Egypt’s Morsi flees palace as protest intensifies

Egypt President Mohamed Morsi

 

When the world thought, in supporting the Arab Spring, that the Egyptians were doing the right thing in ousting military dictator Hosni Mubarak and replacing him with Mohamed Morsi, the first Islamist to lead the Arab world’s most populous nation, now it is seeing, sooner than expected, history repeating itself as the Egyptian people are back in the streets demonstrating and shouting for the ouster of yet another ‘pharaoh in the making.’

The protests against Morsi are even larger than those against Mubarak as they see little or no difference in Mubarak’s regime and the one Morsi is trying to impose on Egypt.

Morsi seemed to have come out a different person and his true color is showing now than when he gave that rousing speech on the day he took his oath of office, where he promised dignity and social justice and swore to uphold the constitution and “the republican system”, reciting the words of an oath he took in front of the supreme constitutional court.

He insisted then that “no institution will be above the people”, critiquing an army which has sought to shield itself from parliamentary oversight. ”You are the source of authority,” he told the crowd.

But then we already have heard of the saying that, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

This is what seems to have happened to Morsi, especially when he emerged as a major regional player in the Israel-Gaza cease-fire deal last month.

For an Islamist leader, who, report says, refuses to talk to Israelis or even say the country’s name, to mediate that militant rocket fire into Israel stops and that Israel allows the opening of the long-blockaded Gaza Strip and stops its own attacks against Hamas, and be successful finally turned Morsi into Israel’s de facto protector.

Needless to say that Morsi won the trust of the United States and Israel, which once worried over the rise of an Islamist leader in Egypt.

“I want to thank President Morsi for his personal leadership to de-escalate the situation in Gaza and end the violence,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who met Morsi, said at a Cairo press conference with Egypt’s foreign minister announcing the accord.

“This is a critical moment for the region. Egypt’s new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace,” she added.

This compliment and acclamation from Clinton and the rest of the world must have fatten up Morsi’s ego and his clout must have corrupted him absolutely for not long after that he announced and adopted sweeping new powers in a decree and even stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions.

He has also called a nationwide referendum for 15 December on a new constitution, which opponents say has been rushed through and fails to protect the rights of minorities, particularly women.

Thus, up to 10,000 protesters converged on the presidential palace, cutting through barbed wire and reaching the palace walls after police, who fired tear gas into the crowd, were forced to retreat.

Protesters surrounded the palace on at least three sides and a handful attempted to scale the wall.

“The people want the downfall of the regime,” the demonstrators chanted, echoing a slogan that was used during protests against Mr Morsi’s ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak.

 

 

Israel itching for neutralizing nuclear Iran

Iran’s Shahab-3 missile

With Syria crumbling, Egypt experiencing a chaotic post-Mubarak regime, and as the Arab Spring continues to be an inspiration for freedom from despotic leaders in the Middle East, the Jewish state of Israel has all the reason to remain anxious of its existence.

But more than the rebellion displayed by people against oppressive government, and whether or not the end result will allow them to have peace and co-exist with Israel in the region, what has racheted up the Israeli government’s concern for safety, defense, and survival as a nation and people is the relentless development of Iran’s nuclear armament, despite the call for restraint and abandonment of their nuclear program by the international community, specifically the U.S.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a public warning that Tehran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear bomb. Netanyahu has declared that “all the threats currently being directed against the Israeli home front are dwarfed by another threat, different in scope, different in substance.”

This, after an unidentified source stated that new intelligence obtained by Israel, the United States and other Western showed that Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon is progressing far beyond the scope reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Tehran is said to have made significant progress towards assembling a nuclear warhead for a Shahab-3 missile, which has a range of nearly 1,000 miles, putting the whole of Israel, including the Dimona nuclear reactor in the southern Negev desert, within the Islamic republic’s range.

It is for this reason that Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, called on the Western powers to declare that the negotiations with Iran, conducted by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, had failed.

Not wanting to jeopardize his chances of winning re-election in November, President Barack Obama is suggesting for more time for international diplomacy to succeed and in fact Washington has been saying that the U.S. had “eyes” and “visibility” inside Iran’s nuclear program and would know if Tehran made a “breakout” towards a nuclear weapon.

Breakout capability is commonly understood to be the point when a state acquires the knowledge, capability and materials to build a nuclear bomb if it wants to.

Israel, however, can’t seem to wait in any longer. Pressure is building in Israel to take action, this, after the Jewish state has reportedly invested billions in home-front defense, and holding emergency drills, alluding to a military exercise being held in cities across Israel to test a text message warning system against missile strikes.

Because of difference in perception between the US and Israel as to what constitute an unacceptable threat, Israel may decide to draw the first blood and neutralize Iran before it is too late.

Time to intervene in Syria

 

Syria President Bashar al-Assad

What used to be a public demonstration as part of the wider Arab Spring on March 15, 2011 that developed into a nationwide uprising demanding the end to nearly five decades of Ba’ath Party rule, as well as the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, has now turned into a deadly civil war between the government forces and the Free Syrian Army.

