Detention without trial, rearrested just after release, NO SIMILARITY IN MALAYSIA!!!

Najib said there is no parallel in Malaysia but cases like this
engineer in Egypt is routine in Malaysia.

You can be released from detention via a court order and rearrested
the same day with new charges!!!

This is just one of the parallels. The most striking similarity is the
EMERGENCY LAW that Malaysia is still under, that disallow peaceful
gathering despite the constitution clearly saying that THE RIGHT FOR
FREE ASSEMBLY CANNOT BE LIMITED EVEN BY PARLIAMENT.

And yet even simple Magistrates and Policemen can limit this right by
requiring permits which is not approved. Not only are these lowest
enforcement bodies RESTRICT FREE ASSEMBLY, they can ALSO DENY. Which
means that they are more powerful than PARLIAMENT.

The reason quoted had been the STATE OF EMERGENCY that Malaysia is
still in, allowing Policemen to DENY FREE ASSEMBLY. Judges also accept
this argument.

Voters also accept this argument which means Malaysians as a whole DO
NOT RESPECT THE CONSTITUTION.

When BN parties are routinely returned to power with more than 2 third
majority allowing them to change the constitutions AT WILL. There is
nobody to blame but ordinary Malaysians themselves.

While Egyptians reject unjust and undemocratic laws, Malaysian welcome
these unjust and undemocratic laws because they believe that it is
good for peace. The result is very clear for all to see. The poorest
people on earth in a land of plenty. If Hosni got billiions, so should
the BN politicians. We just don't know yet.

One other parallel that I didn't mention was THE DIVIDE AND RULE. It
is worst in Malaysia because of the multiracial and multi religious
population. I had just got the video campaigns from Indians claiming
to be victimised while ignoring the facts of the matter than other
communities are even in worse situations, as noted by world bodies.
Statistics also indicate that Malays are still the poorest despite
forming the backbone of the BN ruling party.

in fact, the strongest supporters of BN are the poorest. Very strange
indeed. My theory is that these people are so poor that they need
government support or corruption in order to survive or make ends
meet.
These Egyptians are deemed as poor but when I look at their houses in
CNN, BBC and AlJazeera, their homes are much better than most homes in
Sabah.

My theory again is very simple. BN frighten these people against each
other. To Malays, BN will say that ONLY BN can protect the rights of
the Malays. To Indians, only BN parties are able to provide for
Indians. The opposition has no money to give to Indians, and has no
ability to govern etc. After all, it is accepted that governments have
the right to victimize oppositions. Malaysians believe that it is the
moral right of BN governments to victimise oppositions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/12/AR2011021203779_pf.html

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The morning after in Egypt, grim realities

By Ernesto Londono
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, February 12, 2011; 11:23 PM

CAIRO - As Abdul Rahman al-Sharkawi danced with the infectious joy
gripping Cairo on Saturday, he was unable to shake one image - his
father languishing in a tiny prison cell in a town in Egypt's western
desert.

Fears for his 61-year-old father, who has been imprisoned for years
under an emergency law that allows detention without judicial review,
have haunted him since childhood.

"He's an old man and he spent half his life in prison," Sharkawi, 30,
said Saturday, looking bleary-eyed but triumphant as he celebrated the
ouster of Egypt's long-time authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Cairo's downtown streets abounded in signs of hope and renewal.
Volunteers wearing rubber gloves and surgical masks picked up trash in
Tahrir Square, where demonstrators had proved their mettle against
well-armed policemen. Civilians used rubbing alcohol to wipe off anti-
government graffiti scribbled on tanks as soldiers posed for photos
with flag-waving children.

But the morning after Mubarak surrendered his powers to the military,
many took stock of the scars left by his 30 years in power. They also
began coming to grips with a sobering reality: Many of the root causes
of the 18-day uprising will take years to address.

"Thousands of Egyptian families have been broken by Mubarak and his
political apparatus," said Egyptian human rights activist Hossam
Bahgat. "We can establish the truth of what happened to them and maybe
ensure that they receive compensation. But we will never be able to
give them their lives back."

