Did Egypt's Army just throw Mubarek under the bus?

[riverwalker]

Source: Wired

Did Egypt’s Army Just Throw Mubarak Under The Bus?

* By Spencer Ackerman
* January 31, 2011 |
* 2:16 pm |

It looks like Egypt’s dissidents got a major boost for their emerging revolution. The Egyptian Army reportedly issued a statement saying it will not crack down on the thousands of protesters, ahead of a planned general strike tomorrow that seeks to put a million Egyptians in the streets.

The Army says it “will not use force against the people,” the BBC reports, citing state television, which has shown a sanitized version of the uprising thus far. Al Jazeera’s English broadcast is blasting “Egyptian Army says it will not use force against protesters around the country” across TV screens worldwide.

That’s huge. The Army has acted with restraint thus far: journalist Issandr El Amrani posted the above video today, which shows a one-star general assuring protesters it’s not his job to suppress the protests or prop up the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. But there has been ambiguity about the Army’s intentions. Low-flying helicopters and fighter jets have circled above protest epicenters, raising questions as to whether a possible confrontation was in the works.

It also ought to cause a big sigh of relief at the White House. Top Obama administration aides told a group of D.C. think-tankers this morning that they were in “constant dialogue” to “restrain the Egyptian military from using violence,” according to a participant who asked for anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Read more: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/did-egypts-army-just-throw-mubarak-under-the-bus/

[dkf]

1. Looks to me like they are doing as we asked.

[malaise]

13. From the Airforce returned to base yesterday

after flying low over the people, it was clear they were not going to open fire on Egyptians.

[GodlessBiker]

2. The army is pretty much inviting the People to come out into the streets for tomorrow's march.

[thereismore]

7. Yep. It is done. Now they need a cabinet of intellectuals to guarantee free elections

and it will be accomplished.

[HereSince1628]

3. Yes, that seems to be huge.

Getting an Army to fire upon citizens is always difficult. When you have an army of conscripts who realize that they are shooting at their compatriots it's even more of a challenge.

It's hard to get a person to shoot his best buddy's parents and siblings. It just is.

[goforit]

4. A peaceful revolution?.....Wow, not like the tea-party's.

[thereismore]

5. Wouldn't surprise me if President Obama's role in this turned up to be decisive. nt

[Gregorian]

6. Now those are troops I can support.

That doesn't happen very often.

[iamtechus]

8. A Different View

The army has been able to control the protesters without firing a single shot!

The protesters are running out of food and water.

All Mubarak has to do is wait till they starve.

[The Doctor.]

10. Think of this;

You're the protestors who seem to have the army on your side. You are on the verge of throwing off an oppressive regime. You are running low on supplies. Do you;

A) Pack it in and go home when victory was within reach?

-or-

B) Finish in a full-court press to remove, by force if necessary, any of the remaining hold on power Mubarak has?

[riverwalker]

11. then they'll call it a hunger strike

they are not leaving until Mubarek is gone. They are using every tactic of resistance in the book.

[sufrommich]

16. Mubarak is done. This is the Army's way of telling him so. nt

[Baclava]

9. Whoever controls the tanks controls the country

The generals know this, they WILL have to choose sides at some point.

This is just the beginning, it doesn't have to end in a bloodbath.

[blindpig]

12. This ain't the milk of kindness.

If the generals had followed Mubarak's orders and began firing on the people wholesale they likely would have faced a mutiny. They are playing for their jobs and social status. Can't trust them, they will betray the people in a heartbeat.

[Robb]

15. You truly think Mubarak held power for 30 years by being stupid enough

...to order a citizen army to open fire on people "wholesale"?

No, I agree with the poster upthread. Their orders are to keep the peace, nothing more, nothing less. And they have every reason to obey those orders. Time is on their side.

[malaise]

18. Mubarak is a sick old man

He never saw this coming. The army did not have to go public with this if it was only about keeping the peace. Time is on the side of the army only if it remembers who provides those generous loans. US weapons being used on Egyptians would have been way worse than those tear gas canisters that have already angered Egyptians and Arabs.

This has gone way beyond Mubarak - my guess is that they're all finessing his departure by death (heart attack, return of the cancer), or exile. I'm sure the beloved son has already stashed the loot in some safe place in London.

[sufrommich]

17. lol, you better inform the Egyptian people of that, apparently

they don't see what you see.

[cbdo2007]

14. Mubarek was already under the bus, the Army is just keeping him there.

To "throw someone under the bus" has too negative a connotation to apply to this case. These people are standing up for freedom and against corruption.