I think is MIDNIGHT IN CAIRO


by L.S. Carbonell

Okay, I’m past the shock of listening to President Mubarak’s speech. It’s analysis time.
The protesters in Tahrir Square are spreading out from there into the city, taking the messages about what they want to do tomorrow. Marching on the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis, several miles from the square in downtown Cairo, has long been an option, and was originally planned for tomorrow anyway. Those plans are the reason the Army has surrounded the palace with tanks and razor wire.
In a word, the protesters are angry. Very, very angry.
Vice President Omar Suleiman has now spoken and it isn’t looking good. Suleiman is effectively in charge, maybe, but confrontations will be “confronted”, chaos cannot be allowed, the young men (apparently they haven’t been watching the number of women involved) should go home and trust in the government to transition in accordance with the dialogues that have taken place. There is a timetable in place for transition……None of what he said promised the changes the people are demanding. Suleiman told everyone to stop listening to Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, who are being blamed for fomenting these protests. Suleiman’s speech focused on the security issue he claims must be controlled and contained. It is nothing short of a threat of violence against the protesters. The rumors that had run rampant all day about Mubarak leaving is now being characterized as a sadistic move by the regime to fake out the protesters.
It is very possible that this piece of sadism is intentional, that it will infuriate the protesters and give Mubarak the excuse he wants to order the Army to open fire on the protesters. Mubarak and Suleiman don’t understand that the people of Egypt are not children. They don’t want a father-figure taking care of them. They want freedom and equality.
As long as the protesters stay calm, which they seem to be at the moment, there will be no reason for the Army to react.
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