Mohamed al-Sharkawi, an engineer who studied in the United States and
the Netherlands, was first detained in 1981. An observant Muslim, he
returned to an Egypt transfixed by the assassination of Mubarak's
predecessor, President Anwar Sadat, by members of an extremist Islamic
group.

"He was detained just because he had a long beard," which was common
among devout Muslims, his son said.

Mohamed al-Sharkawi was defiant under interrogation. "My father fought
back," his son said. "He stood up for his rights."

For decades, Egyptian inmates detained under the emergency law have
had few tools to defend themselves. Mohamed al-Sharkawi spent three
years in custody. He was released after being acquitted of criminal
charges that sought to link him to the assassination plot.

In 1987, shortly after the assassination of an interior minister, he
was taken into custody again. He spent a year in jail and this time
received no trial.

After being released, he moved to Pakistan, determined to build a new
life. But in December 1994, officials in Egypt, who were battling
violent Islamist groups, sought the deportation of several Egyptians
living in Pakistan. Mohamed al-Sharkawi was one of them. He was
returned to Cairo the following year.

His son said he was beaten and strung up and kept in solitary
confinement for years.

The family spent years and thousands of dollars in legal fees in a
futile effort to free him. They obtained 18 court orders demanding his
release. When each one was issued, Mohamed al-Sharkawi was
procedurally released - then taken into custody again, with
authorities citing new allegations.

In 2008, intelligence officers raided Abdul Rahman al-Sharkawi's house
and took him into custody as well. They interrogated him for hours,
chastising him for delivering letters his father had written to the
state prosecutor's office alleging prison abuse.

The younger Sharkawi said he was blindfolded during his 20-day
detention.

"I was tied to a bed and tortured with electric shocks for an hour,"
he said. "They were asking, 'Why did you send those letters and whom
in the human rights organizations do you have contact with?'"

When he was released, Sharkawi said, he wanted to leave Egypt. "I felt
it was useless to spend your life in a place where there is no respect
for anyone," he said.

When the anti-government demonstrations began last month, he was
initially apprehensive about joining in. But after the Jan. 28 clashes
between protesters and anti-riot police, he felt galvanized.

"The old Egyptian people were frightened," said Sharkawi, who works
for a market research company. "They were telling us not to go. After
I saw everyone go out, I felt there was a change. They couldn't arrest
all those people. That's what gave me the motivation to go out."

Repealing the emergency law was among the top demands of the
protesters who brought down Mubarak. The military commanders who
assumed control of the country have promised to do so soon.

Sharkawi said he is optimistic his father will be released once the
emergency law is lifted. But it is unclear how the country's interim
leaders will handle such cases.

"I don't know whom to go to," he said. "Do I go to the military? I
don't know."

Since he's been in jail, Mohamed al-Sharkawi has grown increasingly
embittered, his son said.

"My father was very pessimistic about Egypt. He said, 'If I come out
of jail, I'm not going to spend a single day in Egypt,' " his son
recalled. "Now, I'm sure his view will be changed."

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Idiots in USA talking about Freedom and Democracy

The good thing about USA is that, they are allowed to make idiotic
comments. Unfortunately, when idiotic comments start flooding
intelligent comments, it becomes a form of censorship where the rich
and powerful dictate their wishes on the people. No wonder US citizens
are such idiots in foreign policies and basic human rights.

Demanding US to back Iranian opposition!

What can US do when US does not send a single cent to Iran but in fact
punishing its people and military with sanctions. US has been backing
Iranian opposition for ages but it can only do so by talking or
sending arms secretly to the oppositions or supporters of the Shah's
regime that had killed so many innocent Iranians doing peaceful
demonstrations.

Equating it to backing of the protestors in Egypt is just plain silly.
In Egypt, US gives 1.5 US BILLIONS every year to Mubarak and his
regime to kill in the open, ordinary citizens. The excuse was to
prevent the rise into power of the Muslim brotherhood. Even in Iran in
the 1980s, the religious extremists are not the majority but they
were respected for their fighting spirit and discipline.

