Fifth day of the Egyptian Initifada

As mentioned yesterday, all that Mubarak can think of, like his colleagues from Tunisia or Algeria is in keeping the dictatorship no matter what. In that desperate effort, he enjoys the support of the most powerful forces worldwide: the USA and its empire, the European vassals, Israel and the Zionist International, Saudi Arabia and its cartel of fundamentalist oil-rich aristocrats, Allah-God-Yaveh and the rotten souls of the child-rapist priests and organ-trafficking rabbis, I guess.... 

But they lack one critical element: the support of the people, something even Machiavelli realized as fundamental for any prince to be able to rule. While you may not need a devoted enthusiastic people, you certainly need at least a content people in order to be able to rule in the mid run. That applies as much for tyrants as for elect rulers - in any case the difference between these is often barely a hair thin. 

Police as looters

The most impressive card Mubarak has been able to play so far is appointing the intelligence chief as vice-president. Simultaneously hundreds of armed gangs of plain-clothes policemen have been launched around to loot and inflict fear into the hearts of the people. They have even caused important destruction in Cairo Museum. 

See here, here and here. 

The Army undecided

All reports I have read tell of an Army that does not want to fire against the people. This is as good as it can get because that's the easiest way for revolutions to succeed: by bringing the Army to the side of the people. In general it seems that the Army is just trying to buffer (without resorting to violence) and to protect property. 

See here and here. 

Secular revolution

Yesterday I read how the Islamists' chants of God is great! were silenced by others chanting Muslim, Christians: we are all Egyptians. In this and many other details it is apparent that the Egyptian revolution is a secular and popular one, even if the Islamists have some stronger presence in Egypt than in Tunisia. 

Whatever the media says, what is going on is an act of democracy against too long-lasting and unjust tyrannies. It has to be that way: this status quo was in any case totally wrong. And here I mean wrong not just in an ethical way but in the way of efficiency: tyranny is not efficient because the same people will demand the same results one way or another. And tyrants are always weaker, because of lack of legitimacy. Tyrants can save 10 here by imposition at the cost of 100 then in corruption and police costs... and they break easily.

See also Al Jazeera's live blog for details.