Egypt Protests Turn Violent While Obama Gives Nebulous Call For Something

by William Teach | February 2, 2011 8:46 am

Along the more simply news line, we learn from the NY Times[1]

Thousands of demonstrators for and against President Hosni Mubarak, some on horses and camels, fought running battles in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Wednesday, despite a call from Egypt’s powerful military for the president’s opponents to “restore normal life.”

Those battles are still going on, during what is mid-afternoon in Cairo.

The army took no immediate action as the skirmishes intensified, leaving the competing demonstrators to press towards one another. But troops with bayonets fixed to their AK-47 assault rifles fanned out near the museum as antigovernment protesters sought to build makeshift barricades to keep their foes at bay.

Earlier, on state television, a military spokesman had asked the government’s foes: “Can we walk safely down the street? Can we go back to work regularly? Can we go out into the streets with our children to schools and universities? Can we open our stores, factories and clubs?”

“You are the ones able to restore normal life,” he said.

“Your message was received and we know your demands,” the spokesman said. “We are with you and for you.”

First, they are asking the people to go home, they have been heard. Second, that last part sounds a little ominous in terms of regime change, in that the army may be about to pick a side. And then there is Obama

On Tuesday, after a 10-minute television address in which Mr. Mubarak pledged to step down within months as modern Egypt’s longest-serving leader, President Obama strongly suggested that Mr. Mubarak’s concession was not enough, declaring that an “orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now.”

Remember during the Bush years when the Left constantly and consistently complained that the USA shouldn’t get involved in telling other nations what to do?

More: Steven Goddard brings up a good point[2]: up to a million march in Egypt, and Obama calls for the government to step down. Millions march in the USA (and attend TEA Party rallies, Glenn Beck rallies, vote GOP back in power in the House, State legislatures, etc and so on), and the Democrat led White House and Congress completely ignore them.