The worst is the lies. Many commented in the open that Hosni's Egypt
is more democratic that Iranian Theocrarcy. While the Iranian
candidates may be vetted and recently there are cases of voting fraud,
at least they have elections. In Egypt, they don't even have an
election at all. Unless when you call an election where there is only
one candidate is actually an election. How idiotic anyone can ever be
but this scenario is very common in USA. They were fuelled by the
Jewish lobby that try to protect Israel by all means. Since Israel
keep on breaking all rules on justice, in order to support Israel is
by breaking all rules of Freedom and Democracy. And now these idiotic
US citizens dare to claim that they are fighting for Freedom and
Democracy, even to the point of pointing out that Obama delayed
supporting the protestors while Bush actually supported Freedom and
Democracy.

Bush may have said that he wanted Freedom and Democracy in Egypt but
his actions proved otherwise. At least Obama still supported Hosni at
the intial stages, but finally backed the protestors by insisting that
the rules of Justice be observed. While Bush continued the oppression
of the Egyptian people. To these idiotic US citizens, SAYING is more
important than DOING.

In fact the reason why Obama hesitated was the strong presence of
these idiotic Americans. And when finally he realised the uselessness
of this case, HE HAD TO OVERIDE his advisors on the field including
Mrs. Clinton who kept on backing Hosni's atrocities using US tax
payers money.

These idiotic Americans who are mostly Republicans complained about
being taxed heavily by Obama and yet supported the spending of 1.5
Billion US dollars to suppress the people of Egypt to the point of
killing them openly. That was the start of all the protests, the
murder of Khalid Said in front of a crowd of people. And dare to call
it fighting for Freedom and Democracy.

One problem with Obama is that he had to entertain these conservative
idiots to the point that he is now called a weak President that has no
backbone in supporting what the had said in his elections,
i.e.upholding justice and Freedom.

Now this Mr. Rush here, even had the courage to tell the Egyptian
people that they are now in a worse situation than when Hosni was in
power. Can you ever be in a worse condition under a true dictator, who
killed people openly? Will the Egyptian people be better off after a
dictatorship? Nobody knows. All self-ruled democracies face the same
dilemma, and that included the Young USA when they first fought for
their independence.

At least USA does not need to spend additional 1.5 billion US dollars
of American taxpayers money to increase the wealth of Hosni that
already has US70 billion dollars in assets, and kill anyone he does
not like in the open with impunity.

By not backing Hosni also, the protestors have no reason to hate USA.
Although they have valid reasons to prosecute USA for all the war
crimes it had committed in Egypt due to its support for the Hosni's
regime, the protestors are aware that they need the USA to wake up and
return to the principles of Justice and Freedom.
At least by insisting that the Military not kill peaceful protestors,
whatever hate they may have for USA is diluted.

This is unlike the scenario in Iran where the USA continue supporting
the Shah of Iran despite the deaths of thousands of peaceful
demonstrators. If you have friends and relatives being killed by US
backed regimes, do you think that they will LOVE USA??? Only idiots
will think that way. In fact, THEY WILL WANT REVENGE. This is what is
happening in Palestine, Lebanon who have lots of innocents killed by
Israel that are heavily supported by USA also. Do you blame the strong
support of the people for Hamas in Palestine and Lebanon when you
allow Israel to continue killing thousands of innocents when just a
few Jew were killed in retaliation, or one fully armed soldier
captured???

If you are one of these people who are affected, just imagine what you
would do to stop these atrocities? Fight Isreal or fight USA? Fighting
Israel is useless because USA will back it to the end. The only and
best way to fight is to defeat USA, no matter how difficult it should
be. That is why more and more intelligent people will focus on
attacking USA in order to stop the atrocities committed by Israel in
Palestine and Israel itself.

You can always argue that it is stupid to fight for a lost cause in
fighting against a superpower like USA. But ask this Wael Ghonim.
Although he has an American wife, he was readying himself to die in
order to stop the oppression against his people, not against himself
but against his other people. Similarly for all the suicide bombers in
Israel and USA.

Wael Ghonim and all the intelligent people on earth should realise
that USA is not made up of IDIOTS ONLY. Many are intelligent and
honest as well, except that their voices may be drowned by idiots. It
is up to us to appeal to the sense of justice and freedom of these
intelligent Americans to stop US oppressions, directly and indirectly
against our people.

