Middle East on fire

reply to post by nickoli

According to Seyaj, local media reports and the Egyptian
government, at least 10 Yemeni children were trafficked to
Egypt for organ harvesting in 2009. The children were
repatriated to Yemen after Egyptian authorities discovered
the trafficking ring.

So Yemeni were involved but so to were somebody in Egypt. The sad part is Egypt sent the poor kids back to Yemen rather than protect them.

Yeah I read that, but it's still not linking Mubarak to organ harvesting.

Iran nuclear plant will be 'ready in April'

Iran's first nuclear power plant will be ready to generate electricity on April 9, atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi said on Friday, in signs of yet another delay.

+1

PA, Fatah 'can no longer speak' for Palestinians

Gaza Islamists said on Wednesday that the Palestinian leadership could no longer speak for its people after leaked reports of its cooperation with Israel.

Not to mention, Abbas gave almost everything up for almost nothing back... and Netanyahu still didn't agree to peace.

Israelis asked PA to outlaw Hamas: report
Yeah because outlawing things always works. Especially since murder is illegal, no murder have been committed.

Shenon : Hi!

reply to post by Vitchilo


I see your point,we dont know where the kids were sent. I guess they could have been sent back to their parents which is probably the case. Your probably right,at least I hope so and I hope the partys in each country involved were served justice.

Originally posted by nickoli
reply to post by Vitchilo

 

I see your point,we dont know where the kids were sent. I guess they could have been sent back to their parents which is probably the case. Your probably right,at least I hope so and I hope the partys in each country involved were served justice.

From the cable, it seems NO ONE is being arrested/charged for human trafficking in Yemen... there wasn't much talk about Egypt on this matter.

So I would assume no one went to prison for this.

About Mubarak not leaving, just forcing his government to quit... and naming a new one... Remember that he talked to Obama before doing his speech? Did Mubarak get ordered to do so?

Wouldn't surprise me, the west won't give in so easily... they'll try to keep Mubarak in power as long as possible while calling for ``reform`` but not for the ousting of him.

Update : Tear gas canister...
Notice anything on it? Yes, ``Made In USA``... for once, American products are being exported! America should be proud! Take that China!

reply to post by Vitchilo


Well I sent my rep a very strongly worded email denouncing Obamas stance and demanding an end to all future funding should Mubarak some how stay in power. Sadly that is about all I can do for now. If I lived in a bigger city I would go out and protest in solidarity but I'm afraid it wouldnt do much good in my little one red light town.

Found this should anyone be interested.

LIVE EGYPT HAM FEED FROM #telecomix : abrazo.servideo.org:8000... #egypt #jan25 #anonymous

reply to post by 00nunya00

You're the one who came in with nothing but a conspiracy comment which delegitimizes the Egyptian people's movement as some sort of US/Saudi-created plot, and then failed to back it up. If you don't mind, we're trying to talk about news and verifiable facts here. If you want to inject conspiracy theory, you need to support it.

Support isn't required to give an opinion..You may disagree with an opinion as is your choice, but to DEMAND proof is crazy talk..
I too think something is amiss..
The countries who I'd expect to be backing the current regime are in fact doing the opposite..
Allies one day and calling for them to be outed the next is most unusual...

Lots of great pics from the Egypt uprising

Joe Biden says Egypt's Mubarak no dictator, he shouldn't step down...

... and wonders what the Egyptian protesters want.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the PBS NewsHour tonight with the most direct US governent comments yet about the gathering Egypt protests against President Hosni Mubarak's 29-year reign.

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.”

Typical Biden speak there...

In one fell swoop, the candor of the cables released by WikiLeaks did more for Arab democracy than decades of backstage U.S. diplomacy.
+1

Originally posted by Vitchilo

About Mubarak not leaving, just forcing his government to quit... and naming a new one... Remember that he talked to Obama before doing his speech? Did Mubarak get ordered to do so?

I heard on CNN from the Egyptian ambassador that they only spoke after their speeches, and Wolf Blitzer was asking if it wouldn't have been smarter to have spoken beforehand, and expressed their concerns to each other directly before airing them on TV. So I guess their speeches weren't coordinated or even informed, LOL.

reply to post by Vitchilo


I don't understand whether Biden thinks we're stupid and can't understand that dictators can also be strong security allies, or if he's the one who's stupid and can't understand that even strong allies can be dictators? And regardless, does he really think that liberty, jobs and progress for the Egyptian people (and the children who will grow up to be either allies or enemies, depending on their circumstances) are worth less than the US's security?

