Monday, February 14, 2011

It's still up to the military? I think not

The people of Egypt have forced out Mubarak and are moving the country toward democracy.

Or, the Egyptian military has driven Mubarak out of power by using the demonstrations to justify a coup, and keep the country in their control and away from Mubarak’s non-military son.

One of these two scenarios is true.  I don’t really know which. 

But, I think that the Egyptian people will not be stopped on this path to democracy.  The military control of the country (not a new thing, the military has always ruled Egypt, but with Mubarak at the helm) is needed in order to set up new laws and create the environment for the creation of political parties.  So, the military coup could very well be a wonderful step toward democracy in Egypt.

The question is whether the military will actually give up power to the people and let them create a representative democracy. 

I think they will, and I send my prayers that they will.  But, I am pretty clear that the biggest part of that journey is still ahead.  One can easily read the events of last week as the military keeping Mubarak from turning Egypt into a hereditary monarchy by having his son succeed him by taking over the country by a coup and keeping control of the country in military hands. 

But I don’t think that the people who shouted “Give me liberty of give me death” are going to be stopped.