It's On

[danalwyn]

Apparently Mubarak didn't get the memo about resigning. The army may not be happy. The crowd is downright incensed.

Either the army decided to throw in with the regime, and Mubarak is pushing the crowd to provoke the army and give him an excuse to crack down, or he's got something else to fall back upon. Or he's totally out of touch.

He might think that he can hold out. After all, protests can't go on forever. But the protests can also push him out directly, especially if the army gets tired of Mubarak. Maybe he's hoping that the crowd will get violent and push the military onto his side. Maybe he's just completely out of touch.

And why did the military and the state television appear to desert him? Is it possible that there is now a schism between the NDP leadership and Mubarak? Is Mubarak hanging on against attempts by his own side to oust him. Is this a massive NDP game to position themselves as the "good guys", acting to push out the man who made them what they are, and thus guaranteeing themselves a place in the future of Egypt? Is this Mubarak betting that foreign nations will back him if he starts cracking down, if he even has that power? Is he hoping to drive some of the protesters to violence and split them in two parts?

I don't know. I can't read his mind. But nobody's going to be sleeping in the tactical office tonight. Get ready for a storm tomorrow.

Comments

[silverjackal]

Speaking personally I think I'm going to avoid the news until something is decided. Worrying about it doesn't accomplish anything, and is just upsetting. :( Thank you for the updates, though, as it saves me having to dig through the news to find what I'm actually interested in. (I get most of my news online these days, and I've been annoyed more than once by getting completely trivial "top news" when there are matters of real importance happening elsewhere in the world.)

[danalwyn]

I have to admit, it's going on a long time in a pretty indeterminate mode; nothing seems to happen for very long, tense periods of time.

In the meantime, I'm sure you can skip over my entries if you get frustrated. And I promise they'll be 100% Lindsey Lohan-free.

[silverjackal]

:D Thanks. Do you know, I'm not really certain who that is? I mean, I have a vague idea -- she's one of those current celebrity blondes who is always in the news for being drunk/smashing up a car/being caught with drugs/carrying a small dog around in her purse, yes? But I know there's more than one (the Hilton girl sticks in my mind because of the hotels of course), and I can't be arsed to try to keep them separate. Lately the news keeps tossing a brunette in there for variety, and I approve because she actally doesn't look half starved like some of the others. Beyond that I don't care. Rich children with too much money and not enough common sense have always existed, and always will. So long as I don't have to deal with them personally, I don't care.