One way of doing it is through peaceful demonstrations and not
alienating USA unnecessarily. We can criticise US policies by pointing
out its mistakes. This is the only way for citizens of the oppressed
people to drown the idiots in US press. CNN maybe almost useless
because they are made up of idiots themselves, but we have AlJazeera
and BBC. Even these AlJazeera and BBC are also idiots sometimes but it
is due to their ignorance and lack of knowledge of local language and
cultures.

For example, despite my viewing of all 3 channels, I still miss the
main message. "down with the regime", until it was pointed out to me
by my Arabic colleague. Even in English publications I had failed to
notice this change of emphasis. Failing to get the attention from
these ignorant English educated journalists, we can still publish our
own news through Youtube, preferably in English. But publishing it in
Arabic is still alright, because Videos and pictures are easily
understood, such as pictures of Khalid Said and videos of the corrupt
Policemen.

Although these Youtubes are in Arabic, there are comments in English
by people who express support for their movements. You may never know
that some of these readers have connections with journalists and
western politicians. Hopefully we can drown out these idiots for a
better future for all.

Will We Back Resistance in Iran?
February 11, 2011

Listen To It! WMP | RealPlayer
Audio clips available for Rush 24/7 members only -- Join Now!

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: This afternoon in Louisville at the University of Louisville,
Vice President Bite Me spoke about the Egyptian anti-government
protests and President Mubarak stepping down. And Vice President Bite
Me said he was not gonna talk about Egypt and then talked about Egypt
for five minutes.

BIDEN: I don't want to get ahead of him. That's not a good thing to
do. (laughter) But all kidding aside, this is a pivotal moment in
history. It's a pivotal moment in not only Middle East history but in
history, I would argue. We have said from the beginning as an
administration that this unrest, that the future of Egypt will be
determined by the Egyptian people.

RUSH: I just want to remind you, folks, we have a story from the New
York Times today: "Iran Presses Opposition to Refrain From Rally." The
mullahs and Ahmadinejad are telling anti-government, pro-democratic
protesters, "You better not show up. You better not do what they're
doing in Egypt." "Iran's authorities have increased pressure on the
country's political opposition days before a rally proposed by
opposition leaders in support of the popular uprisings in Tunisia and
Egypt." And Ahmadinejad said, "You better not do it." Now, where will
we come down? Where will our country be? Where will our media be?
Will our media and our administration support an uprising in Iran
against the mullahs there? Will Obama deliver a speech that begins,
(imitating Obama) "People, blah, blah, blah, blah, Iran, blah, blah,"
the reverb. What will Obama say to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's opposition
in Iran who want to hold a similar rally? Will there be a speech? If
not, why not? I'm just asking the questions. Here's Biden saying, "I
don't want to get ahead here of this Egypt. I really don't want to say
much about it." Here he is continuing to talk about it.

BIDEN: What the United States has said is what we've stood for and we
continue to stand for: a set of core principles. The first is that
violence and intimidation against peaceful demonstrators is totally,
thoroughly unacceptable.

RUSH: Stop the tape. Except when our union people are hired to go
beat up Tea Party protesters in St. Louis. And then we're all for
violence and intimidation against peaceful demonstrators. If they're
conservatives, if they're Tea Party people showing up at town hall
meetings, we'll send our SEIU union tough guys out, and we're all for
violence and intimidation.

BIDEN: The universal rights of the Egyptian people must be respected
and their aspirations must be met. And, thirdly, that the transition
-- the transition is taking place must be an irreversible change and a
negotiated path toward democracy.

RUSH: This is Vice President Bite Me in Louisville this afternoon.
One more bite.

BIDEN: Even in this contentious political climate in which we work,
on this issue the United States has largely spoken with one voice,
Democrats and Republicans alike speaking with the same voice. This
unity has been important, and it will be even more important in these
delicate and fateful days ahead. So I will not speak more about this
today, I had planned on speaking more about it, but it's much more
appropriate that we all wait and the president will deliver his
statement on this in about an hour.

RUSH: So I'm not gonna say anything about this, after five minutes of
talking about it, and wait for the leader of our regime to make the
statement. Any of you, ladies and gentlemen, think that whatever
comes next in Egypt will be better for US interests than Mubarak has
been? Who knows? I don't think this is good. I, frankly, don't
think so. It's not gonna be roses and tulips over there for these
people, these protesters. This is not gonna end well, wherever it
ends up. I'd love to be wrong. That's my fear about it. I don't
think it's gonna end well.
END TRANSCRIPT

Emergency Laws to be lifted when Security Permits

Doesn't it sound similar?

