So busy being flattering to "the people of Egypt" and the wonderful way they have behaved; is it just my imagination or were there looters, robbers, arsonists and vigilantes amongst them?

I wonder what Obama (or Cameron) would feel if the public in the US or UK started this nice line of protest.

The US is all over the place on this one what with Biden proclaiming Murbarack wasn't a dictator while a sizable lot of Egyptians think otherwise.

veritas wrote:
The US is all over the place on this one what with Biden proclaiming Murbarack wasn't a dictator while a sizable lot of Egyptians think otherwise.

Just like Iran - where they backed the Shah until the helicopter to whisk him away actually landed.

Don't believe all you read, JK. Yesterday there were marshals in the Square to search people going in - for weapons etc. They found quite alot - ALL on members of the security forces (in disguise) !

Having lost the ground - they are now using very underhand tactics to try and keep control and discredit the demonstrators.

The "removal from the streets" last Friday was deliberately intended to "frighten" the population that their property was about to be ransacked ... and guess what? All the criminals just happened to get out of prison at the same time !

Notice how suddenly - after more than a week of protest - Mubarak's "supporters" (the 1.4 million security police?) have started marching "in support" of him (and their own futures?)?

If this is not deliberately planned and intended to cause violence and intimidation then I'm a Dutchman.

This is the problem; I'm sure some Mubarak supporters think that his government has been good and would vote for him just as many of the anti-Mubarak protesters are thugs and looters. It's never as clear cut or black and white as depicted.
Clearly personal freedom and liberty have been badly limited; perhaps foreign policy and some other aspects have been good.
Why are we humans so incapable of understanding complexity?

Unfortunately (and very sadly) today's events in Egypt show that peaceful protest (against a vile dictator) will not work.

The people have been "protesting" for much of the last 30 years (all they achieve is a knock on the door in the middle of the night from the "security police").

The best way to secure a revolution (again, sadly) is to put the dictator against a wall (as they did in Russia). That usually works !!!