Egypt Protests

[maturin 12]

Holy shit, show's what cliches will do to you.

[Colossus 2]

!!! President Hosni Mubarak resigns !!!

Now I just hope the people of Egypt can keep their country from becoming another dictatorship or theocrachy.

[ProfTournesol 956]

Moubarak finally resigned.

Thank god, the USA (and its allies) finally understood how vain and counterproductive it is to support dictatorships against the Islamic threat, as it was vain when they supported South American dictatorships against the communist threat.

Hope now they (and we, Europeans) will finally support democracy, as it is the only long term response against terrorism and intolerant islam.

[concurssi 11]

So you're saying Islam is bad?

[ProfTournesol 956]

So you're saying Islam is bad?

Obviously i said the contrary, and was only talking about the extreme and intolerant religious factions. But IMHO any religions should be kept away from the political control of a country. Even in the Western countries.

[Tonci87 163]

Finally!!!

Now lets hope that there will be a fair democratic and peacefull election

[icebreakr 3157]

I wonder if US will keep a steady annual supply of $1.3B+ dollars to Egypt :)

The US has provided Egypt with $1.3 billion a year in military aid since 1979, and an average of $815 million a year in economic assistance. All told, Egypt has received over $50 billion in US largesse since 1975.

Edited February 12, 2011 by IceBreakr

[oxmox 73]

I wonder if US will keep a steady annual supply of $1B+ dollars to Egypt :)

Depends if they support only interests or real democracy & freedom :D.

Nah seriously, iam happy their revolution did work so far and i hope the best for them that this country will develop well.

[maturin 12]

I think the U.S. should be reminding the Egyptian military how much money they get from us. So tell them to get used to the idea of civilian rule.

[binkster 0]

I think there economy is 15Tril and plus... I dont think they really care about our 2bil

[ryguy 10]

Oh yea you mean the all-powerful rich Egyptian economy? Egypt takes more money from us than practically any other country. It makes a huge difference to them.

[walker 0]

Oh yea you mean the all-powerful rich Egyptian economy? Egypt takes more money from us than practically any other country. It makes a huge difference to them.

Nah ryguy

Israel is by far the biggest US aid recipient in the world it receives twice as much as Egypt.

The total value of US AID to Egypt is 1.3% of Egyptian GDP

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_aid_as_of_gdp-economy-aid-as-of-gdp

Also most US aid is basically used weapons. Stuff the US military no longer wants and that is past its sell by date in the US. Like the majority of US aid this is designed to increase sales of US goods and services:

Expensive extras such as:

• Support, maintenance and diagnostic equipment that was not in the "aid package" but are required to make it run oh and this has to be done at your location as it involves technology that cannot be transferred.
  
• Training packages to use the new weapons that once again were not in the "aid package".
  
• Parts to replace the worn out doohickeys because you are giving them worn out second hand equipment.
  
• Service contracts to maintain, the now dilapidated and old "high tech kit" because while you will train the users you do not train them how to maintain it as they have not got the basic education; but you can set up a university in their country to do that, and it can be part of a development aid package! We can name the University after your leader! And yes his brother can build it! You will have to get pay the teachers though that is only fair, where can you find the teachers you say? Ah it so happens we have a whole bunch of our finest academic minds (retired and redundant weapons maintenance workers who went to community college for retraining) available at short notice.
  
• Or they can come to university in your country, where they can learn to maintain this but they will have to pay for the course because that was not in the "aid package".
  
• Of course by the time they have learned how maintain these worn out weapons they will be out of date because your enemies will have bought the latest kit and so the cycle has to start all over again.
  

Neat huh?

That is how the weapons industry works.

US Aid in terms food and development is very low amounting to about 3% of the US aid budget.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_com_to_for_aid-economy-commitment-to-foreign-aid

Additional information:

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/politics/us-foreign-aid.htm

So 3% of 1.3% makes it 0.039% of Egyptian GDP but I do not even think it is that. Since most US Food Aid goes to countries where people are starving. So we can ignore that. And the majority of US Aid for Development tends to be spent on things that encourage people to buy US goods and services or on education. This last would be sacrosanct for the CIA as it is one of the ways it like any other security service camouflages its recruiting of assets and inserting agents.

By the way the US is not the only country who fakes its aid budget this way.

If the US was to remove all its foreign aid to Egypt tomorrow the net effect on the average Egyptian family, and indeed their economy would be as near as dammit zero.

That said if the US was to remove its military aid it would indicative of a degrading in diplomatic relations and part of a package of measures, that would also include various tariffs, sanctions and blockades on Egyptian trade that would affect the Egyptian economy and families but it would be at the risk of a balance of trade surplus of $204,700,000.00 that Egypt owes the US.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_tra_bal_wit_us-economy-trade-balance-with-us

Foreign AID is a complex area with many nations using it as a dumping ground for unwanted or waste products then classifying them as aid. It is also primarily used by nations as a method of gaining access to a countries markets. In most cases aid is an extension of a nations foreign policy. Often in reality what is called aid will in fact be intended as a bribe to taken by those in power and then sold by them for a profit sometimes to their own but often as not on the open market.

http://www.globalissues.org/article/35/foreign-aid-development-assistance

Kind Regards walker

Edited February 12, 2011 by walker

[ahmed8620 11]

But IMHO any religions should be kept away from the political control of a country. Even in the Western countries.

this is what all Egyptians said (even muslim brotherhood).

[4 IN 1 0]

I hope they see a better future, I have been there once a few years back and I can understand them, yet I also wonder if extreme and intolerant religious factions will rise, which is a bad thing to happen given that tourists have been targets for many years.

[max power 21]

Maybe next time Mubarak should resign BEFORE people die by the hands of his ridiculous thugs.