Malaysia is still under a state of emergency and the BN Government
insists that Malaysia is peaceful, but still need the emergency laws
to maintain the peace.

Doesn't it sound familiar?

Malaysians don't find it strange. They believe peace is above the
constitution. They think that peace requires the setting aside of the
constitution and yet keep on reminding everyone to obey and protect
the constitution.

No wonder Malaysia and Egypt are the most backward nations on earth,
with Sabah among the poorest in the whole world. North Korea may be
even worse but looking at Pyongyang, it was more progressive than even
Kota Kinabalu. We hear stories of starvation in North Korea, but we
can't be sure about the situations in Sabah. When there is no state
welfare, unlike North Korea, starvation or deprivation is sure to be
widespread.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/report-mubarak-family-leave-cairo-amid-persisting-unrest-1.342792

* Published 15:28 11.02.11
* Latest update 15:28 11.02.11

Report: Mubarak, family leave Cairo amid persisting unrest
Al Arabiya says beleaguered Egyptian president leaves for Sinai of
Sharm el-Sheikh as protesters call on the military to take action to
push Mubarak out.
By News Agencies Tags: Israel news Hosni Mubarak Egypt protest

Al Arabiya television reported on Friday that President Hosni Mubarak
and his family had left Cairo from a military airbase in the suburbs
and had travelled to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egypt protest - Reuters - 11.2.2011

Egyptian protestors standing near army tanks in the opposition
stronghold of Tahrir Square, in Cairo February 11, 2011.
Photo by: Reuters

It did not give a source for the series of reports on the movement of
the president and his family. Al Arabiya said it had confirmed the
arrival of the president and his family in Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Al Arabiya report came as Egypt's powerful military backed
Mubarak's plan to stay in office until September elections earlier
Friday, enraging hundreds of thousands of protesters who deluged the
squares of Cairo and Alexandria and marched on presidential palaces
and state television - key symbols of the authoritarian regime.

The army's show of solidarity with the president was a heavy blow to
protesters who called on the military to take action to push Mubarak
out after he announced Thursday night that he would hand most of his
powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman but remain in office.

The Armed Forces Supreme Council, the military's highest body,
depicted itself as the champion of reform in its latest statement.
Trying to win the trust of an angry and skeptical population, the army
promised to make sure Mubarak lifts hated emergency laws immediately
once protests end. Mubarak and Suleiman had only given a vague
timetable for ending the law - when security permits.

Still, the profound disappointment that Mubarak did not step down on
Thursday turned to rage on Friday and protests escalated.

"What are you waiting for?" one protester yelled in the face of an
army officer outside Mubarak's main palace, Oruba, in northern Cairo,
where a crowd of demonstrators grew to more than 2,500. "Did you
pledge your allegiance to the president or the people?" another
shouted.

It was not known if Mubarak was in the palace, one of at least three
in Cairo, or even in the capital. The palace was protected by four
tanks and rolls of barbed wire, but soldiers did nothing to stop more
people from joining the rally.

The march on the palace were the first by protesters who for nearly
three weeks have centered their mass demonstrations in Cairo's
downtown Tahrir Square.

More than 10,000 tore apart military barricades in front of the
towering State Television and Radio building, a pro-Mubarak bastion
that has aired constant commentary supporting him and dismissing the
protests. They swarmed on the Nile River corniche at the foot of the
building, beating drums and chanting, Leave! Leave! Leave! They
blocked employees from entering, vowing to silence the broadcast.

Soldiers in tanks in front of the building did nothing to stop them,
though state TV continued to air.

