Thread: Blood on Bernanke's Hands; Riots in Egypt, Food Prices, Unem

Thursday, January 27, 2011 7:49 PM

Blood on Bernanke's Hands; Riots in Egypt over Food Prices and Unemployment; Protests Spread to Algeria, Morocco and Yemen; Twitter in the Spotlight

Violence in Egypt continues unabated in spite of President Hosni Mubarak's plea for calm. Demonstrators threw firebombs and chanted "Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with the tyrant." Police responded with teargas and bullets.

Protesters are angry over poverty, rising food prices, state food subsidies, unemployment, and social conditions.

Social media outlets, especially Twitter have played a leading role in organizing protests. The Obama administration and the US state department have also resorted to Twitter and Facebook.

Here are a number of stories I have been following, with references to Twitter and Facebook highlighted.

Thousands defy Egypt's leader in fresh protests

MSNBC reports Thousands defy Egypt's leader in fresh protests http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41267995/ns ... /n_africa/

Egyptian anti-government activists pelted police with firebombs and rocks in a second day of clashes Wednesday that left two dead. Beefed up police forces on the streets quickly moved in and used tear gas, beatings and live ammunition fired in the air to disperse any demonstrations.

There were signs that the crackdown on protesters was taking a toll on Egypt's international standing. In Washington, White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs would not say whether President Hosni Mubarak, the target of demonstrators' anger and a close U.S. ally, still has the Obama administration's support. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the government should allow peaceful protests instead of cracking down.

Tens of thousands turned out for the largest protests in Egypt in years — inspired by the uprising in Tunisia. They demanded Mubarak's ouster and a solution to grinding poverty, rising prices and high unemployment.

"What happened yesterday was a red light to the regime. This is a warning," businessman Said Abdel- Motalib said on Wednesday.

Many in Egypt see these events as signs of the authoritarian president's vulnerability in an election year. There is speculation that 82-year-old Mubarak, who has been in power for nearly 30 years and recently experienced serious health problems, may be setting his son Gamal up for hereditary succession. But there is considerable public opposition and, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic memos, it does not meet with the approval of the powerful military. And the regime's tight hold on power has made it virtually impossible for any serious alternative to Mubarak to emerge.

Egypt and the Internet

Activists used social networking sites to call for fresh demonstrations Wednesday. But Facebook, a key tool used to organize protests, appeared to be at least partially blocked in the afternoon. On Tuesday, Twitter and cell phones appeared to be sporadically blocked as well.

The Interior Ministry warned Wednesday that police would not tolerate any gatherings, and thousands were out on the streets poised to crack down quickly on any new signs of unrest after clashes on Tuesday that killed three demonstrators and one police officer.

Video at the link:

Protesters Burn Tires, Throw Molotov Cocktails

The New York Post reports US demands reform amid Egypt riots http://www.nypost.com/p/news/internatio ... VJSUkzJK6J

Thousands of protesters burned tires, threw Molotov cocktails at a government building and fought riot police in Egypt yesterday in the worst unrest in President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old rule.

Police retaliated with tear gas, beatings and by firing live ammunition in the air in street clashes that mirrored those that drove Tunisia's dictator from power two weeks ago.

The unprecedented street fury against Mubarak -- a close US ally -- prompted the Obama administration to deliver a rare public demand for change in Cairo.

"We believe strongly that the Egyptian government has an important opportunity at this moment in time to implement political, economic and social reforms to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.

The 82-year-old Mubarak, who came to power in 1981 after President Anwar Sadat was assassinated, has been the target of growing anger over the country's poverty, corruption and repression.

New elections are scheduled for September, but critics believe Mubarak, who has recently experienced serious health problems, is setting his son Gamal up for hereditary succession.

Yesterday's protests extended well outside the capital. In the city of Suez, an angry crowd of about 1,000 people gathered outside the city's morgue demanding to take possession and bury the body of one of three protesters who died in clashes on Tuesday.

Current protests in Egypt recall "Bread Riots" of 1977

The International Business Times reports Current protests in Egypt recall "Bread Riots" of 1977 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/105949/ ... -bread.htm

The ongoing anti-government protests on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities represent the biggest public demonstration in the country since the famous ‘bread riots’ which occurred exactly 34 years ago. The current riots, while more dedicated to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, are also partially incited by rising food prices.

Ammar Ali Hassan, director of the Middle East Studies and Research Centre, told the paper: “The atmosphere that prevailed before and during the 1977 bread riots is similar to now, especially in that there is no confidence in the government. The desire to protest has overwhelmed a large sector of society."

