First from Aljazeera update:
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Mubarak supporters like the Obama administration and the former Bush administration hates Aljazeera and blames them for Egyptian uprising and any problems in the Middle East or North Africa Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen,Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Turkey etc.
Outrage over Cairo violence
Reaction to events in the Egyptian capital Cairo between supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak.
Last Modified: 02 Feb 2011 15:27 GMT
Violence in Egypt: Pro-Mubarak Thugs Attacking Protesters, Cracking Down on Journalists, Anderson Cooper Beaten via Alternet.org, Feb. 2,2011
Update: The Times' Lede blog reports that pro-Mubarak demonstrators are "hunting down" journalists in Egypt:
"Protesters are hunting down Al Jazeera journos," wrote Abbas Al Lawati of Gulf News in Dubai. "I keep having to clarify that I'm not one of them.".... An Australian television reporter, Hamish Macdonald, wrote that a colleague had seen one reporter badly beaten, and that their crew is unable to leave its hotel.... Two reporters for The New York Times, David Kirkpatrick and Mona el-Naggar, said they had been cornered by pro-Mubarak demonstrators who tried to prevent them from reporting just as clashes began..... Ben Wedeman of CNN also reports via Twitter that he was "harassed." "Appears the pro-government 'demonstrators' have been given instructions to target press."
Among the journalists being targeted is CNN's Anderson Cooper, who was repeatedly punched in the head by pro-Mubarak thugs. His crew was also surrounded, punched and kicked by the mob, Cooper told CNN this morning.
Cooper reports that "automatic weapon fire has been heard and fires are burning near the Egyptian Museum, which would make it impossible for opposition protesters inside Tahrir Square to leave along that road."
Maddow points out how Fox News and the right in the US are using the Egyptian uprising to plug their favorite ideas -Glenn Beck believes it is all part of a left wing Obama conspiracy for a world wide revolution to create what -The New World Order
Bolton believes the situation means its time to bomb Iran ???
Pam Geller and other Islamophobes believe it is the Muslim Brotherhood which has instigated this uprising in Egypt and is another sign of how evil Islam is ???
Rachel Maddow On Fox News & Tea Party Republican's Response to Egyptian Uprising via MSNBC & Huffington Post
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Aljazeera :Clashes rage in Tahrir Square
Hundreds injured as pro-Mubarak supporters attack protesters seeking president's ouster in Egyptian capital.
Last Modified: 02 Feb 2011 16:06 GMT
Clashes have broken out between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in the Egyptian capital Cairo..
Protesters from both sides threw stones at each other in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of ongoing opposition demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak for the past nine days.
Al Jazeera correspondents, reporting from the scene, said that more than 500 people had been injured in Wednesday's clashes that are continuing to rage.
Earlier, witnesses said the military allowed thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters, armed with sticks and knives, to enter the square. Opposition groups said Mubarak had sent in thugs to suppress anti-government protests.
One of our correspondents said the army seemed to be standing by and facilitating the clashes. Latest reports suggest that the centre of the square is still in control of the protesters, despite the pro-Mubarak supporters gaining ground.
'Absolute mayhem'
Witnesses also said that pro-Mubarak supporters were dragging away protesters they had managed to grab and handing them over to security forces.
Salma Eltarzi, an anti-government protester, told Al Jazeera there were hundreds of wounded people.
"There are no ambulances in sight, and all we are using is Dettol," she said. "We are all so scared."
Aisha Hussein, a nurse, said dozens of people were being treated at a makeshift clinic in a mosque near the square.
She described a scene of "absolute mayhem", as protesters first began to flood into the clinic.
"People are coming in with multiple wounds. All kinds of contusions. We had one guy who needed stitches in two places on his face. Some have broken bones."
Meanwhile, another Al Jazeera correspondent said men on horseback and camels had ploughed into the crowds, as army personnel stood by.
At least six riders were dragged from their beasts, beaten with sticks by the protesters and taken away with blood streaming down their faces.
One of them was dragged away unconscious, with large blood stains on the ground at the site of the clash.
The worst of the fighting was just outside the world famous Egyptian Museum, which was targeted by looters last week.
Al Jazeera's correspondent added that several a group of pro-government protesters took over army vehicles. They also took control of a nearby building and used the rooftop to throw concrete blocks, stones, and other objects.
Soldiers surrounding the square took cover from flying stones, and the windows of at least one army truck were broken. Some troops stood on tanks and appealed for calm but did not otherwise intervene.
Many of the pro-Mubarak supporters raised slogans like "Thirty Years of Stability, Nine Days of Anarchy".