[spooky lynx 73]

Hm... At the beginning of this year nobody in US or EU said about Mubarak as dictator - he was 'best friend' for the west. Nobody cared that he was ruling for 30 years and gave him millions as economic and military aid. But something happened, and Mubarak turned to dictator just in a moment. Well, does anybody in US or EU need new Middle East war (which will break out because of huge amount of radical muslim organisations members in egyptian opposition)?

[vilas 477]

Hm... At the beginning of this year nobody in US or EU said about Mubarak as dictator - he was 'best friend' for the west. Nobody cared that he was ruling for 30 years and gave him millions as economic and military aid. But something happened, and Mubarak turned to dictator just in a moment. Well, does anybody in US or EU need new Middle East war (which will break out because of huge amount of radical muslim organisations members in egyptian opposition)?

Polish is similar to Russian, maybe you will understand this movie text :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlPBXkBGmPc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-NB02sdVeE&feature=related

"next century" movie

it is about TV and propaganda

movie is about following scenario:

- on the earth came Martians

they drink blood, so government in TV runs propaganda that Martians are human friends and because of safety people must go to "check blood" (blood is used to feed martians)

tv news is leaded by one jurnalist, he founds that martians are evil and killed his wife (for blood)

so he refuses to lie and tells truth about martians on one show

when martians left earth journalist is taken in prison and he becomes first public enemy "colaborator with evil martians"

[spooky lynx 73]

I know about TV:) But I think about other thing: what do producers of this revolution want to get at Middle East. Punish Israel? Make this unstable region even more unstable? Why?

[vilas 477]

I know about TV:) But I think about other thing: what do producers of this revolution want to get at Middle East. Punish Israel? Make this unstable region even more unstable? Why?

i don't think so, i think that simply people of Egypt had enough (not thinking what's after, like we did in 1980 and 1989)

when people have enough, all they want is "to change something" "to end" , but what comes ??? noone knows , next Muslim state like Iran or more democratic state and more modern like Turkey, noone knows

when you are under oppression the only think you have in mind is to end this and make revolution

Edited February 12, 2011 by vilas

[Baff1 0]

I know about TV:) But I think about other thing: what do producers of this revolution want to get at Middle East. Punish Israel? Make this unstable region even more unstable? Why?

I don't think Israel or the Middle East has anything to do with it.

They are born dirt poor and they die dirt poor. They come from nowhere and their whole lives they know they are going nowhere.

They want this to end.

30 years of empty promises to this effect from their government haven't changed this for them. They have had enough.

I don't think this is a cold war provoked revolution. I don't think it has anything to do with international politics.

And like Vilas says, revolutionaries don't plan what comes after. They just feel that whatever does, there is no way it can be worse.

[walker 0]

Hi all

This was primarily an Internet triggered... and organised revolution. It is what happens when people learn the truth... and have a means to organise to speak as one voice.

The Egyptian and Tunisian regimes would have festered on probably for decades where it not for the catalyst of information that destroyed them...

Supression is something that cannot last in the age of the internet even western democracies must learn this...

Kind Regards walker

Edited February 12, 2011 by walker

[abs 2]

They are born dirt poor and they die dirt poor. They come from nowhere and their whole lives they know they are going nowhere.

This.

A good analysis of potential causes for the rallies.

As always, click the link for the full story.

Abs

[oxmox 73]

This.

A good analysis of potential causes for the rallies.

As always, click the link for the full story.

Abs

Dont click the link....Exploit.JS.Zeroll infected trojan (Kaspersky)

[abs 2]

Dont click the link....Exploit.JS.Zeroll infected trojan (Kaspersky)

What the eff? It's the Financial Post. However I see the link seems to have a Facebook URL encoded in it (as I copied it from a friend's FB account), which may be why your AV acted up.

Here's the raw link itself: http://www.financialpost.com/m/search/very+afraid+jobless+young/4230310/story.html?q=Diane+francis

Abs

[spooky lynx 73]

i don't think so, i think that simply people of Egypt had enough (not thinking what's after, like we did in 1980 and 1989)

when people have enough, all they want is "to change something" "to end" , but what comes ??? noone knows , next Muslim state like Iran or more democratic state and more modern like Turkey, noone knows

when you are under oppression the only think you have in mind is to end this and make revolution

I don't agree that major reason of this revolution is desire of egyptians to change something. This desire has been warmed up from the outside, by someone who wanted to overthrow Mubarak. BTW, he constrained some guys called "Brothers Muslims", thousands of whom got free after fall of his regime. Guess, what these guys will try to do?

I don't think Israel or the Middle East has anything to do with it.

They are born dirt poor and they die dirt poor. They come from nowhere and their whole lives they know they are going nowhere.

They want this to end.

30 years of empty promises to this effect from their government haven't changed this for them. They have had enough.

I don't think this is a cold war provoked revolution. I don't think it has anything to do with international politics.

And like Vilas says, revolutionaries don't plan what comes after. They just feel that whatever does, there is no way it can be worse.

Israel now will have to do something with thousands of "Brothers Muslims" members who got freedom. And these guys exactly will 'help' their palestinian brothers to fight against Israel.

Till this year nobody said anything about poor people of Egypt, about Mubarak's dictatorship. On the countrary, Egypt was called as one of most developed and progressive Midde East countries. So, in one click it turned in the country of poor when people earn couple of bucks a day, and Mubarak turned in old dictator... Isn't it funny? Where were all those who speak about poverty of egyptians one-twoyears ago? Nobody spoke about this, nobody cared. This reminds me Saddam Hussein's story. Before 1990 he was friend of Europe and US, after - became evil dictator. All other allies of US should learn Mubarak's history and remember, how easily they can be thrown away if necessary.