The icons of western media really went overboard romanticising the uprising in Egypt. Tom Friedman of the NY Times had a "kumbaya moment", CNN commentators almost broke out into song "We shall overcome" while all the foreign policy experts in Hollywood lit candles and contemplated who would get to play the part of Google's hero of the revolution. With tears in their eyes they lauded people power and how the wonderful people of Egypt wanted to be just like us. How arrogant and condescending. Sorry to put a damper on all the nauseating emotion, but to the people of Egypt, life is not a Hollywood movie. So lets take a look at life in Egypt.
The Egyptian military have total control over Egypt. Who are they? Well for starters, while the Egyptian Government were revamped, The military portfolio remained the same. Field Marshall Mohamed Tantawi remains both Defense Minister and Minister of Military Production, which makes him, in effect, CEO of a vast military-run commercial enterprise that seeps into every corner of Egyptian society. But despite the military's predominant role, the Egyptian public knows remarkably little about how the military actually operates. That's because writing about the military has long been off-limits to the press. The secrecy begins with the military budget, which Jane's estimates to be about $5 billion. As for the parliamentary committee responsible for overseeing those expenses, it is stuffed with police and military officers; the prospects for meaningful civilian oversight anytime soon are dim.
Then there is the military's role in the economy. After the peace agreement with Israel in the late seventies, the military downsized 50% from about a million servicemen. These downsized soldiers were put to work in military sponsored factories. Now, military-run firms hold strong positions in a wide range of key industries, including food (olive oil, milk, bread and water); cement and gasoline; vehicle production (joint ventures with Jeep to produce Cherokees and Wranglers); and construction, in which it benefits being able to deploy conscripts during their last six months of service. We're talking of clothing, we're talking of construction of roads, highways, bridges. We're talking of pots and pans, we're talking of kitchen appliances.
The military also owns most of the valuable land in the country, including extremely beautiful beaches, and some of the greatest coral reefs in the world which were absolutely crying out for touristic development. The military gave private developers access to the land, and the developers made military officers shareholders in big tourist developments. No one knows for sure how many resort hotels or other businesses in Egypt are run by the military, which controls somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the nation's economy, according to various estimates. Bottom line, officers in the Egyptian military are making "billions and billions" of dollars.
And now the kicker. Gamal Mubarak, the man designated to take over the regime, was NOT a military man. In fact, in his own corrupt way, intended to institute change in Egypt. The military made it clear to Mubarak, that they disagreed with his appointed successor. At its peak, the demonstrations numbered approximately 300, 000. The army did not interfere in these demonstrations. In fact, they probably sided with the demonstrators. Tantawi safely visited the square during the largest demonstration. Today the square is clear, Mubarak and sons are gone, and the military council controls the country, promising democratic elections sometime in the future. The same military council that has been in control for 60 years. In Brazil and The Phillipines, just to name a few, it took 20 years to move from military control to democracy. How long do you think it will take in Egypt?
To sum it all up, the revolution, (if, in fact there was one), was not about democracy and people power, but more about the cat guarding her milk. And if ever there will be a revolution, it will be based on hunger and a 3000 year old culture, and not a 300 year old western media-led uprising. Fact: The riots in Tunisia continue.
Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck - Orson Welles
The Egyptian military have total control over Egypt. Who are they? Well for starters, while the Egyptian Government were revamped, The military portfolio remained the same. Field Marshall Mohamed Tantawi remains both Defense Minister and Minister of Military Production, which makes him, in effect, CEO of a vast military-run commercial enterprise that seeps into every corner of Egyptian society. But despite the military's predominant role, the Egyptian public knows remarkably little about how the military actually operates. That's because writing about the military has long been off-limits to the press. The secrecy begins with the military budget, which Jane's estimates to be about $5 billion. As for the parliamentary committee responsible for overseeing those expenses, it is stuffed with police and military officers; the prospects for meaningful civilian oversight anytime soon are dim.
Then there is the military's role in the economy. After the peace agreement with Israel in the late seventies, the military downsized 50% from about a million servicemen. These downsized soldiers were put to work in military sponsored factories. Now, military-run firms hold strong positions in a wide range of key industries, including food (olive oil, milk, bread and water); cement and gasoline; vehicle production (joint ventures with Jeep to produce Cherokees and Wranglers); and construction, in which it benefits being able to deploy conscripts during their last six months of service. We're talking of clothing, we're talking of construction of roads, highways, bridges. We're talking of pots and pans, we're talking of kitchen appliances.
The military also owns most of the valuable land in the country, including extremely beautiful beaches, and some of the greatest coral reefs in the world which were absolutely crying out for touristic development. The military gave private developers access to the land, and the developers made military officers shareholders in big tourist developments. No one knows for sure how many resort hotels or other businesses in Egypt are run by the military, which controls somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the nation's economy, according to various estimates. Bottom line, officers in the Egyptian military are making "billions and billions" of dollars.
And now the kicker. Gamal Mubarak, the man designated to take over the regime, was NOT a military man. In fact, in his own corrupt way, intended to institute change in Egypt. The military made it clear to Mubarak, that they disagreed with his appointed successor. At its peak, the demonstrations numbered approximately 300, 000. The army did not interfere in these demonstrations. In fact, they probably sided with the demonstrators. Tantawi safely visited the square during the largest demonstration. Today the square is clear, Mubarak and sons are gone, and the military council controls the country, promising democratic elections sometime in the future. The same military council that has been in control for 60 years. In Brazil and The Phillipines, just to name a few, it took 20 years to move from military control to democracy. How long do you think it will take in Egypt?
To sum it all up, the revolution, (if, in fact there was one), was not about democracy and people power, but more about the cat guarding her milk. And if ever there will be a revolution, it will be based on hunger and a 3000 year old culture, and not a 300 year old western media-led uprising. Fact: The riots in Tunisia continue.
Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck - Orson Welles
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