Restless Egypt ...

polifrog



--About that break ... it may be somewhat porous.--



My initial impulse was to take Egyptian turmoil as a populist and possibly democratic uprising. I'm not so sure.

Fabius Maximus offers thorough background...

Summary: The events in Egypt are complex; accurate forecasting is not possible. We can look through the fog generated by the news media to see some simple and important facts, and make some likely guesses.

Contents

1. Background of the riots
2. Yes, the ‘Islamist Menace’ is overblown. And no, it is not.
3. Oil prices have spiked, probably with little reason
4. It’s not about us
5. What do the people of Egypt think?
6. Addendum: what should we do?

Ari David by way of GatewayPundit:

Just like Carter, Obama got us to this point by undermining our only ally in the area, Israel, and empowering all of her regional enemies for the first two years of his presidency. That undermining has led us directly to these out of control events.

John Bolton by way of FOX:

I think the question is whether and to what extent the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islamists have infiltrated the leadership. If the military holds firm it's entirely possible, although bloody, that the government can hold onto power. That doesn't necessarily mean Mubarak will be in power, but the military will be, and I think that is why this contrast makes it so important for people to understand, this is not a choice between the Mubarak government on one hand, and sweetness and light, Jeffersonian democracy on the other.

I don't think we have evidence yet that these demonstrations are necessarily about democracy. You know the old saying, "one person, one vote, one time." The Muslim Brotherhood doesn't care about democracy, if they get into power you're not going to have free and fair elections either

These events seem to have caught most of guard, but The NYT makes it clear -- It's not Obama's Fault:

The chaos unfolding in Egypt is laying bare a stark fact, Middle East experts say: In the Arab world, American words may not matter, because American deeds, whatever the words, have been pretty consistent.

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