Egypt in Crisis

[Randygh]

Have any of the folks that post on this board been to, or lived in Egypt? I didn't know the US has been supporting the Mubarik administration to the tune of 1.5-2.00 billion/year. Has this been payoff money to assure Egypt will coexist with Israel? What is going to happen to Egyptian-Israeli relations? Do the Egyptians hate the Israelis? :confused:

[Apperloo]

Suez

[debbie]

We've been supporting them for a long long time, across administrations. Bush and others before him tried to get them to reform, with no luck. This Pres has been in power forever and he seems to think this is "his" country.

From what I've seen and read, the anti-govt protestors are not just students, which often seems to be the case in these situations, but professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc). I saw some there with their children (small children).

I have a strong feeling the "pro" govt invaders that attacked night before last were put up to it by the government, based on the apparent organization...everyone is saying this will end up depending on which side the military takes. I have scary visions of Tienenman (sp) Square...

[Randygh]

I hope the Egyptian military follows through with fair elections this fall. I wonder if women will be allowed to vote? Hope so. It's interesting how demonstrations in Bahrain and Libya are being thumped hard in order to maintain the monarchy. The Bahrain demonstrations are basically Shia common people revolting against the Sunni rulers. Muslim sectarian violence--reminds one of protestant-catholic clashes during the Reformation.

[Go Aweigh2452]

Our son is stationed in Bahrain and we were concerned with the news of the anti king protests. Talked with Sean and he says it's a concern but the local population like US military presence there. What ticked me off was looking at photos of the throngs in Bahrain protesting. There were 10 in the Bahrain photos and the media sprinkled in photos of Egypt protests showing thousands of protestors. Had I not looked closer, I would have surmised Bahrain was also close to a regime change. All military have to live in town off base and so far the base is fine with not having them inside the base in the gym and other areas. Families are still welcome to fly in and visit and live in town with their military spouses. Sean remains in daily contact with family and has seen no change in public there nor is the base considering lock downs. They continue to stress existing rules of US citizens and military continue to go out in town in groups of two or more. The female reporter that was accosted by Muslim men were beat up by local women. She went home next day as she should have been protected by more of her news team then her and a cameraman.

[Randygh]

Doug--Glad to hear the US military is welcome in Bahrain. The King isn't afraid to use force to put down demonstrations. Last night on the news was a close up of one of the guys killed by the police/military. Looked like he was shot in the chest by at least 3 rounds of 00 buckshot.

[SomeSailor]

I think Bahrain will be fine for awhile. I'd be watching Libya, Tunisia, Algeria or even Yemen before Bahrain follows the Egyptian lead. I suspect they'll all get tired of the idea of being ruled by a single idiot sooner or later.

That whole area of the world is a bed of hot coals just waiting for something to tip over and trigger the fire.

[Go Aweigh2452]

Sean called again last night. All is fine so far. Base was called on alert for a while but settled back down to normal. He took this photo from his apartment in town with his blackberry and posted it on Facebook... Its a photo of the square where the demonstrators are protesting. Seems a lot of the protesters are Arab and not Bahrainian citizens...
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