Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Iranian strategem

It looks to me like Mubarak is taking inspiration from Iran's Ayatollah Khamenie's and Iran's president Ahmadinejad's way of staying in power during the Green revolution in Iran in 2009 - send in government thugs to break up and punish those in the streets.  The feelings of excitement and euphoria in Iran a year and a half ago petered out in the face of government thuggery (I remain hopeful that the Iranians are continuing on a path toward freedom and secularization today).

Mubarak is doing the same today, sending in his thugs to beat and kill the demonstrators.  He obviously thinks he can get the same results that the Iranian tyrants did, and prolong his reign of domination over the Egyptian people. Come September, I have no doubt that Mubarak will concoct a reason of some urgent emergency to "delay" his transition from power - war with Israel?

I have a deep hope that the opposition will not back down, but increase their outrage at the thuggery and force him out now.  

I have a deep hope that the opposition will not back down, but increase their outrage at the thuggery and force him out now.