We shall see. From the pessimistic side it reads like the military junta trying to keep power. From the optomistic side it reads more like the military setting themselves up similiar to the Turkish military, where if the government goes too crazy and Islamist the military slaps themselves upside the head.

I recently wrote a thing on why military governments are rubbish...

There is a big problem with military governments, and it is this:

FACT: The military are only really any good at one thing, and that is killing people to DEATH. At everything else, not so good. They can't even do their own shopping without spending £100million on a helicopter, or selling their own kids for a box of nails.

And you know exactly what's going to happen. They'll turn up on the first day of the nation's brave new dawn with "Military Communique No.1: Restoring Order and Fighting Crime on our streets", and there will be much rejoicing and smugly satisfied former colonels.

However, history shows us that military governments get rather used to the idea of power, and no matter how temporary they say they are, forty years down the line "Military Communique No. 37,957 On the re-education and re-assignment of counter-revolutionary street poets and revised penalties for breaking haircut regulations" is met with the kind of fixed-grin jubilation you only ever see on North Korean television broadcasts.

And that is why military governments are crap.

Adolf Oliver Nipples: How many times does this have to happen before people recognize that when the military takes over it is never a benefit? Let's see... Pinochet, Tito, Qaddafi, Egypt (the first time under Nasser/Sadat/Mubarak, this is round two), Greece 1967-1974, etc... when things eventually shake themselves out it's after thousands are dead, and the mistrust of the military never goes away because if they did it once they can do it again.

Hell, I'm IN the military and if anything like that happened here in the US I'd be on the ramparts with everybody else. The military has no business in government affairs. They are the executors of policy, not creators of it.

People may recognize it, but if they try to DO anything about it, they'll be slaughtered. That's why it keeps happening.

coming to America soon. those #ows types need to obey the police state.

Adolf Oliver Nipples: How many times does this have to happen before people recognize that when the military takes over it is never a benefit? Let's see... Pinochet, Tito, Qaddafi, Egypt (the first time under Nasser/Sadat/Mubarak, this is round two), Greece 1967-1974, etc... when things eventually shake themselves out it's after thousands are dead, and the mistrust of the military never goes away because if they did it once they can do it again.

Hell, I'm IN the military and if anything like that happened here in the US I'd be on the ramparts with everybody else. The military has no business in government affairs. They are the executors of policy, not creators of it.

Another somewhat disturbing aspect to the Egyptian military is how deeply they're involved in corporate profit making. There are lots and lots of military-operated businesses like in manufacturing that are a big part of the Egyptian economy, with higher ranking officers as the executives and boards of these companies. There was concern during the beginning of this crisis that this would all come crashing down, but it had looked like the people were willing to leave the military this aspect so long as it continued to play nice. Unfortunately it has shown that it doesn't want to play nice, and it looks like it's going to hurt Egypt even worse as they'll now have to reorganize all of this to take it away from the military as they take control of government from them as well...

And after all of the hard work of George W. Bush to inspire the Arab Spring with his glorious liberation of Iraq, Fartbama goes and screws it up.

Better than the Muslim Brotherhood, or Muslim Sisterhood for that matter.

There are 10s of thousands in the streets, hundreds being injured, Amnesty International believes the new military government has imprisoned over 8000...so where's the US reporters that were there reporting on Mubarak and Tahrir Square and the Arab Spring? Oh that's right we support the military in Egypt and so does Israel...that's what the new democracy looks like citizens.

Porous Horace: Better than the Muslim Brotherhood, or Muslim Sisterhood for that matter.

This is true. I think the people of Egypt and the international community would rather have a secular military ruler than an extreme fundamentalist ruler

Sigh. Hopefully if this turns into an order to roll tanks on the crowd the tank commanders will refuse again.

Something is rotten with the upper echelons over there.

The powers you give me I will lay down when this crisis has been abated!

It's a goddamn shame, but not surprising. Hopefully the Egyptian people get the democracy they protested for, no matter what that might be. It's their choice, and having power-hungry authoritarians try and stifle that is a total buzzkill. Good to see the overlords will have a hard time of it.

Thanks for the Meme-ries: [i291.photobucket.com image 500x333]

The powers you give me I will lay down when this crisis has been abated!


Mmmm, yes, tell me the one about Darth Plagueis, the wise.