Originally posted by Vitchilo
.... Thing is.... this kind of uprising will happen in the US, sooner or later, because of the financial situation. When medicare/medicaid/social security is crushed to bits and hyperinflation hits at the same time, riots will ensue... and Americans are ARMED...

This is what basically happened in 1930's Germany. Germany experienced a major financial meltdown and huge umemployment problem. This paves the way for the rise of Hitler's Nazi Party. The Nazi Party started with just 7 members.
Thanks to the 2nd Amendment, the Americans are well-armed, and ready to go.

reply to post by 00nunya00


Thanks for that clarification. And Biden is probably saying so because he doesn't want to publicly say that the US is supporting tyrants.

Iraq Prepares For War With Iran

January 25, 2011: The Iraqi Army is hustling to get ready to deal with Iran, by the time the last 50,000 U.S. troops leave at the end of the year. Increased oil production, and oil prices, has made it possible to recruit more troops, and equip more combat divisions. Particularly noteworthy is the creation of Chemical Defense Regiments, with the goal of one of these units being assigned to each combat division over the next few years. The only neighbor known to have chemical weapons is Iran. Iraqi diplomats spend a lot of time trying to improve relationships with Iran, but just in case things go south, the Iraqi military is preparing for the worst.

By the end of the year, the army will have about 230,000 troops. They will not be as well as equipped as during Saddam Hussein's tenure (1960s-2003), but they are better trained. This is important, because Iraqi troops have long been the least effective in the Arab world, largely because of poor leadership. The war with Iran in the 1980s changed that, but Saddam purged most of the competent new leaders, soon after, as he feared they would lead a coup against his disastrous rule (he was probably right.)

American Mamelukes In Saudi Arabia

Over half a century of oil wealth has made the Saudis soft and inept. During that time, most of the work force has been imported, and attempts to reverse that have not gone well. Saudis will not do work that is "beneath their dignity." That includes learning to be good at modern combat.

So the Saudis buy more high-tech, and very expensive Western weapons, hire Westerners to maintain the gear, and hope that there are at least a few Saudis capable of pulling the trigger, or pushing the button, effectively when crunch time arrives.

This is not a uniquely Saudi problem. Historically, it's quite common for fabulously wealthy areas to lose their warrior spirit to the extent that mercenaries have to be hired to defend the fabulous lifestyle.

True. The same thing has happened to us.

Israel Digs In For The Big One

January 26, 2011: Israel has ordered its military to fortify critical military installations against missile and rocket attack. This would mean a lot more underground (or partially so) storage facilities.

Currently, the Israelis estimate that there would be as many as 3,300 Israeli casualties (including up to 200 dead) if Syria tried to use its long range missiles and explosive warheads against Israel. If the Syrians used chemical warheads, Israeli casualties could be as high as 16,000. Over 200,000 Israelis would be left homeless, and it's believed about a 100,000 would seek to leave the country.

There Can Be No Greater Sin

January 27, 2011: In Lebanon, three decades of Iranian support for local Shia group Hezbollah has paid off as a combination of bribes, bullying and Iranian backing resulted in Hezbollah putting together a coalition of parties that gave Hezbollah control of the Lebanese government. This could trigger another civil war in Lebanon, but Iran doesn't care. This move gives Iran control of Lebanon, as long as Hezbollah leads the coalition government. And another civil war would be an opportunity to increase Iranian influence there, and to hurt Israel. There are also risks, but these are the kinds of, behind the scenes, risks that Iran prefers.

January 24, 2011: The first two (of dozens) of democracy demonstrators were executed. The two were arrested during the demonstrations following the 2009 elections, and were prosecuted for taking videos of the attacks against the demonstrators and putting those images on the Internet.

the rising (to about $100 a barrel) price of oil gives Iran more cash to support the nuke effort, and keep its angry population quiet. The unexpected price increase has given the government 40 percent more oil revenue (which makes up most of the government budget) than it has expected.

Thanks to Bernanke and his QE2.

