Its all kicking off in downtown Cairo...

[The Good Reverend Roger]

There are reported protests in Al Areesh, Northern Sinai right now, in fact.

The North is where the Fijiians are, IIRC.  They take no shit.

IIRC, it's the Fijiian battalion in the North, the Columbians in the middle, Americans on the South.

I can only hope the Egyptian protestors get no funny ideas about driving out foreign troops until they have their own army, then.

I don't think they will...The Egyptians are  - or were, when I was there - quite friendly to the MFO.  It's kept them from getting ploughed under by the Egyptian and Israeli governments for some time.

[Cain]

That's good.  The last thing the protestors need to be doing is giving people (ie; Israel) reasons to stage a foreign intervention and "calm the situation down".  Of course that would be pretty much the stupidest move Israel could make right now, but Bibi has an astounding knack for being a complete moron...

[Phox]

They overthrew a US-backed dictator in Tunisia, so now the other countries with US backed dictators are wanting to have a go.  Egypt is more significant because it is a major Middle Eastern/North African power, and both Israel and the US have relied on it being a good partner to their regional goals since Sadat made peace.  Egypt also shares borders with the Occupied Territories, making it a player in that particular drama (they sealed their borders in 2009 to aid the Israeli Operation Cast Lead, for example).

If they succeed like the Tunisians did, I would consider that a brilliant outcome.  But the situation there is a lot more uncertain, because of Egypts size and strategic importance,

That clear's it up nicely, yes. My only question now, is what happens in the Middle East if Egypt goes wildcard? I don't expect an answer to that until it's all said and done, though.

[Cain]

The revolts will spread even further.  Yemen is already seeing protests and Syria has some historic links with Egypt...it would leave Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US with a lot less friends in the region, and put pressure on SA in particular to reform further.

[Phox]

The revolts will spread even further.  Yemen is already seeing protests and Syria has some historic links with Egypt...it would leave Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US with a lot less friends in the region, and put pressure on SA in particular to reform further.

If Egypt goes, do you see SA or Israel taking some ballsier approaches with Yemen and Syria? 

[Cain]

Its possible.  SA has seen Yemen as within its private sphere of influence for years, and Israel is always up for a scrap with Syria, though it would depend on the exact nature of the movement in Syria itself (since the Syrian government, despite a subtle pro-Western shift, still fights Israel for influence in Lebanon).  Jordan would be a more worrying case for Israel, Saudi Arabia and America though, especially as Jordan is seen as highly stable and the Hashemite Royal Family are descended from the Prophet Mohammed's clan.

[Cain]

JOEBIDENLOL

Asked if he would characterize Mubarak as a dictator Biden responded: "Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he's been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with – with Israel. ... I would not refer to him as a dictator."

Oh, the internet has been turned off in Egypt, by the way.  All of it.

[Cain]

http://nisralnasr.blogspot.com/2011/01/font-face-font-family-cambria-p.html

Unlike Tunis, the army is probably quite willing to use force to back up the police. The army does benefit from the current institutional arrangement.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

JOEBIDENLOL

Asked if he would characterize Mubarak as a dictator Biden responded: "Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he's been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with – with Israel. ... I would not refer to him as a dictator."

Oh, the internet has been turned off in Egypt, by the way.  All of it.

Wasn't sure that was possible.

[Cain]

Not sure about the technical aspects of it, but I'm pretty sure that on the political end, Mubarak asked the ISPs to stop routing any traffic until further notice.

Also, the Army has been deployed in Cairo, and curfew has been declared.  So far, the protestors are warmly greeting the Army and requesting protection from the police by them, according to Al-Jazeera.  The headquarters of the NDP ruling party which Mubarak is the leader of, have been set on fire.

[Chairman Risus]

Collection of helpful links about the protests

http://thedailywh.at/post/2977687816/egyptian-unrest-news-round-up-above-smoke

[Adios]

More ripple effects.

U.S. stocks tumbled and oil prices rallied Friday, as investors grew nervous about political unrest in Egypt.
{snip}
Investors are worried that that the situation in Egypt could intensify over the weekend, and are taking some money off the table ahead of that possibility.
"Political turmoil is not good for the stability of the market, and Egypt is a populous country that borders one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, so that's getting investors nervous," said Peter Tuz, president at Chase Investment Counsel.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/28/mark...ex.htm?iid=RNM

[Adios]

The revolts will spread even further.  Yemen is already seeing protests and Syria has some historic links with Egypt...it would leave Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US with a lot less friends in the region, and put pressure on SA in particular to reform further.

Pretty soon we are going to need programs to tell the players apart.

They followed days of unrest that have roiled several Arab countries. Demonstrations in Tunisia led the president to flee that North African nation. Then came protests in Algeria, Egypt, Yemen and Jordan.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/28/egypt.protests/index.html?hpt=C1

[Cain]

Al-Jazeera reports shots being fired around the Ministry of Information.  Lots of them.  Sounds like someone is making a ballsy move.

[Adios]

If the people win this, well, wildfire?