Egypt caught in spiral of disaster

[bemildred]

Many things that are hard to believe - or explain - happen in Egypt; unfortunately, it all looks more like a spiraling nightmare than a fairy tale in the last year or so. The latest violence on Wednesday, which resulted in at least 74 dead and over 1,000 wounded, and which The New York Times described as "the deadliest soccer riot anywhere in more than 15 years", is a fitting example of that.

The calamity came in the wake of another large brawl on Tuesday, between members of the secular opposition and Muslim Brotherhood supporters who reportedly attempted to block their march against the military government of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Over 70 people were wounded in the clashes. [1]

Both events coincided almost perfectly with the anniversary of another odd episode of recent Egyptian history, the February 2, 2011 attack against the opposition in Tahrir Square by supporters of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on horses and camels. [2] The timing, whether a coincidence or not, is unlikely to be that important, but all three events emphasize the unpredictability of the domestic currents in Egypt, and raise suspicions of an invisible hand trying to stir those currents, with a varying success rate.

Other events in this broadly-defined "odd" series include the bombings of the gas pipeline leading into Israel and Jordan and the mob attack against the Israeli Embassy in Cairo in September 2011.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB03Ak05.html

[gateley]

1. Bookmarking to read at work. I'm so sorry to hear this -- those inspirational

people deserve happiness and freedom.

[bemildred]

2. Don't believe everything you read.

Egypt is going through difficult times though.

[gateley]

3. Good advice -- I'll read with a hooded eye (or whatever the saying is). nt

[bemildred]

4. Reading with a "jaundiced eye" is my favorite way to put it.

The Russians don't appear to be all that happy about the Arab Spring. All those people running around in the street and yelling you know, very alarming. They've seen that before, and more than once.

[leveymg]

5. There's a better argument to be made for US and/or Israeli invisible hands stirring up the Arab

Spring. Then, there's the Third Hand of the Saudis and wealthy Gulf states.

Certainly all three outside powers view events in Egypt to be with their strategic interests (motive) and sphere of influence (opportunity.) I would not be at all surprised if it's shown that these three cross-cutting influences have been at work from the beginning in every country in the region where there's been significant civil strife in the last year.

[bemildred]

6. Well, I'm not trying to single out the Russians.

If anything they've been more candid about it. The main point to me is the growing instability arising from the continued resistance to real political reform, and that is occurring in lots of places, spreading.

[gateley]

7. That's what I was reaching for! nt