I'm sure Iran loves Egypt rebelling since oil is taking off... and probably will get even higher.

Originally posted by coolieno99

Originally posted by Vitchilo
.... Thing is.... this kind of uprising will happen in the US, sooner or later, because of the financial situation. When medicare/medicaid/social security is crushed to bits and hyperinflation hits at the same time, riots will ensue... and Americans are ARMED...

This is what basically happened in 1930's Germany. Germany experienced a major financial meltdown and huge umemployment problem. This paves the way for the rise of Hitler's Nazi Party. The Nazi Party started with just 7 members.
Thanks to the 2nd Amendment, the Americans are well-armed, and ready to go.

Well armed and ready to go where? And why do we need arms to got there?

Originally posted by Eliad
....Storming the palace will get them nowhere!

All this violence- You really think it'll get them what they want? Let's say they manage to break through or kill all the cops and soldiers, then they reach Mubarak, and what? Kill him?

No. They will stripped him naked and make him walk down the middle of a main street in Cairo.

reply to post by nickoli


The people called for him to leave and yet he's seems to still be there. And somehow this doesn't quite make sense, does it?

He's still there so maybe it's beginning to look like it actually may have been the government forcing Mubarak's hand in the incidents last summer in backing Iran against the sanctions and not allowing Israel and airspace and whatever else happened that wasn't according to someone's plan.

He still there but what if he's being stubborn and still winds up ousted?

Or what if the government is being sacrificed as a scapegoat to blame his actions on, as in to save face in front of or convince someone that things were not as they seemed when he went against the masters?

Still some different scenarios possible here. It's not over.

Analysis: If Egypt falls, Syria must follow

As the world watches images of Egypt erupting, similar images are being reproduced in Syria. We have witnessed today many demonstrations in Damascus, Aleppo, and Qamoshli. With 10,000 IRGC (the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) personnel residing permanently in Syria, we also witnessed them, mixed with Syrian Army Battalions, deploy in several cities around the country. Yet, the international media, and al-Jazeera especially, have gone dark on Syria.

Uh Oh.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


He's still there because people need to sleep. He "asked the government to resign" because he's desperately trying to retain power, and wants the people to believe it's the government's fault that they're living in this situation, not his. It will work until about three seconds after morning prayers.

I only want to bring an Edgar Cayce prophecy to light: 'Cayce also predicted the possibility of a third world war. He spoke of strifes arising near the Davis Straits, and in Libya, and in Egypt, in Ankara, and in Syria; through the straits around those areas above Australia, in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf."'

The most we can do is to just think positive really. The West ain't gonna do jack all but try and keep their 'puppets' in place. If the people take over the government, they'll send in troops to 'help out' the current country. Not everything as it appears and the citizens of these countries know what's up while the ones (West) spoon fed new toys and food hide behind that to not face the issues at hand. Turkey could be next (Ankara) then that could open the door to conflicts in the Asian Ocean and the like..

Debunk/disregard all you like. At the very least, just hope for the best that the people can overthrow the governments and WE, the West, don't allow them to send troops there to try and topple it over.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


To go into the streets and spark revolution. As much as I disagree with the Tea Party's politics a lot of the time, they're the first real movement towards revolution and a purge of the corrupt BS that pervades our government. We could use that yesterday.

But the same issue would remain here as everywhere else: with such a power vacuum created, who gets control? What type of government do they set up? Do they elect the members, or appoint them at first? Does the Tea Party get more control because they instigated it? Are the old parties abolished? What is the role of religion? Are any old laws and treaties still respected?

We may think we're so different from Egypt, but we're not. We're just a lot further departed from our last revolution than they are from theirs.

Originally posted by OneLife
I only want to bring an Edgar Cayce prophecy to light: 'Cayce also predicted the possibility of a third world war. He spoke of strifes arising near the Davis Straits, and in Libya, and in Egypt, in Ankara, and in Syria; through the straits around those areas above Australia, in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf."'

That's a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, though, no? LOL. But I mostly agree with the rest of your post.

reply to post by 00nunya00

Pretty much what I said. I think I covered all of your scenarios and then some. Well maybe not the sleep part.

reply to post by 00nunya00

Thanks for your answer to my question to the other poster.

My comments for a relevant response to you are in this thread. You might have more fun there too with this kind of discussion.