"Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: listen
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: we just get news that the mubarak supporters are brought in with big trucks
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: more and more
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: friends just call, who watched it from their windows
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: egypt needs help
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: now
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: if you can call people with influence then do it now
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: please try to call people
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Are you there, Claudia?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: yes
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: I'm posting your e-mail now--where are you?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: I'm in cairo, close to the city center
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: You say women and children are trapped: Can you explain exactly where and how?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: they are all on the big Tahrir Square, the center of the demonstartions
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: All I can see on Al Jazeera is Tahrir Square--
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: yes
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: What are you seeing that is NOT on Al Jazeera?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: this is in the middle of downtown
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: What's not getting reported?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: it's a huge suare
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: How many people do you think are there? How many of them are involved in the clashes and how many are trying to get away?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: and the pro mubarak protesters, or rather thugs, police in civil cloths came in small groups
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i was there when it started at 12 noon
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: the mubarak groups came in small groups from all sides
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: there are many streets leading up to the square
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: it was very clever
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: the peaceful protesters ignored them and only shouted at them to leave
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Are there many injured around you?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: but their agenda was to attack, so after an hour of arriving from all sides, they started to attack
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i would guess that at least up 20 000 people are trapped on the square because the pro mubarak people are at the exists
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i left the scene when they started fighting
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i was too scared of the masses
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: the exists are blocked by tanks
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: So they've trapped them on purpose, and do you think the aim is just to demoralize/disperse, or do you think they want a lot of people injured/killed?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: so it was tricky to get out even before the violence started
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: but friends are calling and saying they see hundreds of wounded people
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: I heard gunshots on Al Jazeera--do you know who was shooting?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i think we heard the tear gas bombs
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: no live munition
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: they throw huge stones
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: that can kill
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: and they attack sometimes 20 people on 1
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: that kills definitely, too
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: there is a huge construction side in the middle
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Do you think there's anything spontaneous about the pro-Mubarak side, or does it look completely organized?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: in addition to that it is easy here to take stones from the asphalts because there are many wholes
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: completely organized
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: they way they appeared from all sides, the way how they trapped the peaceful protesters
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Why today--is that how long it took to organize this, or do you think he was waiting to see what the US response would be?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: they way they only showed up today
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: yesterday 2 million people were peacefully against the regime
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: he wanted to show that when he gives a speech that THEN people will show support for him
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: and everybody knows that here
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Who are the pro-Mubarak forces, exactly--why are they doing this?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: they are secret police
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Is the end game to say, "The army has to restore order, people are getting killed?"
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: the numbers of his secret police is 350 000
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i don't know
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i think he is simply mad
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: and he doesn't want to step down and be remembered as the president who was kicked out
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: he is truly insane
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: El Baradei just called for the army to intervene.
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i know
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Why are the secret police going along with this
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: they know nothing else
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: all there life they got tons of money for it
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: they are promised more money
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i have been detained once by the secret police
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: they are evil people
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: you can always spot them on the streets
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: during elections, demonstrations
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: the common Egyptian is very soft and not violent at all
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: so it is easy to intimidate them
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Government claiming that these are "ordinary Egyptians."
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: you should have seen the 2 milliuons yesterday
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: in no other country people would have been so sweet with each other
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: nobody pushing
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: nobody rude
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: nobody violent
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: i spent all day among them
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: epople would share food
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: tea
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: water
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: rich, poor, educated, uneducated, religious, not religious, muslims, christians
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: and no group tried to lead it, they were simply united in being Egyptians
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: Were people talking at all about specific plans beyond Mubarak leaving?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: you had professors, beggars, al azhar clerics, students, housewives, children, veiled women, sexy women, men in suits,
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: no, people were only wishing for him to leave
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: everybody was calling for peace
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: and because there was np agitator yesterday all people were very sweet, as normal egyptians are
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: if western governments would publicly call for him to stop the violence and to step down
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: They are ...
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: if he would loose his support internationally then maybe he would stop
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: yes
[02/02/11] Claire Berlinski: But if he's not reponding to his OWN PEOPLE, why would he care what the West thinks?
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: egypt depends on international aif money
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: the us is sending billions for the army
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: aid money
[02/02/11] Claudia Wiens: if he is internationally humilated then his own regime will tell him that it is over now
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Very scary.
Again, perspective is important.
"Claudia Wiens: everybody was calling for peace."
"the common Egyptian is very soft and not violent at all"
We all saw video that would prove not everyone was calling for peace. It's a dangerous & emotional scenario for sure.