Al Jazeera's online producer in Cairo said rocks were continously being thrown from both sides. He said that though the army had put up barricades around the square, they let the pro-Mubarak supporters through.
"The people on horses are pro-Mubarak supporters, they are a very angry crowd looking for anyone working for Al Jazeera and for Americans. They are trying to get on the other side of the army tanks to get to the anti-Mubarak supporters. More and more pro-Mubarak supporters are coming in."
Violence
Al Jazeera's Jane Dutton, also in Cairo, said that security guards have also been seen amongst the pro-Mubarak supporters, and it may be a precursor to the feared riot police arriving on the scene.
Dutton added that a journalist with the Al-Arabiya channel was stabbed during the clashes.
Fighting took place around army tanks deployed around the square, with stones bouncing off the armoured vehicles. Soldiers did not intervene.
Several groups were involved in fist fights, and some were using clubs. The opposition also said many among the pro-Mubarak crowd were policemen in plain clothes.
"But we will not leave ... Everybody stay put"
Khalil, anti-government protester
"Members of security forces dressed in plain clothes and a number of thugs have stormed Tahrir Square," three opposition groups said in a statement.
Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent opposition figure, accused Mubarak of resorting to scare tactics. Opposition groups have reportedly also seized police identification cards amongst the pro-Mubarak demonstrators.
"I'm extremely concerned, I mean this is yet another symptom, or another indication, of a criminal regime using criminal acts," ElBaradei said.
"My fear is that it will turn into a bloodbath," he added, calling the pro-Mubarak supporters a "bunch of thugs".
But according to state television, the minister of interior denied that plain clothes police had joined pro-Mubarak demonstrations
| Defiant Mubarak vows to finish term |
Violence erupts in Alexandria shortly after Egyptian president's announcement that he will not seek another term.Al Jazeera Online Producer Last Modified: 02 Feb 2011 03:24 GMT |
CAIRO, EGYPT - Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has announced in a televised address that he will not run for re-election but refused to step down from office - the central demand of millions of protesters who have demonstrated across Egypt over the past week.
His announcement follows a week of protests, in which millions of people have taken to the streets in Cairo and elsewhere.
Mubarak seemed largely unfazed by the protests during his recorded address, which aired at 11pm local time on Tuesday.
Shortly after his speech, clashes broke out between pro-Mubarak and anti-government protesters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported.
Rock-throwing youths at the city's Mahatit Masr Square scattered as automatic gunfire rang out and a tank advanced towards them before halting and then withdrawing. There was no sign of any casualties.
Mubarak's words were unlikely to carry much weight with the protesters at Cairo's Tahrir, or Liberation, Square: they resumed their "Leave, Mubarak!" chant shortly after his speech, and added a few new slogans, like "we won't leave tomorrow, we won't leave Thursday ..."
Mubarak mentioned the protests at the beginning of his speech, and said that "the young people" have the right to peaceful demonstrations.
But his tone quickly turned accusatory, saying the protesters had been "taken advantage of" by people trying to "undermine the government".
Until now officials had indicated Mubarak, 82, was likely to run for a sixth six-year term of office. But in his address on Tuesday, Mubarak said he never intended to run for re-election.
"I will use the remaining months of my term in office to fill the people's demands," he said.
That would leave Mubarak in charge of overseeing a transitional government until the next presidential election, currently scheduled for September.
Anyway the situation in Egypt is helping to shine a light on America's hypocrisy insisting the US government is in favor of democracy individual freedoms and rights free Press freedom of assembly and yet prefers dictators and tyrants when it suits America's interests.
So much for morality and other quaint nonsense when you have a world to conquer or just control . And if they don't get their way they just threaten and then bomb and /or invade.
In this Media advisory From the media watch group FAIR we get a look at America's predicament in siding with the people of Egypt when in fact they approve of Mubarak and his disregard for freedom and rights of his own citizens. He shuts down the internet to stop the truth and facts from getting out.
When Mubarak spoke yesterday he seemed to be conjuring up secret enemies not just of his government but to Egypt itself. So he tries to con the world into believing this popular uprising is the result of anarchist and foreign agitators. But he's wrong the people hate him and his corrupt regime of thugs and thieves.
So will the Americans take Mubarak into their country as they did the Shah and the former dictators the Marcos family or Pinochet whom the Americans still defend. The reality is that tyrants on the right are just as bad as tyrants on the left. But the Americans and others refuse to use the word Fascist in relation to any of their heroes from Mussolini to the Shah to Suharto to Mubarak to the House of Saud to the Taliban.