Honest view on Western so-called Democrats

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/43924.html
Find More Stories
11 February 2011
Egyptian protesters shout in response to Hosni Mubarak's decision not
to step down. (Reuters: Goran Tomasevic )
Cairo calling: give us democracy or give us...
Be first to comment
Antony Loewenstein
Antony Loewenstein
An Egyptian blogger displayed characteristic humour when news broke
overnight that president Hosni Mubarak would not be stepping down:
Mubarak (n.): a psychotic ex-girlfriend who fails 2 understand
it's over.
If Mubarak and his new deputy Omar Suleiman thought their speeches
would placate the protesters, they were sorely mistaken. Local
bloggers and activists reacted with anger and determination.
Indeed, one wonders, with recent WikiLeaks revelations about the close
relationship between Israel, America and Suleiman if their
announcements weren't coordinated with Washington.
The Obama administration is seemingly incapable of categorically
siding with the protestors because America's matrix of repression
across the Middle East requires dictatorships to remain in place. Arab
democracy has been a contradiction in terms for the US and Zionism for
decades.
Tel Aviv and Washington have long seen Suleiman as a steady pair of
hands, a brute all-too-keen to allegedly keep the Islamist beast at
bay, suppress Hamas, manage the border with Gaza and maintain the
siege and torture "terror" suspects brought from America, Europe or
the Middle East.
Indeed, Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib, who spoke exclusively to me
last night, knows this reality well.
While in Egypt in 2001 he was personally visited by Suleiman,
threatened and physically abused. Habib's book, My Story, goes into
detail about the kinds of psychological and physical pressure applied
to him. The Australian Government recently implicitly acknowledged the
validity of his claims by paying him an undisclosed amount of
compensation.
Habib told me that he wanted the Australian government to assist
bringing Suleiman to trial in an international court.
The Egyptian people will not go back to the past, something even
acknowledged by president Obama's latest statement. And yet a
democratic façade, with Mubarak and/or Suleiman leading the country,
is no change at all.
Sober analysis therefore brings only one conclusion; the Arab street
is expendable so long as Israel and its Zionist backers are satisfied.
Inside the US itself, there is little diplomatic pressure on
Washington to encourage democratic change in Egypt but there is
massive paranoia from Tel Aviv that freedom would challenges its
"Middle East's Only Democracy" tag.
This comment in last week's New York Times, by former Israeli
negotiator Daniel Levy, is symptomatic of the problem:
The Israelis are saying, après Mubarak, le deluge…It really can be
distilled down to one thing, and that's Israel.
Mubarak may have been inspired by Israeli prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's snubbing of America when calling for a settlement freeze
in the West Bank. The tactics were clear. Rally American domestic
support against the move. Claim that relinquishing land would bring
chaos, instability and a rise in Islamist terror. Talk about a belief
in the peace process. Deepen and harden your position. Watch America
never threaten the billions of dollars in annual aid. Remain a trusted
client state.
Netanyahu and Mubarak are both playing America very skilfully though
the Obama administration is well aware of the game.
Many in the Western press are suddenly fascinated with the Muslim
Brotherhood, asking simplistic questions about inspiration from the
1979 Islamic Revolution. Tragically, 10 years after September 11,
2001, Islamist politics are routinely misunderstood in the West, often
wilfully so. For many pundits, Islamism means Al Qaeda or Wahabi
fanaticism. In reality, there are millions of Islamists across the
Middle East who don't loathe the West for its values; they often just
want freedom from our meddling.
In fact, as Noam Chomsky correctly states, Western elites aren't
worried about Islamism; independence from the Western axis is the real
threat:
A common refrain among pundits is that fear of radical Islam
requires (reluctant) opposition to democracy on pragmatic grounds.
While not without some merit, the formulation is misleading. The
general threat has always been independence. The US and its allies
have regularly supported radical Islamists, sometimes to prevent the
threat of secular nationalism.
Talking about a truly independent Middle East requires an imagination
solely lacking in establishment political circles.
Latin America in the last 10 years is analogous as far as seeing how
the US reacts when countries chose to reject the Washington consensus.
WikiLeaks has shown the tactics by which successive American
administrations tried to tackle Venezuela under Hugo Chavez, a task
ably assisted by many in the US media. Human rights concerns were an
irrelevance; nationalising key resources was the perceived problem.
The protesters being beaten and tortured in Egypt are unlikely to
receive tangible solidarity from Western governments. Instead, anybody
across the world can provide solidarity and backing for the disparate
masses longing for the kind of freedoms that we can take for granted.
Without the huge uprisings in the last weeks across the Arab world,
Canberra, London and Washington would have been very happy to continue
business as usual.
That tells us all we need to know about who are the real democrats in
the 21st century.
Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist and the author of My
Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution.

