear Obama is supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Report Post »  
  • smithclar3nc3
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:36am

    One would think that a ruthless Dictator would take advantage of having so many people who want him outed and hit them with a full military strike. There by killing a large percentage of those attacking his power.

    Report Post »  
    • AzDebi
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:41am

      You forget that he’s like 80 (something) years old and he is sick…it is rumored that he is fighting cancer…AND…he has to find elsewhere to live out the rest of his life…he is outnumbered…and…OUR ADMINISTRATION is all in favor of this…it is worrisome…those people have no idea what “surrounds them”…I pray for them all!

      Report Post » AzDebi  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:08am

      As I understand it, the Egyptian military has stated that they will not harm the protestors. Apparently dictators tick off *everybody*.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • AzDebi
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 6:09pm

      @GhostOfJefferson:

      “Apparently dictators tick off *everybody*.”
      _______________
      Well, whodathunkit?

      Report Post » AzDebi  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:30am

    If this was a Glenn Beck rally, the press would report 150 people.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • etetetet
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:33am

      Beat me to the punchline :)

      Report Post »  
    • T-2
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:45am

      and those are 150 violent people.

      Report Post »  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:46am

      Gotta get up pretty early etetetet.

      Report Post » Gonzo  
    • Showtime
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 2:25pm

      ROFLMAO! I remember when the MSM reporter called the 9-12 crowd “150.” Yes, I yelled at my TV screen!

      Report Post » Showtime  
    • iamhungry
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 8:41pm

      Considering that there are many sources with the figure much higher than 250,000 your statement is quite ironic.

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  • Hoosier Daddy
    Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:27am

    No problem, protestors. The Muslim Brotherhood will be happy to fill the void left by ousting Mubarack and your lives will all be sunshine and lollipops under sharia. Except for the fact that it would increase the danger to Israel, I’d say to hell with them. Let them reap what they sow.

    Report Post » Hoosier Daddy  
    • Rogue
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:40am

      We had better start repo‘ing all that military hardware we’ve given them over the past 3 decades. We‘ll be seeing US made tanks rolling into Israel in a year’s time. The only thing Shites and Sunnis can agree on is the destruction of Israel, and with pressure on all sides (Jordan soon will fall as well, and become an Islamic state), it’s only a matter of time before these two sides unite to try to wipe Israel from the map. The million dollar question is, does the US go into Israel full force to defend it, or butt out and watch it fall? Given the attitude of our present administration, I wouldn‘t be surprised if they didn’t asnwer the phone when the call for help comes.

      Report Post » Rogue  
    • GeauxAlready
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:45am

      Tick, tick, tick, tick BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM……………………..

      Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • roxee
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 10:59am

      Hassan al Banna started the Muslim Brotherhood 1928, he was a Freemason. The party aligned themselves with the Nazi Brownshirts. By 1938 it became political.By the late 1960′s it was so infiltrated by the CIA,MI6, Mossad, French, Swiss Intelligence agencies. El Baradei is on the board of the International Crisis Group( funded by Ford Foundation, Carneige, Gates , and Soros Open Society). One can come to understand that these groups and made from the west, they will be put in power to destroy the people even further.They will stir anti West rage and then fight with any and everyone around them. This is just an old story retold.

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    • bikerr
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:06am

      250,000 Wow. Here in America we call that MSNBC viewers #’s

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    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:07am

      False dichotomy. It’s not “either/or”. They live under a brutal, repressive dictator right now. Anybody who advocates for liberty cannot by needs support a dictator. Self determination is a tricky business, but we cannot deny a people the right to it simply because we may not like one potential outcome. Maybe they don’t go Islamafascist, maybe they do. End of the day though, they know they do NOT want to live under an openly torturous and murdering thug.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • Untameable-kate
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:09am

      “For me, change would mean a better education system I can teach in and one that guarantees my students a good life after school.”
      That sounds great, as far as the sunshine and lollypop crowd goes. I don’t know where a good life guaranteed after school. I guess after generations of struggle in a poverty riddled country even the Muslim Brotherhood and Marxism sounds good?

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • SgtHenick
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:11am

      Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I’m not to thrilled about the fact that those are M-1 Abrams the Egyptian army is toolin around in…would someone please tell me WHY IN THE HELL THE EGYPTIAN FREAKIN ARMY HAS M-1 ABRAMS BATTLE TANKS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

      Report Post » SgtHenick  
    • bikerr
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:12am

      Where’s Waldo!. I think I found him.

      Report Post »  
    • Rogue
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:15am

      @roxee – thanks for the info on the International Crisis Group. What a scary bunch that is – their board members are like a who’s-who of socialist reformers. Incredibly bad news when socialists openly align themselves with hardline Islamists to “design” new governments.

      Report Post » Rogue  
    • AzDebi
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:23am

      @GhostOfJefferson: “Better s the Devil you know…than the Devil you don’t.”

      Report Post » AzDebi  
    • AzDebi
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:32am

      These people don’t realize that they ARE NOT in America…Do you honestly think that they did not see on youtube or their blackberries our Rallies from the past two years?…this is no coincidence people…they are emulating US!

      The sad fact is that either our administration and the media are totally ignorant about history…or THEY KNOW full well the magnitude of this struggle and they anxiously await the result of their “social engineering experiment”…either way…who is going to feed these poor souls a week from now? WHO?

      Report Post » AzDebi  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:46am

      @AzDebi

      But you’d still be supporting a devil. Further, you’re claiming that the choice is only between two devils. By that assumption, you are necessarily making the claim that people are unfit to rule themselves.

      I repeat, no freedom loving person can support, in any way, a torturing, muderous and repressive dictator. That doesn‘t mean you support what may happen when he’s toppled either. But there’s no excuse for supporting these kinds of thugs except Wilsonian “pragmatism”.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • CatB
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:15pm

      What NOT a million?

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    • rubintheartist
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:21pm

      The people of Egypt have awakened from a deep tyrranical sleep just like the people in Hairmerica in a new political comedy animated movie; http://www.marcrubin.com/Hairmerica.ivnu

      Report Post » rubintheartist  
    • ->Click for online job<-
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:29pm

      Is anyone else tired of the middle east?

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    • Lloyd Drako
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:44pm

      @Azdebi:
      “These people don’t realize that they ARE NOT in America…Do you honestly think that they did not see on youtube or their blackberries our Rallies from the past two years?…this is no coincidence people…they are emulating US!”

      Isn’t it more likely they are emulating the Greek demonstrators or the students who busted up the West End of London a few months ago? So far as I can recall, no rallies in the US, from Glenn Beck‘s to Jon Stuart’s, ended up with buildings on fire and tanks in the streets of Washington.

      Report Post » Lloyd Drako  
    • jbl8199
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 12:45pm

      Looks more like 25 thousand. I think we need to have a head count.

      Report Post » jbl8199  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 1:27pm

      I love Limbaugh’s take on this:

      Consider the following, if crowd estimates are correct:

      Egypt has 83 million citizens. 250,000 are protesting (.3% of the population) and Barack Obama says Hosni Mubarak has to go.

      America has 300 million citizens, you think there are at least 1 million of us (.3% of the population) that identify ourselves as Tea Party members? What’s good for the goose, Mr. President. What’s good for the goose.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • jjontime
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 3:31pm

      Actually, the Muslim Brotherhood is a non-violent organization that supports the secular opposition leader Dr. Mohamed El-Barade. Do some research on the group, and cease your baseless rhetoric.

      Report Post »  
    • AzDebi
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 4:54pm

      @GHOSTOFJEFFERSON: I agree with you, and you are correct about my position…these people, by God’s law have the right to freedom directly out of the womb…problem is, from what I have researched about them, they are about 35% youth population…they are extremely poor and illiterate…of course they have the “freedom” to succeed and likewise to fail…unfortunately, as you well know, there is evil all around them and when they get hungry (and they will)…who is going to offer them bread? You know who! Code Pink, CAIR, MB…are all on the ground in Egypt and I do know that the MB took the lead in “helping” the people in neighborhoods organize so as to protect themselves against the mob rule that was spreading around the city…is this a good thing? Sure would seem like it at the time…however, we know how the MB operates…we KNOW that they are radicals…Will they just sweep in, begin to create “killing fields” and then attack Israel?…I don’t think so…they will BIDE their time…they will calm the situation down (after Mubarak is gone) and then they will begin to organize to impose Sharia Law in the strictest of ways…they will organize the army…and then………bye bye Israel!!

      Whew…after all that…of course you are right…I can’t have it both ways…but I sure wish I could!

      Report Post » AzDebi  
    • AzDebi
      Posted on February 1, 2011 at 5:03pm

      @Lloyd Drako:
      @Azdebi:
      “These people don’t realize that they ARE NOT in America…Do you honestly think that they did not see on youtube or their blackberries our Rallies from the past two years?…this is no coincidence people…they are emulating US!”

      Isn’t it more likely they are emulating the Greek demonstrators or the students who busted up the West End of London a few months ago? So far as I can recall, no rallies in the US, from Glenn Beck‘s to Jon Stuart’s, ended up with buildings on fire and tanks in the streets of Washington.
      _______________
      You may be correct…didn’t think about that…but, I should have been more specific in that I think that their Facebook and Twitters (as I’ve seen reported), played a huge role in allowing them to get “organized” and spread the word…just like our Tea Parties…there’s no way we could have spread the word without the internet and talk radio…but…most particularly the internet…Same thing happened in Iran in the summer of 2009…I participated in texting many on the blogs and it was amazing…too bad Obama couldn’t muster the courage to support them…they were truly a grass-roots movement…didn’t end well for them…I think Mubarak may have shut down their communication services because he knew that it played a big role in Iran…big mistake on his part…because I also think that the internet keeps people behind their computers and not on the streets where they are more likely to act out their frustrations…know what I mean?

      Report Post » AzDebi  

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