An Army of Davids Reports for Duty in Egypt
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.]
I don’t think I will follow, blow for blow, what is happening in Egypt. Let’s hope that when the dust settles, we will see freedom reign. And this is certainly a hopeful sign. As fires and rioting spread, it was sadly predictable that there would be a concern that their national treasure of ancient Egyptian artifacts would be endangered. Which is why I like this story so much:
EGYPT’S MILITARY SECURES FAMED ANTIQUITIES MUSEUM
To prevent looters from getting inside, citizens form a human chain around the home of King Tut’s gold mask
The Egyptian army secured Cairo’s famed antiquities museum early Saturday, protecting treasures including the famed gold mask of King Tutankhamun from looters.
The greatest threat to the Egyptian Museum first appeared to come from the fire enguling the ruling party headquarters next door on Friday night as anti-government protests roiled the country.
Then dozens of would-be thieves started entering the grounds surrounding the museum.
Suddenly other young men — some armed with truncheons taken from the police — formed a human chain outside the main gates on Tahrir Square in an attempt to protect the collection inside.
“I’m standing here to defend and to protect our national treasure,” said one of the men, Farid Saad, a 40-year-old engineer.
Another man, 26-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim, said it was important to guard the museum because it “has 5,000 years of our history. If they steal it, we’ll never find it again.”
Good for them. And read the whole thing, if you are so inclined.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
Sorry to say that this is Iran, Act II.
Arizona Bob (e8af2b) — 1/29/2011 @ 9:11 pmArizona
that is obviously the fear, but let’s hope not.
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 1/29/2011 @ 9:49 pmWe are witnessing Iran and the Shah all over again. Obama has no more idea of what to do than Carter did in 1979.
Mike K (8f3f19) — 1/29/2011 @ 10:04 pmIt should be noted that the previous aspirant to the office, had little or no clue either;
On Egypt, Kerry said that he would not tie foreign aid to greater openness and reform. “I would first want to link it to the warmth of the relationship with Israel and the effort to secure general stability in Middle East,” he said. “You have to put your priorities first.” (Washington Post, May 30, 2004)
narciso (e888ae) — 1/29/2011 @ 10:08 pmI don’t know how to say this other than reporting my experience.
For whatever reason I have known and worked with a fair number of Muslims, including several Egyptians.
In every case, they obviously liked America and Americans.
Also, in every case they hated Jews and the state of Israel. When I talked with them, no matter what I said, the conversation always returned to two themes: Jews are evil and Israel must be destroyed.
The other the theme was if the U.S. would stop supporting Israel, then the Islamic world would no longer have a problem with the U.S.
Just anecdotal. I guess we will see what happens in Egypt.
Ag80 (e03e7a) — 1/29/2011 @ 10:26 pmAnother man, 26-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim, said it was important to guard the museum because it “has 5,000 years of our history. If they steal it, we’ll never find it again.”
Aw, it would just end up on the living room mantle of some Russian natural gas tycoon. Wouldn’t be hard to track down at all.
JVW (4463d3) — 1/29/2011 @ 10:57 pmAppointing Suleiman seems to me to be a move intended to get the Army behind Mubarak staying in office. If the people don’t calm down, the Army will eventually move in. If Mubarak doesn’t feel strong enough to make the call, nothing will save him. The Army isn’t going to ride to the rescue on its own unless it looks like the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to take over.
deepelemblue (a78b16) — 1/29/2011 @ 11:35 pmDude, have you not seen the pics of soldiers shaking hands with the protesters?
If the army is going to do anything, it’s going to be “collect Mubarak for a short trial/hanging”.
And let’s just hope they know that if the MB takes power, they’ll be sent to go die in Israel again, and are thus not in favor of that idea.
I mean, the last time Egypt tried to “solve” the “Israel Problem”, the only thing that stopped Cairo from becoming a suburb of Tel Aviv was the fact that the Jews didn’t like the idea of owning real estate with pointy, pyramid-shaped buildings.
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 1/30/2011 @ 12:05 amMuslim Brotherhood: Arabs Will Topple Leaders Allied With the US
The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood told reporters today that Arabs will rise up and topple the regimes allied with the United States.
My Way reported:
The leader of Jordan’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood warned Saturday that unrest in Egypt will spread across the Mideast and Arabs will topple leaders allied with the United States.
Hammam Saeed’s comments were made at a protest outside the Egyptian Embassy in Amman, inspired by massive rallies in neighboring Egypt demanding the downfall of the country’s longtime president, Hosni Mubarak.
About 100 members of the fundamentalist group and activists from other leftist organizations and trade unions chanted “Mubarak, step down” and “the decision is made, the people’s revolt will remain.”
Elsewhere, a separate group of 300 protesters gathered in front of the office of Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai, demanding his ouster. “Rifai, it’s time for you to go,” chanted the group.
Horatio (55069c) — 1/30/2011 @ 5:12 amI have seen it said repeatedly that the Army is no friend of the Islamacists.
I also heard earlier that at least one prison had been attacked and “hundreds” of Muslim extremists were set free.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 1/30/2011 @ 7:53 amHere is some serious food for thought. Beware of getting what you want. Sometimes you want the wrong thing.
Egypt is a mess. This revolution cannot help but push it into the Islamist camp, which we really do not need. I defer to Michael J. Totten for some desperately needed facts.
Egyptian Public Opinion
Think about it before making your wishes. That’s all I ask.
{^_^}
jdow (98e9d7) — 1/30/2011 @ 8:13 amTry that link again.
Egyptian Public Opinion
{^_^}
jdow (98e9d7) — 1/30/2011 @ 8:14 amThis reminds me of how a bunch of Egyptian Muslims went to Christmas Mass a month ago to serve as human shields protecting their Christian countrymen from suicide bombers. This makes me skeptical that the radicals will be able to take over.
Jim S. (2a2632) — 1/30/2011 @ 8:19 amNo one seesm to realize that the Egyptian military is mostly composed of ordinary citizens who are fulfilling a mandatory requisite, so of course it’s only natural that they’d be reluctant to fire on their own countrymen. This is almost the opposite extreme of the military in Iran and many other ME nations.
Dmac (498ece) — 1/30/2011 @ 9:00 amToo late.
Pictures of antiquities looted from Egyptian National Museum:
“Zeit Online (in German and translated into English) has posted an interview with Wafaa el-Saddik, the director of the Egyptian Museum up until very recently, who says that 13 cases have been smashed, some objects have definitely been stolen, the looting of the museum was an inside job by guards and police, and that the museum in Memphis has also been looted.”
http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2011/01/29/statues-of-tutankhamun-damagedstolen-from-the-egyptian-museum/
http://hyperallergic.com/17815/egyptian-museum-damage/
Viator (c5da79) — 1/30/2011 @ 10:14 amWhich side is the Scorpion King on? That dude is going to kick some azz!
daleyrocks (479a30) — 1/30/2011 @ 6:46 pm