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Mubarak's Failed Bait and Switch
by Stephen Lendman
On February 10, indications were he'd step down. He didn't, but now it's official, vice president Suleiman saying he resigned, handing power to Egypt's military. A New York Times alert said "a historic popular uprising transformed politics in Egypt and around the Arab world."
Times rhetoric way overstated reality as resolution remains very much in doubt, though odds strongly favor continuity, not populist change. More on that below.
For the moment, however, huge Tahrir Square crowds erupted in celebratory euphoria, perhaps forgetting their liberating struggle just began. It didn't end with Mubarak's resignation. That was a baby step, removing an aging dinosaur Washington and Egypt's military wanted out. Now he's gone. Focus must follow through on what's next, requiring sustained popular protests. Otherwise, everything gained will be lost.
A Snake in the Grassroots of the Tea Party
By Silver Shield
I have warned those in the Freedom Movement about Patriot Pied Pipers trying to infiltrate, subvert and destroy the National Tea Party. On a national level, I warned about Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and even Wikileaks. Well now I see they have even burrowed into the local grassroots of the Tea Party. I had a very interesting email exchange with the head of a pretty popular Tea Party site yesterday.
A couple of things hit me during this exchange. The first thing is that this guy was thoroughly indoctrinated exactly like I was 15 years ago. (We will call him “Mr.TeaParty,” since he has a really cool disclaimer for privacy on all of his emails and I am sure he would not want me to out him or his efforts which you will see why below.) He had all of the Reagan worship, the spouting conservative talking points without any real thinking or debate and he ignored all of the facts that did not support his paradigm.
Justice first Mr. Hague, then peace
Stuart Littlewood
The word ‘justice’ is conspicuously absent from the mouthings of Western politicians on the Middle East. It has vanished from their vocabulary and from their purpose. Instead ‘peace process’ is endlessly trumpeted, and the lopsided dead-end ‘negotiations’ that go with it.
"It was disappointing that they continued the building of settlements, that they wouldn’t renew the settlement freeze over the last few months. So yes it does require bold leadership from Israel and of course from Palestinians..." That’s what the UK’s foreign secretary William Hague said yesterday to a BBC reporter. Israel’s continuing crime spree “disappointing”? And "bold leadership" is now required from the Palestinians? We're talking about crimes against international law and crimes against the United Nations charter and crimes against humanity. What is disappointing - no, shocking - is the lack of leadership from Hague and that bunch of misfits in the White House who are obligated under the terms of various solemn treaties and international undertakings to step in and end Israel’s lawlessness.
Road to Absorption
By Frank Koeksal
Recently, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with President Obama in Washington DC to discuss ways an agreement could be forged between the two countries to expedite trade and tourism across one of the largest boarders in the word. On the surface, this ides appears reasonable until one realizes that the lead to this meeting was kept out of the public eye. The reason for this may come from what we have heard from the meeting itself, mainly that information about Canadians will be shared and kept by various US security administrations. During the joint press conference with Mr. Harper and Mr. Obama the question of sovereignty came up, and although Mr. Harper seemed uncomfortable with the question, Mr, Obama was more forthright. Mr. Obama was clear that any deal with Canada would happen only when US security interest were addressed and implemented to the satisfaction of the US. This does not sound like a two way dialogue, more like a drill down.
Canada defeats GMO hazard legislation
By Rady Ananda
By a vote of 178 to 98, on February 9th, Canada's House of Commons defeated Bill C-474, an Act that would have required an analysis of potential harm to export markets before permitting the commercialization of any new genetically engineered seed. Organic farmers now fear the collapse of the wheat and alfalfa markets, since Canada's export markets reject biotech food.
Jack Layton, MP (Toronto-Danforth) and leader of Canada's New Democrats, expressed his disappointment in an email promising to "continue to take every opportunity to pressure the government to initiate a public debate around genetic engineering and to use a precautionary approach to this important issue."
Forces Behind the Egyptian Revolution
(Washington, DC) Two critical forces behind the Egyptian Revolution are missing from the front pages, or any pages, of the corporate media. They are the critical role of Egypt's union movement and the universal desire of all people to live in peace, freedom and dignity. Rarely mentioned are the grievances of Egypt's workers and their struggle to unionize. As a result, we've missed the connection between the struggle to unionize and the right to assemble.
The Egyptian people were poised for a mass celebration following what was supposed to be a farewell speech by former President Hosni Mubarak. For seventeen days, Egyptians massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square. There were protests in Alexandria, Port Suez, and other cities. The G-20 sates have been tentative in their support for the full set of demands by protesters and the broader Egyptian public. For example, President Barack Obama said Mubarak needed a, "credible, concrete and unequivocal path to democracy." What does a "path to democracy" look like? How long does it take to walk the path? Egypt's military leaders may have acted already.
Mubarak's contact with reality was extremely weak. He didn't get the message from the Egypt's Supreme Council of military leaders. Aljazeera reported that the council promised, "measures and arrangements … to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people." The news service concluded that a military coup had likely taken place already based on the announcement that the council will be in session indefinitely.
What role did the union movement play and how was that connected to the right to assemble and other fundamental human rights?
America is No Example of Democracy
By Timothy V. Gatto
It’s very telling that the United States will not give any indication that actually makes any kind of statement on the Egyptian revolution and where America stands on the subject. It’s apparent that the U.S. doesn’t want to show it’s hand until all of the variables have been taken into account and the people of Egypt have finally accepted an alternative to the rule of Mubarak’s regime…at least not in public anyway. We have no real idea of what is happening in the background. It’s quite possible that elements in the U.S. government have clear goals as to what they want to wash out of the current stalemate in Cairo.
The fact that the U.S. isn’t taking sides publically is really very disappointing but not unexpected. If this administration openly sided with the protestors and the uprising was crushed and the regime survived (with or without Mubarak) it would be very difficult to explain why we sided with the opposition when Egypt and its current regime is supposedly our ally. Yet it places Obama in a precarious position if the popular uprising succeeds and we now have to negotiate with a new regime that we failed to support. This is what the British call “a bit of a sticky wicket”.
The Muslim Brotherhood is Kosher
Gilad Atzmon
Ynet reported today that US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said during a House Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday that Egypt’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood movement was "a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam."
Clapper, who heads the organization commanding 16 American intelligence and investigation agencies, told the committee that the Muslim Brotherhood "have pursued social ends, a betterment of the political order in Egypt, et cetera….. There is no overarching agenda, particularly in pursuit of violence, at least internationally.”
Aristide Gets Diplomatic Passport to Go Home
by Stephen Lendman
Several previous articles discussed his right to return, accessed through the following links:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/01/let-aristide-return.html
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/02/haiti-update-electoral-runoff-and.html
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/02/grassroots-support-for-aristides-return.html
Since forcibly exiled on February 29, 2004, Washington and Haiti denied his right to return, though affirmed in Haiti's Constitution and international law.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
Article 9: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."
Israeli and PA Forces Suppress Solidarity with Egyptians
by Stephen Lendman
Despite Palestinian Authority (PA) officials banning anti-Mubarak demonstrations, hundreds rallied in support. On February 5, Jerusalem Post writer Khaled Abu Toameh headlined, "100s demonstrate in Ramallah in support of Egyptians," saying:
Marching in Ramallah with Egyptian flags, they publicly supported them "(f)or the first time since the beginning of the(ir( uprising...." Another Ramallah demonstration followed as well as a Bethlehem one.
Toameh's February 2 article was in stark contrast headlined, "PA launches pro-Mubarak demonstration in Ramallah," denouncing Mohamed ElBaradei as a "CIA agent."
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