I leave for Egypt next week....

Satyagraha: There are 10s of thousands in the streets, hundreds being injured, Amnesty International believes the new military government has imprisoned over 8000...so where's the US reporters that were there reporting on Mubarak and Tahrir Square and the Arab Spring? Oh that's right we support the military in Egypt and so does Israel...that's what the new democracy looks like citizens.
[gdb.rferl.org image 640x480]

Where do all those people go when they have to take a piss/shiat? A million people in that crowd, someone in the middle of that mess has got to need to take a leak, RIGHT FARKING NOW.

whither_apophis: so we militarized our police forces instead

^^^THIS^^^

Egypt is only slightly ahead of us. We're well on our way to establishing a jack-booted thuggery here. Just look at UC Davis...



Submit, citizen!

StoneColdAtheist: whither_apophis: so we militarized our police forces instead

^^^THIS^^^

Egypt is only slightly ahead of us. We're well on our way to establishing a jack-booted thuggery here. Just look at UC Davis...

[static7.businessinsider.com image 640x454]

Submit, citizen!

This is what happens when you believe that government produces prosperity.

whither_apophis: Adolf Oliver Nipples: How many times does this have to happen before people recognize that when the military takes over it is never a benefit? Let's see... Pinochet, Tito, Qaddafi, Egypt (the first time under Nasser/Sadat/Mubarak, this is round two), Greece 1967-1974, etc... when things eventually shake themselves out it's after thousands are dead, and the mistrust of the military never goes away because if they did it once they can do it again.

Hell, I'm IN the military and if anything like that happened here in the US I'd be on the ramparts with everybody else. The military has no business in government affairs. They are the executors of policy, not creators of it.

"of foreign policy" Any soldier should disobey an order to move against his fellow citizens.



LOLWUT?

MemeSlave: StoneColdAtheist: Submit, citizen!

This is what happens when you believe that government produces prosperityis not bought and paid for by wealthy special interests.

FTFY.

Shame on you...now quit being a shill for the 1% and their jack-booted thugs.

/didn't spend 30 years of my life defending the constitution to have it twisted into this sick parody

Adolf Oliver Nipples: StoneColdAtheist: We're well on our way to establishing a jack-booted thuggery here.

It's nothing short of astonishing, we've found something that the extreme left and extreme right agree on wholeheartedly.

Call me when Petraeus and McChrystal fire into an OWS gathering, like these guys did:

"What the hell did I put in my pockets?"

The guy that came up with that short jacket that didn't look stupid with jodhpurs was there too.

Tatsuma: This is pretty depressing to see that the Arab Spring at this point is now just changing their dictators for either religious extremists who will become dictators (Tunisia) or apparently military dictators (Egypt)


I seem to recall that, during the Egyptian uprising earlier this year, Netanyahu didn't seem terribly concerned - provided that the military remained in power.

Looks like he got his wish - so far.

I'm going to dare to suggest that our right wing brethren may just possibly have this one right:

The fairly moderate and secular Egyptian Army believes that Fundamentalist Muslims will sieze power either legitimately or otherwise if the military relinquishes it.

epoc_tnac: [2.bp.blogspot.com image 296x335]

"What the hell did I put in my pockets?"

"In a stunning display of military discipline, the general refused to use the latrine until the battle was won."

epoc_tnac:
[2.bp.blogspot.com image 296x335]

"What the hell did I put in my pockets?"

If that's MacArthur, it's probably his ego.

MFAWG: whither_apophis: "of foreign policy" Any soldier should disobey an order to move against his fellow citizens.



LOLWUT?

[ph.cdn.photos.upi.com image 580x455]

[www.noliberty.com image 500x269]

Hence the word "should". Unfortunately, the police in this country have become so corrupt that what we've seen lately only makes sense when viewed as a real-world example of the Stanford prison experiment and/or the Milgram experiment. I don't know if the military has reached that point, though.

whither_apophis: MFAWG: whither_apophis: Adolf Oliver Nipples: How many times does this have to happen before people recognize that when the military takes over it is never a benefit? Let's see... Pinochet, Tito, Qaddafi, Egypt (the first time under Nasser/Sadat/Mubarak, this is round two), Greece 1967-1974, etc... when things eventually shake themselves out it's after thousands are dead, and the mistrust of the military never goes away because if they did it once they can do it again.