Not only has death toll been climbing every day but the conflict itself has created a humanitarian problem of unimaginable proportion, as it always happens, displacement, being a by-product of war.

Perhaps it would have been understandable if war is fought between two countries or between races, for one legitimate reason or another, but when war is fought within your own country, killing your own people, making them go elsewhere fearful, hungry and homeless simply because they had had enough of your ruthlessness and wants you to step down and you don’t want to because you think it is God’s given right for you to rule, then something has got to be done.

“What is the world waiting for?” asked one Syrian woman while holed up in a makeshift bomb shelter with her sick son. “For us to die of hunger and fear?”

Indeed, these are echoes of what is being heard in Syria since that fateful day in March 2011 and actions have been made but to no avail.

The United States, the European Union, the Arab League and Turkey are all enforcing sanctions against Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime, but the violence has only worsened.

For months the UN and Arab League’s special envoy, Kofi Annan, has tried to persuade the Syrian government and his opponents to implement his internationally-backed six-point peace plan.

A U.N. Security Council resolution backing the Arab League’s plan to encourage a post-Assad transition in Syria was vetoed by Russia and China. The veto left many in the international community disgusted and concerned that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad will continue to escalate the killing of civilians.

In fact the veto powers of Russia and China has only emboldened al-Assad in going after the opposition with all the fire power that he has in his resources.

Members of the Free Syrian Army

Meanwhile, the unrelenting onetime ragtag militias of the Syrian opposition that has evolve into a more effective Free Syrian Army with the help of some of al-Assad’s high ranking officers who have abandoned him is sustaining their fight against the regime with  an increasingly sophisticated network of activists in southern Turkey that is smuggling crucial supplies across the border, including weapons, communications gear, field hospitals and even salaries for soldiers who defect.

The network reflects an effort to forge an opposition movement linking military, governmental and humanitarian organizations, that together can not only defeat the vastly superior military of President Bashar al-Assad, but also replace his government.

The rising sophistication of the effort underscores the evolving nature of the conflict and how control over the north and northwestern areas of the country is slowly slipping away from the government.

Not only that. The conflict is even getting closer to the presidential residence after an explosion at the National Security Bureau in Damascus caused by a suicide attack reportedly killed al-Assad’s brother-in-law, the defense minister and a former defense minister.

If that is not bad enough, what is making it worst for al-Assad is that another 600 Syrians reportedly made their way to Turkey recently, and two Syrian brigadier-generals were said to be among the group. According to reports, there are now 20 Syrian generals who have turned their backs on al-Assad.

After this humiliating incident, what the Free Syrian Army is apprehensive about now is that al-Assad’s embattled regime might resort to using chemical weapons

Syria has the “biggest chemical weapons arsenal in the world,” according to Israel’s deputy chief of the general staff, Major General Yair Naveh. Israel has voiced concern about what will happen to them if the Damascus regime falls.

No doubt, the time to intervene in Syria’s conflict, sooner than later, is of the essence.

 

“Mad dog” Gaddafi killed like a mad dog

 

A bullet hole in the head ended the 'Mad Dog's' life.

He was brutal as he was merciless, vicious as he was heartless, but at the end, like a mad dog cornered inside a sewer pipe, he was captured alive, and savagely killed, too, after which his bloodied body was dragged through the streets of his home city of Sirte to the sound of celebratory gunfire and jubilant shouts.

Thus, ended the life of a man known as ‘Mad Dog,’ who, for four decades not only turned the oil-rich country of Libya into his own personal fiefdom, but ruled it with impunity – oppressing his people, hanging his opponents in public squares and sponsoring terrorism abroad.

The tyrant’s shocking ending came after he and loyalist fighters tried to flee Sirte in a convoy of up to 100 vehicles, as the forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) was embarking on its last and final assault at the place thought to be the last bastion of resistance after eight months of civil war.

The attempted escape was spotted by NATO which launched two devastating strikes. At least 50 loyalist fighters were killed. Among the wounded was Gaddafi, who, together with some bodyguards, limped his way to a concrete sewer.

He was, however, located by the rebel soldiers and despite pleas for understanding and mercy, Gaddafi has been seen to be manhandled and said to

From a bulletproof tent to a defenseless sewer where the 'Mad Dog' was found hiding.

have been shot in the head by his own bodyguard to spare him the indignity of being captured. Though this claim is still verifiable, most likely, however, the bullet must have come from a rebel’s gun.

In retrospect, the end of Gaddafi’s strongman rule had come when he turned his guns on protesters warning them ‘no mercy, no pity,’ and that they will be hunted down ‘alley by alley, house by house and room by room.’ When he finally sent his army to cleanse Benghazi, the Western powers and NATO decided to open up a campaign of aerial bombing that allowed rebel forces eventually to oust him.

His was part of the ‘Arab Spring’ wave of popular uprisings that have swept the Middle East, demanding the end of autocratic rulers and the establishment of greater democracy.