What led to the downfall of the Shah's regime

Despite being backed by USA and UK, as well as liberal use of the army
that shoot at protestors, Shah's regime fell. The only information
that I got from Newsweek and Malaysian local newspapers was that the
turning point came when elements of the army turned against supporters
of the Shah.

The difference between Egypt and Iran could be the two things here:

1. Iran was led by Khomeini that called for the Holy war, Jihad. It
means that the Iranian protestors are prepared for violence already.
They may appear to be peaceful because they don't have any weapon at
all.

Egypt has no leaders but the protestors are ready to hurt and destroy.
They were able to decimate policestations, prisons and entire riot
police organisations and their equipment. Many pro-Mubarak supporters,
armed with mostly sticks, horses and camels were severely hurt as
well. So behaviour should be similar.

2. The army in Iran was not respected by the Iranian people. They were
known to side with the Shah.

The army in Egypt is respected by Egyptians despite having been
involved with kidnappings and murders of citizens as well.

3. The loyalty of the Iranian army to the Shah was very strong.

The loyalty of the Egyptian army to the Mubarak regime appear to be
less strong. A few soldiers even killed the Egyptian president, Anuar
Sadat, and Mubarak had escaped assassination attempts many times
already.

4. Mubarak may be worth US30 billion but the Shah is worth much more.
However this money is tied in assets. Liquid cash is not that much.

It is just that I am not sure of my facts. It has to be confirmed by
the locals.

What I need to know is the actual reason why the Iranians managed to
topple the Shah.

My guesses are as follows:

1. The army is only loyal as long as they get paid. After a long
protest, it becomes more and more difficult to get paid for the risks
involved. Another important point is inflation. As the unrest
unfolded, it needs more money to get as much enjoyment as it used to
be. The soldiers need much more money in order to be loyal to the
Shah.

2. The Shah's army is made up of a few professionals. Most of them are
conscripts. The professionals may still be loyal but conscripts will
be hardly loyal. As liquid cash dries out, the conscripts will be
getting less payments.
It is these conscripts that deserted earlier leading to a few bands of
professionals to run and side with the protestors.

3. The Iranian army may number in a million with 100,000
professionals. With desertions, after a few months of unrest, the
remaining strength will only be about 500,000. With 100,000 soldiers
and a few millions young Iranians though poorly armed, should be able
to beat the Iranian army which are equipped with tanks that need
pertrol to run. Just destroy their petrol stations or keep them
running all day, they will run out of petrol in a few months.

4. The economy is run by the people. If the people revolt, the economy
will come to a standstill. Cash reserves for the Shah will fall.
Petrol inventories will also suffer if the protests last a few months.
The public may suffer, but the army and the elite will suffer more
because they are the biggest consumers. The general public can fish
and plant for food.

5. If the protestors were silent, it will take a long time for Shah's
army to grind to a halt. The protestors must be sabotaging the supply
lines of the Shah's army. All petrol stations and trucks will be
sabotaged, both by the drives as well as neighbours. It will be very
difficult to stop the sabotage of commercial vehicles that carry
supplies. A few hundred soldiers will not match a few thousands stone
throwing protestors. These soldiers will not be able to guard all the
supply lines.

6. I used to think that soldiers will be reluctant to fire on their
own citizens but this is unlikely because soldiers could be sent from
different regions as Malaysia and Iraq had done.

7. The Shah is more interested in enjoying life. The US could have
intervened by offering the Shah a place to settle down and enjoy
peace. Mubarak is different. He is a soldier. He loves to fight but at
his old age, he may like to enjoy his billions. At his age also, he is
already senile. He cannot enjoy any more. Pride is more important than
enjoyment. People at this age is more stubborn and willing to die for
something precious to them, which is pride in the case of Hosni
Mubarak.

My predictions: Egypt will fall into chaos for a few months but the
uprising will fail to topple Hosni Mubarak before September. After a
few thousands deaths, many will go back home and remain passive. All
the young activists will be killed. Hosni Mubarak will stay in office
to die there even after the September deadline.