Hell, I'm IN the military and if anything like that happened here in the US I'd be on the ramparts with everybody else. The military has no business in government affairs. They are the executors of policy, not creators of it.

"of foreign policy" Any soldier should disobey an order to move against his fellow citizens.



LOLWUT?

sad you don't see a difference between a child going to her legal and proper school and the forth coming disapparances of human right activists in Egypt.


I think it's important to see the parallels as well.

And the best part? We've armed them to the teeth. Freaking M1 Abrams tanks assembled in and used by the Egyptian military. It's like giving a retarded 13 year-old a with a massive inferiority complex a .44 Magnum and a bulletproof vest.

But don't worry.....

At least we're doing the same for the Iraqi military.

MFAWG: whither_apophis: Adolf Oliver Nipples: How many times does this have to happen before people recognize that when the military takes over it is never a benefit? Let's see... Pinochet, Tito, Qaddafi, Egypt (the first time under Nasser/Sadat/Mubarak, this is round two), Greece 1967-1974, etc... when things eventually shake themselves out it's after thousands are dead, and the mistrust of the military never goes away because if they did it once they can do it again.

Hell, I'm IN the military and if anything like that happened here in the US I'd be on the ramparts with everybody else. The military has no business in government affairs. They are the executors of policy, not creators of it.

"of foreign policy" Any soldier should disobey an order to move against his fellow citizens.



LOLWUT?

[ph.cdn.photos.upi.com image 580x455]

[www.noliberty.com image 500x269]

In that second picture, the armed guys are actually protecting the black college students.

mcreadyblue: MFAWG: whither_apophis: Adolf Oliver Nipples: How many times does this have to happen before people recognize that when the military takes over it is never a benefit? Let's see... Pinochet, Tito, Qaddafi, Egypt (the first time under Nasser/Sadat/Mubarak, this is round two), Greece 1967-1974, etc... when things eventually shake themselves out it's after thousands are dead, and the mistrust of the military never goes away because if they did it once they can do it again.

Hell, I'm IN the military and if anything like that happened here in the US I'd be on the ramparts with everybody else. The military has no business in government affairs. They are the executors of policy, not creators of it.

"of foreign policy" Any soldier should disobey an order to move against his fellow citizens.



LOLWUT?

[ph.cdn.photos.upi.com image 580x455]

[www.noliberty.com image 500x269]

In that second picture, the armed guys are actually protecting the black college students.

In the first one, they appear to be trampling someones right to peacably assemble.

Do I have that wrong?

It sounds like they are trying to model themselves after Turkey, which wouldn't be the worst model to have.

Tatsuma: GaryPDX: It wasn't rocket surgery to see it coming. It's been going on for centuries.

Doesn't make it any less tragic, or sad that all those lives were lost for more of the same

I thought you turned in your passport and moved the promised land.

It's also fun to see you being ignored even when you post reasonable comments.


/Anyway I wish the Egyptian citizens the best. I DO think they have a shot at making the country work!

GaryPDX: MemeSlave: This is what happens when you believe that government produces prosperity.

Yep.

Somalia's waiting for you.

Should the Egyptians decide to rise up against their military government would we feel obligated to intervene?


We've set the precedent in Libya.

StoneColdAtheist: whither_apophis: so we militarized our police forces instead

^^^THIS^^^

Egypt is only slightly ahead of us. We're well on our way to establishing a jack-booted thuggery here. Just look at UC Davis...

[static7.businessinsider.com image 640x454]

Submit, citizen!

...Why the hell is a cop spraying paint into the eyes of what looks like teenagers? Or trying to?

watson.t.hamster: Should the Egyptians decide to rise up against their military government would we feel obligated to intervene?


We've set the precedent in Libya.


Things get more complicated with Egypt, as they happen to share highly sensitive borders both with one of our "allies" and a population that this "ally" views as a major irritation.

Complicated indeed,

MFAWG: In the first one, they appear to be trampling someones right to peacably assemble.

Do I have that wrong?

You can tell because in the 2nd picture they have their rifles shouldered and are merely escorting students to classes at Ole Miss.

In the first picture they have their rifles pointed at the disloyal Americans ready to dispense with all pleasantries...