Egyptians denounce Mubarak, clash with riot police

Yahoo!News reports Egyptians denounce Mubarak, clash with riot police http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110125/ap_ ... pt_protest

Egyptian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets and beat protesters to clear thousands of people from a central Cairo square Wednesday after the biggest demonstrations in years against President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule.

Mobilized largely on the Internet, the waves of protesters filled Cairo's central Tahrir — or Liberation — Square on Tuesday, some hurling rocks and climbing atop armored police trucks.

"Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with the tyrant," chanted the crowds. "We don't want you!" they screamed as thousands of riot police deployed in a massive security operation that failed to quell the protests.

The sound of what appeared to be automatic weapons fire could be heard as riot police and plainclothes officers chased several hundred protesters who scrambled onto the main road along the Nile in downtown Cairo. Some 20 officers were seen brutally beating one protester with truncheons.

Discontent with life in Egypt's authoritarian police state has simmered under the surface for years. However, it is Tunisia's popular uprising, which forced that nation's autocratic ruler from power, that appears to have pushed young Egyptians into the streets, many for the first time.

"This is the first time I am protesting, but we have been a cowardly nation. We have to finally say no," said Ismail Syed, a hotel worker who struggles to live on a salary of $50 a month.

"We want to see change, just like in Tunisia," said 24-year-old Lamia Rayan.

Dubbed a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment," Tuesday's protests in cities across Egypt began peacefully, with police at first showing unusual restraint in what appeared to be a calculated strategy to avoid further sullying the image of a security apparatus widely criticized as corrupt and violent.

Protests Spread to Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Yemen

Bloomberg reports North African Unrest May Spread on Record Food Prices http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid ... YKKzjbYlOA

Record food prices may fan social unrest and fuel inflation beyond North Africa as thousands of people take to the streets of Cairo to denounce President Hosni Mubarak, delegates at the World Economic Forum said.

“This protest won’t end in North Africa; it will spread in many countries because of high unemployment and increasing food prices,â€

Friday, January 28, 2011 12:22 AM

Egypt Shuts Down Internet, Blackberry, Text Messages; Mubarak Rival Returns to Egypt; Protests Rattle Yemen; Only Certainty is Uncertainty

Once again it's the unwatched pot that boils over. A revolt that started in Tunisia has spread to other countries in Africa and the Mideast. Protests in Egypt have gotten downright ugly as demonstrators threw firebombs and chanted "Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with the tyrant." Police responded with teargas and bullets.

Mohamed ElBaradei, an Egyptian dissident flew home to claim his stake in the revolution, but no one showed up to cheer.

Egypt Shuts Down Internet, Blackberry, Text Messages

As noted earlier in Blood on Bernanke's Hands; Riots in Egypt over Food Prices and Unemployment; Twitter in the Spotlight, social media outlets, especially Twitter have played a leading role in organizing protests. http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... egypt.html

In response Egypt's Internet, Blackberry, and Text Mesaging Shut Down http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/2 ... 15156.html

Reports are emerging that Internet has gone down in Cairo and throughout Egypt, only hours before the largest planned protests yet.

According to a report from The Arabist, "Egypt has shut off the internet."

CNN reporter Ben Wedeman confirmed Internet is down in Cairo and writes, "No internet, no SMS, what is next? Mobile phones and land lines? So much for stability.

The Los Angeles Times is also reporting that BlackBerry Internet has been taken offline in Egypt.

All International Connections Shut Down

The Huffington Post has had numerous updates to that story, each confirming additional shutdowns. Here is the 9:45 PM ET update ...

Confirming what a few have reported this evening: in an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet. Critical European-Asian fiber-optic routes through Egypt appear to be unaffected for now. But every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, Internet cafe, website, school, embassy, and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their Internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world.

World News Yemen

The New York Times discusses World News Headlines on Yemen. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/inte ... ots&st=cse

Yemen, home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, is the poorest country in the Arab world as well as a haven for Islamic jihadists and the site of what amounts to a secret American war against leaders of a branch that Al Qaeda has established there.

In January 2011, Yemen became the latest Arab state to see mass protests in the wake of a revolution in Tunisia, as thousands of Yemenis took to the streets in the capital and other regions to demand a change in government.

Until the protests, the world's attention had mainly been focused on fears that Yemen could become Al Qaeda's next operational and training hub, rivaling the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan where the organization's top leaders operate.