FAIR: MEDIA ADVISORY
Media Advisory
The Delicate Tightrope of Supporting a Dictator
U.S. media gloss over Washington's role in Egyptian repression
2/1/11
The political context of the current Egyptian uprising is clear: The United States has steadfastly supported dictator Hosni Mubarak, whose rule has been marked by sham elections and the jailing and torture of dissidents, propping up his regime since 1981 with some $60 billion in aid, most of it military.
But since U.S. corporate media are accustomed to viewing international affairs through the lens of U.S. elite interests, much of the current coverage elides Washington's role, or presents it as a "tightrope" balancing act for the Obama administration.
As one New York Times story (1/26/11) put it, "The administration has tried to balance its ties to Mr. Mubarak with expressions of concern about rigged elections and jailed dissidents in his country." USA Today (2/1/11) announced: "The upheaval in Egypt has put the United States in a delicate diplomatic situation: pressing for a more democratic Egypt, but wary that too much change could threaten the stability that Egypt helps bring to the Middle East."
On the PBS NewsHour, Margaret Warner (1/31/11) said, "The chaos in Egypt posed a delicate diplomatic challenge for the United States: appealing for democracy without alienating an ally." Or as NBC Nightly News anchor Kate Snow (1/29/11) asked: "Is it a bit of a tightrope that the U.S. has to walk here, though, in terms of wanting to promote democracy on the one hand, but being a longtime ally of the Mubarak administration?"
An L.A. Times editorial (1/28/11) implausibly argued that the U.S. record of support for Mubarak would assist efforts to promote democracy: "As an ally and benefactor, the United States has helped prop up the 82-year-old strongman since he took power 30 years ago, and today it is in a unique position to impress upon him the importance of democracy."
Some of the recently released WikiLeaks cables on Egypt provided another window into media thinking on the issue. The January 28 New York Times story was headlined, "Cables Show Delicate U.S. Dealings With Egypt's Leaders." The same day, the London Guardian had a very different headline: "WikiLeaks Cables Show Close U.S. Relationship With Egyptian President." The Times account buried some of the more damning details, which make clear that U.S. officials are keenly aware of the prevalence of torture and brutality under Mubarak (FAIR Blog, 1/28/11).
ABC's Christiane Amanpour offered what amounted to a rationalization of U.S. support for Egypt, explaining (1/26/11) that
the implications are really big because this is very fundamental. Egypt receives the most American aid, more than $1 billion a year. It has the same goals as the United States against radicalization and terrorism, pro the Israeli peace process. But the United States, many people are saying, needs to get ahead of the curve, because otherwise it might be left behind as the people demonstrate their will.
Some outlets saw a distinct shift in the Obama administration's position--well ahead of any evidence to that effect. The Washington Post published a January 27 piece headlined "As Arabs Protest, U.S. Speaks Up," which declared that the White House was "openly supporting the anti-government demonstrations shaking the Arab Middle East," adding that the administration had "thrown U.S. support clearly behind the protesters, speaking daily in favor of free speech and assembly even when the protests target longtime U.S. allies such as Egypt."
The Post's evidence, however, was thin: a quote from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stating that the Mubarak government should "respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people." The strongest support for the notion that the U.S. was backing the street protests came from an anonymous administration official--hardly an indication of "speak[ing] up" in "open support."
Another Post article tried to make the case again on January 31:
Several paragraphs later, though, the Post added that the "shift in message had no visible effect in Cairo and other Egyptian cities," and reported that prominent activist Mohamed ElBaradei's assessment was that the rhetoric "had landed 'like lead" in the Egyptian capital."
It would seem that Egyptians have a clearer view of U.S. policy than many pundits and mainstream journalists. That point was driven home when NBC reporter Richard Engel, to his credit, brandished a tear gas canister that had been fired at protesters (1/28/11):
These were the tear gas canisters that were fired by all those riot police today. And if you look at them closely, they say clearly in English, "Made in the USA." Egyptians have been picking them up, they've been looking them over.
But then, as if this straightforward illustration of the U.S. role in Egyptian repression was too revealing, Engel qualified his observation: "And from an Egyptian perspective, it does seem like Mubarak and the United States are working together. So the U.S. is walking a fine line here."
It does not, in fact, take an "Egyptian perspective" to appreciate how crucial U.S. support has been to the Mubarak dictatorship. One only needs to look at the history of the past three decades--a history U.S. media would prefer that we overlook, or treat as part of a delicate "balancing act."
and so it goes,
GORD.
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