Egypt, shades of Tiananmen

Egypt, shades of Tiananmen

It is time to recognize Arab countries have entered a new era. People power is sweeping across the Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. They have all suffered the same fate with potent rulers paying partial attention to their countries’ fate.

Dictators have stayed in power, some over 40 years. An autocrat has ruled Egypt for 30 years, a country with a population of over 80 million. Lack of political freedom; controls and constrictions, abuses and torture abound.

Excessive greed of the rulers, and their corrupt government’s inability to tackle economic problems has escalated this situation caused utter chaos, placed the citizens in fear and poverty; brought on inflation, food and fuel shortages, rising prices and unemployment.

The Egyptian authorities may crush the movement for democracy. Rallies and protests might even be suppressed for a time with the U.S.-funded military tanks in a bloodbath. They may block out all communications, shut down satellites, block the Internet and mobile phones, place curfews but as we have seen the movement is only snowballing. It’s time to recognize the unity of the people. With incredible bravery and determination the protesters keep coming.

The Egyptian people are not asking their government to reform. They are not asking Mubarak to step down or his government be dissolved with him forming a new one. They want Mubarak and his government out, gone. They are demanding an end to the entire autocratic, repressive regime they have endured for even longer than Mubarak’s rule 30-year rule. They want democracy not just a reform of the current government with new promises.

Western governments have wished, over a period of time, for gradual political reform fearing breakdown of stability in the region. Too late now, reform has been too slow coming, stability broken. Much damage been caused by the last Bush administration with its erroneous foreign policy that viewed solution with wars and military spending bringing about and escalating hatred and terrorism from the Muslim extremists.

Now the world must wait and see how the vacuum will be filled and what extremism, if any, will arise.