Nov '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Poignant exchange. This is a situation in whcih our government (NOT the President) might do some good. If the Secretary of State (publoicly) or the Secretary of Defense (privately) were to push for peace in the streets and call upon everyone who has influence over the people commiting the violence to cease immediately, then maybe something could be done to help thos poor folks.
Surely we have some CIA or State Department people in place who could intervene with the Egyptian military chiefs and the senior people in the Interior Ministry to get things back under control.
Jul '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Excuse me, but what sort of people bring children to a potential riot?
Sep '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
I've given up on Obama, but I still have some hope that Hillary wears the pants in the White House.
Jul '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Yeah, she's a woman of such fabulous accomplishments. I'm, like, totally counting on her to save the day.
Dec '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Obviously, I'm not there and Claudia is. I'm confident that what she says is true to the best of her knowledge. But I would like to know how she knows so much about Mubarak's secret police.
Jul '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
That's what I thought Kenneth. Seems irresponsible to bring children to an event where you are protesting against people with guns. Yes, world is "just watching", but Im not sure what Obama or anyone else can really do about it.
May '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
How on earth can Mubarak think he can last until September?
Jun '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
In January of 2009, the World's Policeman took early retirement. Egypt is on its own.
May '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
It'll take Hamas and Hezbollah at least that long to get their gun-running networks up to speed.
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Seriously!
Dec '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Wishful thinking? Self-delusion?
Or maybe he is only trying to buy time. Time to pack, so to speak, and protect his assets.
Feb '11
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Would Lawrence Durrell say Egypt is like nowhere else? Maybe even now it is not like anywhere else (at least in the Mid-East)?
Dec '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
We cannot and should not attempt to fix this. The Egyptian people started this, perhaps appropriately, and they must end it. Sow the wind...
Edited on February 2, 2011 at 6:10pmOct '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
BTW, on the Member Feed, Paules posted comments on an article from American Thinker analyzing the Egypt situation. The link is here. It is well worth the read.
May '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
paulebe: We cannot and should not attempt to fix this. The Egyptian people started this, perhaps appropriately, and they must end it. Sow the wind... · Feb 2 at 9:09am
Edited on Feb 02 at 09:10 am
Fix? Oh no, looks like blood is on the Administration's hands.
USA Today reports:
The Egyptian foreign ministry appears to be rejecting President Obama's call for an immediate transition from the government of President Hosni Mubarak -- and says that such calls are inciting violence.
"What foreign parties are saying about 'a period of transition beginning immediately' in Egypt is rejected," said foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki, adding that such calls "inflame the internal situation in Egypt."
And The Telegraph tells us the State Department has been directly involved.
Jul '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
Cal Lawton
paulebe:
And The Telegraph tells us the State Department has been directly involved. · Feb 2 at 9:37am
Oh, there's more than the Telegraph knew:
http://ricochet.com/member-feed/Obama-s-Secret-Support-for-Muslim-Brotherhood
Nov '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
This came from an acquaintance in downtown Cairo 45 minutes ago:
"We are sitting with some working-class neighbours on a rooftop near our house in Downtown Cairo, and they are telling us that the state companies in which some of them are employed have given orders to their employees that if they want to preserve their jobs or get a promotion, then... they have...to go to the street and support Mubarak and beat the demonstrators."
Sep '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
J. C. Casteel: This came from an acquaintance in downtown Cairo 45 minutes ago:
"We are sitting with some working-class neighbours on a rooftop near our house in Downtown Cairo, and they are telling us that the state companies in which some of them are employed have given orders to their employees that if they want to preserve their jobs or get a promotion, then... they have...to go to the street and support Mubarak and beat the demonstrators." · Feb 2 at 10:22am
Mubarak wants to "reach out" to his supporters and have them, in turn, "reach out" to those they disagree with.
Jul '10
Re: "Egypt needs help ... if you can call people with influence then do it now"
J. C. Casteel: This came from an acquaintance in downtown Cairo 45 minutes ago:
"We are sitting with some working-class neighbours on a rooftop near our house in Downtown Cairo, and they are telling us that the state companies in which some of them are employed have given orders to their employees that if they want to preserve their jobs or get a promotion, then... they have...to go to the street and support Mubarak and beat the demonstrators." · Feb 2 at 10:22am
I didn't know the SEIU represented government workers in Cairo. That explains why the camels were wearing purple...
Edited on February 2, 2011 at 7:36pm