As protests swell from Yemen to Egypt, Middle East faces uncertainty

[ProSense]

Source: Washington Post

A wave of political unrest threatening Middle Eastern governments grew ominously larger Thursday as new protests shook impoverished Yemen and Egyptian authorities braced for massive anti-government demonstrations set to begin Friday.

The fresh turbulence deepened fears of a prolonged period of chaos and uncertainty in the region while raising new questions about the viability of autocratic governments that have been stalwart allies of the United States for more than a generation.

In Egypt, there were signs that the government was moving to shut down access to the Internet and disable text-messaging services in a bid to stifle further protests. Meanwhile, pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei returned to the country to join the protests and rally the opposition.

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.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/27/AR2011012707673.html?hpid=topnews

[girl gone mad]

1. This reads like propaganda.

Replace "ominous" and "troubling" with "hopeful" and "inspiring" and you'll get a better sense of what's happening. This is a true populist, secularist uprising, not a religous or al-Qaeda backed movement.

[Johnyawl]

3. that's what they said about Iran in the fall of '78...

...yes, these are populist, secularist uprisings, but they have no organization, no ideology and no plan, other then to get rid of the scum running things. And there are worse scum, organized, armed, and prepared to take advantage of the chaos, as they did in Iran in '79.

The people in the street have my sympathy and best wishes, but realistically they're more likely to end up with worse, then better.

[Turborama]

4. Iran was 1979, relatively ancient history in regards to the information age. Better 1998 example >>>

The Indonesian revolution of 1998 is the more modern example of what may happen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Suharto_Era

[melody]

6. We'd better hope so. n/t

[Ken Burch]

2. Typical "POST" bullshit

They want the existing corrupt elite kept in power at all costs.

[Catherina]

5. +1 n/t

[eridani]

7. The empire managed to adapt to Marcos and Suharto being tossed

There will be no alternative but to do the same with countries now in turmoil. What could they do anyway--take all the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan?

[eridani]

8. The empire managed to adapt to Marcos and Suharto being tossed

There will be no alternative but to do the same with countries now in turmoil. What could they do anyway--take all the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan?