EGYPT

The recent demonstrations in Egypt are amazing to me. I would never have guessed it could happen.

I remember Abdel Nasser as king...he took over in 1956 (just a few years after Egypt became a republic) and immediately we had the Suez Crisis - that was a big deal when I was in elementary school...he also oversaw the Six Days War when they got their shit handed to them by Israel. He died in 1970 and Anwar Sadat took over. Sadat, more of a friend to the US, also tried fighting a war with Israel to no avail. I still remember the pictures of Sadat's assassination in 1981...he was seated in a viewing tent when the assassin drove by and took him out. Hosni Mubarak took over at that time and has ruled ever since.

Though it is supposed to be a republic, it has the look of a monarchy...three leaders in fifty-five years. The impetus for the demonstrations is supposedly a lack of jobs and opportunities. I hope that is what it is. If Mubarak is swept out of power, it is difficult to tell what will happen. A vacuum will be created and who knows what will flow in to fill the void.

What we did in Iraq could be the underlying cause of the tumult. Freedom and the right to vote on your future might be starting to look pretty good to the poor people of the Middle East. Similar demonstrations are taking place in other countries. Maybe George Bush put into motion a trend that will spread throughout the region. Self-rule, which at one time seemed incongruous with the Arab world, might be on the horizon. That would likely sow a period of relative peace in that part of the world. Let's pray that is the case.
:-)