Yemen faces a violent separatist movement in the south and an increasingly bold insurgency by Al Qaeda. An intermittent rebellion in northwestern Yemen that flared up again in August 2009, leaving dozens dead and wounded, has added another element of instability.

Al Qaeda's growing presence in Yemen — where it took credit for a deadly attack on the American Embassy in 2008 — is especially troubling because the country's fractious tribes and rugged geography make it notoriously difficult to control.

Much of the violent tribal feuds, banditry and kidnapping appear beyond the control of the central government. Yemen has the region's largest arms market: the country, with roughly 20 million people, is said to have at least 20 million guns.

Grounds for Extremism

Yemen is fertile ground for extremism not only because of its tribal culture and topography, but also because of its deep poverty, high illiteracy and birth rates, and government corruption.

For more on the Al Qaeda connection and the Yemini threat, please see the 10-page New York Times article Is Yemen the Next Afghanistan? http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/inte ... ots&st=cse

I am pleased to make the NYT global headlines list for my earlier report.



Tens of Thousands of Yemeni Protesters Demand President Resign

The LA Times reports In Yemen, tens of thousands march against president http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 0706.story

Demonstrators angry over unemployment and oppression under President Ali Abdullah Saleh demand political change. The unrest worries the U.S., which has been working with the government to defeat an Al Qaeda offshoot.

The current unrest in the Middle East spread to impoverished Yemen on Thursday as tens of thousands of protesters angry over unemployment and political oppression marched in the capital against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Instability in Yemen is a major concern for Washington, which has been working with Saleh's government to defeat an entrenched Al Qaeda offshoot that claimed responsibility for last year's attempted bombings of planes over U.S. airspace. Officials fear anarchy in the country would give militants a strategic base in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa.

The U.S. has expanded its intelligence and security roles in the country, and American military aid is expected to reach at least $250 million this year, a major increase from previous years. But Washington has long been wary of Saleh, who runs a government based on patronage networks and has a history making questionable deals with enemies, including Islamic militants, who years ago were tolerated.

Only Certainty is Uncertainty

The Washington Post also picked up on the Al Qaeda Yemen connection in As protests swell from Yemen to Egypt, Middle East faces uncertainty http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 07673.html

The tumult in Yemen, where more than 10,000 people took to the streets of the capital, Sanaa, on Thursday, added a troubling new dimension to the regional unrest that began nearly two months ago in Tunisia. Yemen, one of the poorest and most heavily armed countries in the Middle East, is home to multiple separatist movements and has its own particularly virulent branch of al-Qaeda.

"Yemen is a different game," said Khairi Abaza, a Middle East expert and a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "If things go out of hand in Yemen, you have many players who will be waiting to try to affect the outcome, from al-Qaeda to Iran."

The only certainty, experts said, is uncertainty - an extended and potentially dangerous period of instability that is probably just beginning.

"What happened in Tunisia is completely unprecedented in the Arab world," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who served as special assistant on the Middle East and South Asia to three presidents. "We've never had a dictator toppled by the street. As a consequence, there is no safety net, no organized opposition ready to move in. . . . No one has a clue what is going to emerge in some of these places."

Riedel said the uncertainty, combined with speed of the change underway, presents the Obama administration with an array of difficult choices as it seeks to show support for democratic expression while working to preserve stability and prevent violence. Historically, U.S. governments "have never gotten these things right," he said.

Washington Post Video at the link:

Thankfully, the protests in Yemen have not been violent.

Mubarak Rival Returns to Egypt - No One Cheers

The Telegraph reports Mubarak rival flies to Egypt as the revolt gathers pace http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -pace.html

Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian dissident, flew home to Cairo on Thursday night to stake his claim as the leader of the would-be revolution to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak.

"If people, in particular young people, if they want me to lead the transition, I will not let them down," he told reporters in Vienna before boarding his flight.

Mr ElBaradei presented his offer as a gesture of self-sacrifice, yet it is unclear how grateful the protesters will be.

There were no throngs of people to greet him at the airport and many view the former chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog with a degree of suspicion, seeing him as a rich outsider whose understanding of Egyptian suffering is limited.

As Mr ElBaradei has seized the limelight, so Mr Mubarak has shunned it. There has been no sign of him since protests began. Members of his family are rumoured to have left the country.

With the president looking ever weaker and more isolated, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, by far the largest opposition movement in Egypt, chose to make its first move by supporting the protests. "We are not pushing the movement, but we are moving with it," the group said in a statement. "We don't wish to lead it, but we do want to be part of it."

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... berry.html