Egyptian 'Crisis'

If you've been stuck in a hole for the past week or so, then you may have no idea what's currently happening in Egypt. If that's the case, go look up a few news stories about it and you'll get the gist (I couldn't find a video that summed up the situation well, but here's some footage of Cairo).

Essentially, the people of Egypt are rioting, demanding political reform after similar happenings in Tunisia. Many of the protests have become violent, and police forces have left Cairo (or at least the last time I checked), leaving the Egyptian citizens to defend their own homes from looters and vandals.

I'd like to discuss: Should we ("we" depending on which country you're from) support Egypt's cry for freedom (directly, indirectly, or even just in spirit), or simply watch for events that could affect us? Also, do you think it's wrong to only pay attention to political events in other countries if they have something to do with us?

Particularly, I think the U.S. focuses way too much on itself. I feel like I have no idea what's going on in the world, as news stations provide so little information. And as for the first question, I think that it's silly for us not support Egypt, as the only 'crisis' is that Egyptians have to suffer while in the process of becoming free.

EDIT: Yesterday, the news said that military/police presence has returned to Cairo, and are attempting to suppress some of the protests. The numbers of those who are gathering to protest are dwindling, but are still in the thousands.

I think that the US should support the Egyptian's right for their freedom. We fought for ours, didn't we? What's the difference?

In my opinion, I think the US should support, but not get involved unless asked. Look at what happened in Iraq and Iran? We're STILL over there, but not one single person can tell me WHY. Pardon me, but I thought we eliminated the threat. Why are we letting our people get killed fighting for people who don't even want us there to begin with?

But I'm getting off topic. I DO think that we focus too much on ourselves. If it doesn't have anything to do with the US, you barely hear anything about it on the news. You have to actually go digging sometimes to find out what's going on outside the USA. It's ridiculous.

^ I agree we should stay out unless asked. I mean shit we have problems of our own rite now.

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Originally Posted by KataraBadyanu

We're STILL over there, but not one single person can tell me WHY. Pardon me, but I thought we eliminated the threat.

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I can answer why the US went there: The official reason was that the Bush administration claimed Saddam had Weapons of Mass Destruction (given his history of using chemical weapons, this isn't so ludicrous as it sounds), but they found none, and I suspect that he knew it. The unofficial reason that everyone with an ounce of commonsense and an understanding of wold affairs can figure out: Securing an Oil reserve.

As for why the US is still there: Simple reason, if the US just up and left Iraq tomorrow, the whole country would descend into anarchy and it would become a hot bed for terrorist activity.

I also suspect that by Iran, you mean Afghanistan. The reason why We (and I say we as a Canadian, because our troops are there as well), is because of 9/11. Thousands of Americans, Canadians and other nationals were killed in the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. They were killed by a terrorist organization supported by the Taliban, the government of Afghanistan at the time. The war in Afghanistan was justified, and our pursuit of justice for such horrific crimes was right.

As for why we're still there: Same reason as Iraq. If we left tomorrow, everything we've done up until now would be for nothing and it would all collapse.

Now, back to the topic at hand: Do I support the Egyptian people in their bid for political change, yes, another democratic government in the region would only serve to make it safer.

As for sending troops over there to help establish that government: Hell no. We've done enough in Afghanistan and Iraq that to do so would only work to the cause's detriment. Westerners aren't well liked in the Middle east, and our troops have been through enough and deserve some peace.

As for the lack of information on what is going on in Egypt, there's a reason for that: The government instituted a media black out. For days all internet and cell phone communication was disabled to prevent people from using sites like Facebook and twitter to organize demonstrations. As far as I know, the internet is still offline, but phones are now working.

The current Egyptian government is also making it hard for foreign press to report on the story as well.

Literally everyone is banding together in Egypt. Everyone. Christians and Muslims. Rich and poor. Doesn't matter, everyone has had enough corruption.

What do other countries do in situations like this? Being from America, i only understand three options 1) Get TOO involved 2) Not give a damn 3) Send a letter?

EDIT: oh, and another one Soshi thought of, playing a big benefit concert with U2 that will somehow change the world and make everything better

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Originally Posted by Abu Dhabi

EDIT: oh, and another one Soshi thought of, playing a big benefit concert with U2 that will somehow change the world and make everything better

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Biggest waste of money if there ever was one.

Ok i have to be real careful how i word this becuase of my profession. One i am deply connected with this issue because if something does happen and the us goverment does intervean the Deployment taht i am on will be the first on site (for those who didnt know i am a US Marine currently overseas) Yes i think that the united states whould stay out of the intrapolitics of a country but the problem that will come is we cant afford to let egypt be our enimes because they control a vital shipping lane. Also about Iraq we had a good reason to go in and we didnt find nukes but we did find agent that are used to make chemical weapons of mass destruction. A weapon of mass destruction is not jsut a Nuclear Device it is any weapon that can be used to kill alot of people really quick. More technicall definations are advisable but that is the quick one. And i will agree with Aceman on why we havent pulled out from Iraq and Afgahnastan. Case and point we did pull out of Afgahnastan and had to go back because the terrorist came back and started to destabilize the goverment there. Back to Egypt all the US is preparing to do is to get the US citizans out of the area to protect them. That is on most news pages btw.

Lifted from Wikipedia:

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Following the invasion, the U.S.-led Iraq Survey Group concluded that Iraq had ended its nuclear, chemical, and biological programs in 1991 and had no active programs at the time of the invasion but that Iraq intended to resume production once sanctions were lifted. Although some degraded remnants of misplaced or abandoned chemical weapons from before 1991 were found, they were not the weapons which had been the main argument to justify the invasion. Some U.S. officials also accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, but no evidence of a meaningful connection was ever found. Other reasons for the invasion included Iraq's financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, Iraqi government human rights abuse, and an effort to spread democracy to the country.

Iraq War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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All that was found was left over remnants of the Iraqi chemical weapons manufacturing from the first Gulf War in 1991, as well as evidence that they would resume production when sanctions were lifted, but that never went anywhere. When the survey team went in, they did not find the weapons that would have justified the invasion.

I understand that you're a Marine, and I thank you for your service and wish you a speedy and safe return, but the main point is that the justification for the invasion turned out to be unwarranted, and it cost the lives of thousands of your comrades, and hundreds of thousands Iraqi civilians. And that is the real tragedy. You said that we can't afford to have Egypt as our enemy because they control a major shipping lane. Well, oil is needed to run the ships that pass through that shipping corridor, and Iraq has plenty of it...