Torturers, Jailers, Spies Lead Egypt’s ‘New’ Government * By Spencer Ackerman

[kpete]

Torturers, Jailers, Spies Lead Egypt’s ‘New’ Government

* By Spencer Ackerman

Dissidents demanding the end of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime had better hope they don’t end up under arrest. The first members of Mubarak’s new cabinet — a face-lift so he can stay in power — are heavily involved in the apparatus of state repression, including a spymaster who worked with the U.S. to torture terrorist suspects.

......................

Let’s start with the new internal-security chief, Gen. Mahmoud Wagdy, the former head of prisons. What happens in an Egyptian prison? The U.S. State Department’s annual human rights report explains: “

rison cells were overcrowded, with a lack of medical care, proper hygiene, food, clean water and proper ventilation. Tuberculosis was widespread; abuse was common, especially of juveniles in adult facilities; and guards brutalized prisoners.”

As interior minister, Wagdy will run the police forces responsible for keeping the regime in power. After a brief disappearance over the weekend, when several cities saw riots break out amidst the protests, the police returned to the streets Sunday. That prompted many Egyptians to wonder if Mubarak pulled the police back to tell the country that the alternative to his regime is chaos. Wegdy’s ascension would place someone familiar with crackdowns at the helm of those forces.

The most striking appointment is the new vice president: Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s top spy. Egypt’s intelligence services are considered the most robust in the Arab world — and a crucial asset to the west. When the Clinton and Bush administrations sought to hold terror suspects in foreign countries — where the United States could turn a blind eye to how they were treated — Egypt was the “obvious choice,” according to Jane Mayer’s 2008 book The Dark Side.
.....................

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/torturers-jailers-spies-lead-egypts-new-government/

[gratuitous]

1. Whoa, torture and repression and arrest without cause

I'm so old, I remember when the United States could have denounced such tactics and the world would listen respectfully because of our record as a bastion of freedom. Not so much the case anymore. The world might listen, and they will probably have the courtesy not to laugh in our faces, but our credibility is shot. Thanks again, Mr. Bush, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Yoo, Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Powell, Dr. Rice, and Mr. Cheney.

[randr]

2. Hillary said the appointment of Omar Suleiman was a step in the right direction

Still any doubt about how far the control of the military industrial complex reaches into our government?

[democrank]

3. As long as they do what we say....

we look the other way.

[EFerrari]

4. C'mon Spencer, only a cowboy would notice!