Protesters: “We are very disillusioned by President Obama’s speech” (NYT)

[somone]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/world/middleeast/30-egypt.html

January 29, 2011
Egyptians Defiant as Military Does Little to Quash Protests
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

... Many of the protesters took American journalists aside to complain about United States government support for Mr. Mubarak or to express disappointment with President Obama. Perhaps because of Mr. Obama’s Muslim family history or perhaps because of his much-publicized speech here at the start of his presidency, many of the protesters expressed their criticism in the same unusually personal way: “I want to send a message to Obama.”

In Alexandria, where some of bloodiest clashes with the police took place, protesters’ positions appeared to be hardening. “I’ve been in the streets from the 25th on, and I’m going to remain in the streets until Hosni Mubarak and his friends leave the country,” said Marwat Saleh, 43, who owns a small tourism company. “It would have been better if he had not given his speech yesterday, because it seems he did not understand our demands,” she said. “We want him to step down, not only the government; he has to go.” Mr. Mubarak’s speech just after midnight, in which he dismissed his cabinet, was mainly a defense of his government and the imperative to maintain stability.

Protesters in the city also voiced significant anger at the United States, rushing up to American reporters on the streets unprompted to ask why the United States continued to back the Egyptian government. “We are very disillusioned by President Obama’s speech,” said Muhammad Shafai, 35, a lawyer, who called for Mr. Obama to distance himself from Mr. Mubarak.

In his speech Friday night, Mr. Obama took on a stern tone, saying he had personally told Mr. Mubarak that he needed to listen to his people’s demands for a “better democracy.” But the United States has counted on Egypt for help in the region, whether supporting American moves in Iraq or trying to defuse tensions between the Palestinians and Israelis. In Sinai, officials said that the security police had withdrawn from broad portions of the territory, leaving armed Bedouin in control. At least five members of the police, both law enforcement and state security, were killed, officials said. The army moved to secure Cairo International Airport on Saturday as The Associated Press reported that as many as 2,000 people had flocked there in a frantic attempt to leave the country...

[jonnyblitz]

1. K & R. nt

[nc4bo]

2. So were many of us but we're sorta used to his bipartisansh*t by now. nt

[Peregrine Took]

13. I'm just dying to see what he's going to tell us when he runs again.

Hope? Nah.

Different from Bush? Nah

Anti war/rendition/torture? Not so much

etc etc etc.

Should be interesting.

[xchrom]

3. Recommend

[Solly Mack]

4. k/r

[dipsydoodle]

5. Well it sure served a useful purpose

in as much it helped consolidate the opinion of the Egyptians with regard to ensuring that get democracy later this year and not a puppet chosen by the US such as their , temporary , VP appointed today.

[Lorien]

6. A "Better Democracy"? How do they do that without ANY democracy? nt

[Fumesucker]

7. Bunch of fucking purists..

They should be drug tested stat.

Edited because I fucking felt like it.

[Smarmie Doofus]

8. "Join", I said to myself, "the club." n/t

[Fumesucker]

9. You made me really LOL..

Thanks..

:hi:

[nc4bo]

10. !

:rofl:

[Catherina]

11. Someone needs to explain googledimensional chess to them

Join the crowd Egyptian people.

[hulka38]

12. Send in

the GDP to explain to the Egyptians that they've misinterpreted the message.

[Davis_X_Machina]

14. Because nothing helps a revolution..

...like having it be tied to the US, by the US. Loudly and repeatedly.

I'm not sure these people watched much TV from Iran last year....

[somone]

15. More Egyptian protesters demand that White House condemn Mubarak (WP)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/29/AR2011012904417.html

More Egyptian protesters demand that White House condemn Mubarak
By Leila Fadel, Washington Post Staff Writer

CAIRO - In a dusty alleyway in downtown Cairo, Gamal Mohammed Manshawi held out a dirty plastic bag Saturday afternoon. Inside were smashed gas canisters and the casings of rubber bullets that he said Egyptian police had fired at anti-government demonstrators. "You see," the 50-year-old lawyer said, displaying the items. On the bottom of each were the words "Made in the USA." "They are attacking us with American weapons," he yelled as men gathered around him.

To many protesters in the streets of Cairo, the Obama administration has offered only tepid criticism of a regime that receives billions of dollars in U.S. aid. The United States appears to be walking a fine line between a now-weakened leader and the pro-democracy protesters who could overthrow him. The prospect of President Hosni Mubarak being ousted by a movement that feels ignored by the United States raises questions about future relations between Washington and a strategic ally in a volatile region.

Many in the movement are now denouncing the United States for supporting Mubarak, saying the price has been their freedom. "Tell America that we get to choose our president," Manshawi said. "We choose him, not them." Many protesters said they were stirred by the death of Khaled Said, an activist who was beaten to death by security forces last year. He became a symbol of abuse at the hands of the security forces under Mubarak. "We want a government elected by the people, not a government dictated to the people," said Mohammed Ramadan, 40, an accountant who was demonstrating along the Nile on Saturday, as he has for the past five days... U.S. officials "speak about their own interest, not ours," said Ahmed Abu Dunia, who said he planned to demonstrate every day until Mubarak is gone. "The Egyptians love Egypt."...

"We didn't expect much from the United States," said Abdel Nasser Awad, 40, who said he was demonstrating for his son's future. "We are not people looking for war. We are looking for freedom." He added that he hoped the international community, including the United States, would force Mubarak out soon so that chaos would not engulf the nation. In Tahrir Square, where the largest protests in Cairo have taken place, people said they thought Mubarak's resignation might be near, not because of the United States but in spite of it. Many here said that if Obama turned his back on Mubarak, he would have to step down. "We believe America is against us," said Emad Abdel Halim, 31. "Until now, Obama didn't talk to the Egyptian people. He didn't support the Egyptian people." "Tell Obama to forget about Mubarak," said Islam Rashid, 26. "He is done."