Egypt

daz

daz

daz

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Will the army or police actually fire on and engage "their own" people?

How much longer will the police and military continue to support a president which the people don't want?
 
Seeing as there's a video on Reuters of someone being shot by the army/riot police, I'd say they already have.
 
The police have largely vanished off the streets.

The army are reportedly having cordial relations with protestors. I don't think they will fire on protestors even if Mr Mubarak orders them to.

He has been president for 30 years in a corrupt regime and I think he knows it is time to go. I imagine the United States of America and Israel have twitchy bottoms at this time as Egypt is a key ally for the US in the region and one of a few arab countries that can mediate and broker deals with regards to Israel.
 
I suppose you have the Milgram experiement where people who are ordered to do things are able to absolve themselves of responsibility and do things they wouldn't normally do. I just wonder at what stage the police or army look at the situation and think "We're doing the right thing".
 

I doubt they will, and it is an interesting situation since Egypt has the capability to end Israel's blockade of Gaza. But the real question isn't 'if', it's 'when', and 'how'. Are they going to fight until they get a 'democracy' akin to our own, or are they going to organize and create a fair and just society?
 
I would hope that the upper echelons of the Egyptian military understand that stability is definitely in the region's interest.

An interesting news article compared leaders and that the likes of Col Nasser and Anwar Sadat had vision and a purpose whereas Hosni Mubarak is not viewed in the same way.

Mr Sadat's vision cost him his life.
 
The police have already engaged the protesters and the army, though on the street, have not yet intervened. Definitely don't think those two are on the same page either.
 
Going on Wednesday :) though not near any trouble.

From what I have seen on tv, most military is sympathizing with the people.
 
Dunks said:
Seeing as there's a video on Reuters of someone being shot by the army/riot police, I'd say they already have.
Click to expand...

theres also reports of a police station being set on fire after police scared of protestors barricaded themselves in and got burnt to death... those are individual battles compared to the thing as a whole. bad police and bad protestors and in no way represent everything thats going on
 
I wonder whether Mubarak will just stay where he is, and eventually people will just forget about the protests and have to go home and earn some food money or something... Once the protests get small enough troops/police will just be able to disperse them, and I see it just dragging on getting less and less serious.

After all, unless the army turn against him (which doesn't sound likely) there doesn't seem to be enough overwhelming force to bring the regime down. Maybe outside pressures will be enough, or maybe Mubarak will just ignore it all and wait for the whole thing to die down.

/Talking rubbish about stuff I don't know anything about.
 
GreatAuk said:
I wonder whether Mubarak will just stay where he is, and eventually people will just forget about the protests and have to go home and earn some food money or something... Once the protests get small enough troops/police will just be able to disperse them, and I see it just dragging on getting less and less serious.

After all, unless the army turn against him (which doesn't sound likely) there doesn't seem to be enough overwhelming force to bring the regime down. Maybe outside pressures will be enough, or maybe Mubarak will just ignore it all and wait for the whole thing to die down.

/Talking rubbish about stuff I don't know anything about.
Click to expand...

I certainly hope not, now can be crunch time for the whole of the middle east if they make it so. Even if they do go back, which they definitely won't unless they get the internet and communications back, then they'll be able to organize again and the revolution will simply be delayed.

It's unlikely though, they have completely rejected the speeches he has made and on a lot of videos the people have an attitude of 'if i'm going to die, i'm going to die here, today'. That sort of conviction does not just go away.
 
dmpoole said:
Protestors have even gone into the Cairo Museum and done some damage.
Nothing is sacred.
Click to expand...

This genuinely makes me sad.

I went to Sharm el Sheikh in 2009 and took a day excursion flight to cairo and visited the museum in Cairo and some of the most beautiful things in there. I hope the damage that has been done is not irrevocable.
 
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