Say It Ain't So Already

Heartbreak in Egypt

December 18, 2011 at 3:34 PM Leave a comment

I remember watching the demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square back in January and February — and seeing Hosni Mubarack crawl down from power — and feeling so proud of the people there.

Now it looks like it may all have been for naught.

This is the Egyptian army beating civilians yesterday:

Members of the army, once beloved by Egypt’s activists for standing by their side during the revolution in February, have sent hundreds of men and women to the hospital over the last 48 hours and have killed at least 10, some with live ammunition fired into crowds.

(Video via.)

More here, including an up-close photo of a woman in the video:

For these men to pull her black abaya above her head and expose her midriff and chest is, for Egypt, a profound and sexually charged humiliation. And there is a certain awful irony of using that abaya, a symbol of modesty and piety, to cover her face and drag her on the street that, though probably not intentional, will not be lost on Egyptian eyes.

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The Egyptian military, the strongest and most powerful institution in the country and perhaps the Arab world, has taken a dramatic and dark turn since winning power earlier this year.

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As protests against the military have grown, the generals have abandoned their earlier pledges to support the people and refrain from violence against civilians. The SCAF — the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, a panel of top military leaders — increasingly looks like Egypt’s new dictator.

FYI, the United States supports the Egyptian “military” to the tune of $2 billion annually:

The United States has given Egypt an average of $2 billion annually since 1979, much of it military aid, according to the Congressional Research Service. The combined total makes Egypt the second largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel.

Entry filed under: Fear, Foreign Policy, Middle East, Musings, Outrage Overload, Repression. Tags: egyptian army, tahrir square.