Update: Within a few hours, Egypt Pres Morsi was removed to an undisclosed location by the Egyptian military who say there will be an interim Pres appointed and elections to follow. Morsi can even run again if he wants. Hecalls it a military coup, and many have repeated that meme.
Today seems to be the day when Egypt falls into military rule. I say seems because it is happening within the hour as I type. The BBC says tanks have been rolling out, while the military has called for parliament to be dissolved (yesterday) and the president was given an ultimatum to step down, and Morsi has refused. This of course has followed weeks of protests all over Egypt calling for Egypt's first democratically elected president to resign. It has been called the biggest protest in all world history with as many as seventeen million joining in at one point. Winning the first ever election only by the smallest of margins, just a year ago, his administration has instead been widely seen as driving too hard a mandate in embracing his own party's agenda, and quicker than what is good for the country as a whole. People worry that this is a bad sign for democracy in Egypt. The election was so close and disputed and was followed by days of protests and rioting as well. By 5:00 GMT, the airport has announced a travel ban on President Morsi and chief leaders of his party.
Jordan in the middle of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel with Turkey and Egypt close at hand, is in a tight spot. NPR report 8 min audio
Sec Kerry tried to talk about the Isarael/Palestine conflict for several days last week, but nothing much more than 'optimism' at this point. Whatever that means. Doctors leave Syria which makes the outlook there seem worse than dangerous. NPR 5 min audio
that sidewalk guy in San Diego, CA turns out sensible, case was thrown out
blue sunsets on Mars, Krulwich wonders
No comments:
Post a Comment