My reason. Most of the Egyptians are not that fanatical. Only the
young and educated. Iran was a different case. Most are fanatically
religious and driven by religion to engage in Jihad,i.e .Holy War.

Demonstations are not a form of Holy War?

This video from euro hinted that calls by AlKaedah for Egyptions to go on a Holy War will be ignored.
Isn't demonstrations a form of Holy War for Muslims and Christians alike?

In Islam, any means of fighting for one's rights is deemed a Holy War. You can fight with words or physical force.  There are similar provisions in all other religions.

I have not heard Al Kaedah's statements in Al Jazeerah(Arab), BBC and CNN.
The reporter may have misunderstood the meaning of Jihad as only for wars using guns. Completely false.

Judges' stupidity also the cause for Police Brutality in Egypt

This is an interesting comment.
The circumstances appear similar to the Malaysian cases. In Malaysia,
Policemen's statements that they shot ALL machete armed robbers to
death from a distance is believed, despite the bullet trajectories
that clearly show that they were shot at extremely short range and
when the victims were on the ground. Begging for their lives,
probably. At such short range you can't miss their legs especially
when Malaysian policemen are equipped with automatic rifles.

In the Egyptian case, the policeman's defense can produce the
coroner's reports that the victim died of marijuana suffocation
despite having his face brutally damaged. Now the policemen can also
produce two witnesses who testified that the victim's face was intact
before his corpse was brought to the mosque. If judges believe in
these statements, they are just damned stupid. And their stupidities
had caused all the disturbances in Egypt.

The question is how could any judges be so stupid? And policemen so
brutal as to commit murder in daylight in front of witnesses??? I have
not heard of such cases in Malaysia yet. Hopefully it won't ever
happen. Otherwise Malaysia will suffer the same fate as Egypt.

http://bobfartall.com/blog/egypt%E2%80%99s-uprising-has-link-to-marijuana-prohibition/

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that two police who are accused
of brutally killing a young man in Alexandria, Egypt, have escaped
jail and are at large. The death of Khaled Said helped trigger Egypt's
popular uprising. The escape occurred when police fled their posts
during clashes on Jan. 28, and police stations throughout Alexandria,
Egypt's second largest city, were set on fire, the defense and
prosecution lawyers told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

The spark that began Egypt's revolution came when Mr. Said, a small-
framed 28-year-old walked into the Spacenet Cafe, one of his regular
hangouts, just yards away from where he lived with his mother. The
cafe's owner said he saw the two men in plain clothes and pistols on
their belts come in and begin hitting Mr. Said. He said they picked
the small man up and started swinging him headfirst into a marble
shelf. The owner of the cafe and his sons ran to push the policemen
out, but they left dragging Mr. Said by the hair. A crowd gathered and
watched as the two men smashed Mr. Said's head repeatedly against an
edge of some stone stairs. A doctor in the crowd was heard shouting to
the policemen, "what are you doing, he is already dead?" as the
beating continued.

According to a family lawyer, Mr. Said was a target because he posted
a video clip on youtube that purports to show the policeman dividing
up a bag of confiscated marijuana with others to resale on the street.
The clip was found on Mr. Said's computer after his death. The family
said he surreptitiously downloaded the video to his cellphone using a
Bluetooth device while one of the policemen was showing it to his
friends in the Cafe.

According to lawyers for the policemen, they say the policemen were
looking for Mr. Said in connection with two other cases of draft
dodging and theft, but when they confronted him he resisted arrest.
They say the defense will produce witnesses that will testify that Mr.
Said's face was unblemished until he arrived at the morgue.

Senior forensic pathologists from Denmark and Portugal have dismissed
the two Egyptian coroner's reports that list his death was due to
choking on a 3 inch by 1 inch bag of marijuana. The family says the
choking was faked, and have since produced a certificate that confirms
Mr. Said's military service. His killing sparked a series of
demonstrations in Alexandria and Cairo last year demanding an end to
torture by the police. Victims' rights groups in Egypt say police
abuses have rarely been pursued and even less often, successfully
prosecuted. A Human Rights Watch report released on Jan. 30 called
torture in Egypt "an epidemic." That report estimated that 5,000
people were being held in jail without trial in Egypt some for a
decade.