The protesters are being bludgeoned in Tahrir Square again. By the Egyptian army.
The think tank here at Falling Downs never thought it was mere coincidence that General Anan, at the time the number two guy in the Egyptian military, happened to be in Washington when the original Tahrir protests begat Arab Spring, which went on to inspire a thousand Occupations in the west.
Occupy Wall Street.
Occupy Portland.
Occupy Toronto. And so on.
The Occupiers have for the most part faded back into their nine to five realities. But not in Tahrir Square.
In Egypt, everything has changed and nothing has changed. General Anan is now the number one guy. Egypt is ostensibly a democracy, albeit a democracy taking its first baby steps. How is that working out for "the people"?
The people are back in Tahrir Square. In January and February there was a wide-spread belief that the army was on the side of the people. Now the people realize that Mubarak was just the figure-head for a military regime, and that the same military that was in charge under Sadat and Mubarak is in charge today.
Sami Anan has to cope with some day to day realities that Hillary Clinton and David Cameron and the rest of his cheerleaders don't. Were Egypt to be truly democratic, they might not be our friends anymore. A majority of Egyptian voters could very well turn their backs on the peace treaty with Israel. A majority of Egyptian voters could very well say good-bye to American aid, and hello to China.
The Egyptian military gets over a billion dollars a year from the US. We expect something in return.
And no matter what Hillary says, it isn't democracy.
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