Among the Arab leaders, Gaddafi stands out as the flaky or goofy of them all and it is only fitting to innumerate here  the things he did, had, or liked, that made him a first class weirdo. This is a re-print of an article taken from Yahoo News Philippines.

1. The “Bulletproof” Tent: When Gaddafi was at home in Tripoli, he lived in a well fortified compound with a complex system of escape tunnels. But when he travelled abroad, this “Bedouin” brought a bit of the desert with him, camping out in the world’s capitals. The tent was so heavy it needed to be flown on a separate plane, wherever the dictator travelled. To complete the Arabian Nights theme, Gaddafi often would tether a camel or two outside.

2. All-Female Virgin Bodyguard Retinue: They apparently weren’t around when Gaddafi needed them most on Thursday, but the eccentric dictator was historically protected by 40 well trained bodyguards – all of them women. The bodyguards, called “Amazons,” were all reportedly virgins who took a vow of chastity upon joining the dictator’s retinue. The women, trained at an all-female military academy, were handpicked by Gaddafi. They wore elaborate uniforms, as well as makeup and high-heeled combat boots.

3. His “Voluptuous” Ukrainian Nurse: For a decade, Galyna Kolotnytska, a Ukrainian nurse often described in the press as “voluptuous,” was regularly seen at the dictator’s side. Kolotnytska was described in a leaked diplomatic cable as one of Gaddafi’s closest aides and was rumored to have a romantic relationship with him. Several other Ukrainian women served as nurses and they all referred to him as “Papa” or “Daddy.”

4. Crush on Condoleezza Rice: In 2007, Gaddafi called former Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice his “darling black African woman” and on a 2008 visit she made to Tripoli, the dictator gave her $200,000 worth of gifts, including a ring and a lute. But it wasn’t until rebels stormed his Tripoli compound that the depths of the dictator’s infatuation were exposed. There among Gaddafi’s belongings was a carefully composed photo album made up of dozens of images of no one but Rice.

5. Fear of Flying and Elevators: Part of the reason Gaddafi loved travelling with that tent of his was because he was worried about lodging in a hotel where he’d have to ride an elevator. According to leaked diplomatic cables, the Libyan didn’t like heights much either, and would only climb to a height of 35 steps. He therefore wasn’t much of a fan of flying, refusing to travel by air for more than eight hours at a time. When he would travel to New York of the U.N.’s annual general assembly, he would spend a night in Portugal on the way to the U.S.

6. Bunga Bunga: In 2010, one of Gaddafi’s most eccentric pastimes was exposed by Italian prosecutors investigating Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. A 17-year-old prostitute named Karima el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby Heartstealer, revealed that she had been invited to an orgy, called a “bunga bunga.” “Silvio told me that he’d copied that formula from Muammar Gaddafi,” she told prosecutors according to La Repubblica. “It’s a ritual of [Gaddafi's] African harem.”

7. An Eclectic Wardrobe: In those photos of world leaders standing shoulder to shoulder on the sidelines of this or that international forum, Gaddafi was always the easiest to pick out. His wardrobe was an eclectic mix of ornate military uniforms, Miami Vice style leisure suits, and Bedouin robes. Gaddafi, who pushed for a pan-African federation of nations, often decorated his outfits with images of the African continent. He’d sport safari shirts printed with an Africa pattern, or wear garish pins or necklaces of the continent.

 

Bin Laden’s death and the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings

With Osama bin Laden’s death, will al-Qaeda continue to be a dreaded terrorist organization or will the modern day ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings that continue to sweep across North Africa and parts of the Middle East make it weaker and irrelevant eventually?

Finding success after toppling regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, the revolutionary civilian uprisings against long-standing, undemocratic and nepotistic leaders are causing unrest in Yemen and Syria and are threatening rulers in Bahrain, Lebanon and Morocco.

What started as protest against a despotic leader has now turned into a civil war in Libya with some western nations arming and helping the people fight a ground war against the Gaddafi’s forces.

While al-Qaeda became exalted and has inspired many Arab people and Muslim countries as a means to an end, ten years of an uneventful status, however, has turned this renowned terrorist organization as simply an ‘idea.’

What has become eventful news again regarding al-Qaeda, which took ten years to happen, is the capture and death of their leader, Osama bin Laden.

It is believed that this ‘idea’ has not and will not have any bearing at all to the people behind every ‘Arab Spring’ uprising.

‘Arab Spring’ has supplanted whatever success bin Laden’s al-Qaeda has brought about.

But, does this mean al-Qaeda is less of a threat now?

It never will be, according to CIA Director Leon Panetta.

“The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him (bin Laden), and we must — and will — remain vigilant and resolute,” he said. “But we have struck a heavy blow against the enemy. The only leader they have ever known, whose hateful vision gave rise to their atrocities, is no more. The supposedly uncatchable one has been caught and killed. And we will not rest until every last one of them has been delivered to justice.”

Perhaps that will take forever.