There hasn't been a Arab uprising since the days the Sheiks first assumed power after Lawrence of Arabia led the rebellion against the Turks during WWI. The historic revolution in Egypt continues to fuel the fires of unrest throughout the region.
02/19/11 - The violence continued in Libya where at least 15 people at a funeral joined the dead when police opened fire on the mourners this weekend in the turmoil of Benghazi. This is likely to continue, as the 40+ year dictatorship of Gaddafi will employ a host of foreign mercenaries to crush his opposition, much like the clashes in Bahrain where the government there employs Sudanese, Palestinian, Pakistani and other mercenary security forces. But the military there pulled out of the Pearl Roundabout where they shot and killed several people yesterday. The video, captured on cell phone, circulated to CNN, and perhaps the wealthy Sheiks decided it would be bad press to precipitate further violence. Yet the unrest on the shores of the Persian Gulf, where the US 5th Fleet maintains its headquarters for the region, is more than unsettling. The powers that be in the region cannot allow one of the Gulf States to go down, as the threat implied to the House of Saud would be dire indeed.
Meanwhile, demonstrations, protests and clashes with police continue all across North Africa in Algeria, Yemen and Morocco as the fire of uprising continues to burn through the Arab world. The life and death edge to the demonstrations overseas make the five day protest marches in Wisconsin look like a boy scout outing by comparison.
02/17/11 - Police waited until well after dark in the Capitol of Bahrain, then launched a massive surprise attack on the sleeping protesters in their roundabout square, killing six and wounding many dozens more. The armored cars, tear gas and batons were liberally applied. Meanwhile a massive “Day of Rage” protest was carried out in Libya, where 12 were reported killed. The government there has reportedly released convicts from prison, paid them, armed them and turned them loose on the crowd. Clearly the remaining authoritarian states are reacting violently to the spreading protest movement, having seen what it will lead to in Egypt if they do not put the fire out quickly.
02/16/11 - The word “Revolution” was made all too real in the three brief weeks this story has dominated the news. The fire was lit by a single man, who set himself on fire in Tunisia to protest the oppression and vast economic disparity there, and it has burned throughout the Arab world. Egypt’s example has ignited protests in Iran, where the government prepared the most extreme measures possible, death by hanging, for anyone caught organizing protests. Protesters have now clashed with police in the Libyan city of Benghazi and they are calling for their own “Day of Rage” on Thursday, 2/17/11. In Bahrain the death of two protesters led to an almost unprecedented apology by the king, but growing numbers are now gathering in a central square of the capitol there and vowing to make it their own Tahrir Square. They want the corrupt Prime minister to go. Violence escalated in Yemen as crowds there call for the removal of President Saleh. They have been attacked by baton wielding police and plain clothes security forces dubbed “loyalists.” In Iraq, no stranger to violence, thousands marched in Kut to protest for better services, and stormed the local government council building there.
Meanwhile, demonstrations, protests and clashes with police continue all across North Africa in Algeria, Yemen and Morocco as the fire of uprising continues to burn through the Arab world. The life and death edge to the demonstrations overseas make the five day protest marches in Wisconsin look like a boy scout outing by comparison.
02/17/11 - Police waited until well after dark in the Capitol of Bahrain, then launched a massive surprise attack on the sleeping protesters in their roundabout square, killing six and wounding many dozens more. The armored cars, tear gas and batons were liberally applied. Meanwhile a massive “Day of Rage” protest was carried out in Libya, where 12 were reported killed. The government there has reportedly released convicts from prison, paid them, armed them and turned them loose on the crowd. Clearly the remaining authoritarian states are reacting violently to the spreading protest movement, having seen what it will lead to in Egypt if they do not put the fire out quickly.
02/16/11 - The word “Revolution” was made all too real in the three brief weeks this story has dominated the news. The fire was lit by a single man, who set himself on fire in Tunisia to protest the oppression and vast economic disparity there, and it has burned throughout the Arab world. Egypt’s example has ignited protests in Iran, where the government prepared the most extreme measures possible, death by hanging, for anyone caught organizing protests. Protesters have now clashed with police in the Libyan city of Benghazi and they are calling for their own “Day of Rage” on Thursday, 2/17/11. In Bahrain the death of two protesters led to an almost unprecedented apology by the king, but growing numbers are now gathering in a central square of the capitol there and vowing to make it their own Tahrir Square. They want the corrupt Prime minister to go. Violence escalated in Yemen as crowds there call for the removal of President Saleh. They have been attacked by baton wielding police and plain clothes security forces dubbed “loyalists.” In Iraq, no stranger to violence, thousands marched in Kut to protest for better services, and stormed the local government council building there.
It remains to be seen whether any of these other fires will spread to real revolution as it did in Egypt. All these ancillary rebellions are in their early stages, with batons, gun wielding police, media crackdowns, and vigorous action by secret services to ferret out the protest leaders--club them, beat them, shut it down. The uneasy calm in Syria is imposed by a ruthless and much feared security apparatus there. In Kuwait the government is literally buying its citizens good will by paying them a huge monthly bonus, over $3000, (US) to each citizen per month while the turmoil continues in the region. In Saudi Arabia, the House of Saud sits in its purloined billions, silent, corrupt, a stagnant remnant from an old era of sheikdoms, male dominance and rigid religious autocracy. Some of these weathered trees may succumb to the fire of revolution now spreading through the region, others will stand, resolute, and only time will bring change.
