CAIRO: An army crackdown on a protest that killed more than 20 Christians has not only stunned Egyptians, it has left them with deeply torn feelings toward the force seen as the protector of the nation. Even supporters of the ruling military are grappling with the question of how the bloodshed could have happened.
| Oh stop. They're 'stunned'? What's so stunning about an Arab army mistreating its citizens? This has been going since the first of the Pharaohs, so you'd think the people of the Nile would have figured the drill out by now. The army isn't there to protect them, the army is there to protect whoever is in charge. |
The deaths a week ago have deepened mistrust of the military among the "revolutionary" sector, the politically naive active liberal and leftist activists who have been leading protests against the generals' rule for months. They have become increasingly vocal in calls for the army to step aside.
| That's usually what leftist activists demand, at least until they take control of the army, as Trotsky found out way back in early 1918... |
A broader sector of the public has been thrown into shocked confusion. Many Egyptians view the military as the last bastion of stability -- a force "made up of our own sons," as many often say -- and tend to trust it to handle the transition toward a democratic system.
| Again, that just has to be a line some smart-aleck Egyptian interpreter fed a gullible western reporter. The army has been suppressing the people for the last half-century: for Hosni, for Anwar before him, and for Gamal before him. When did the mighty Egyptian army decide to fight for 'democracy'? |
So images of army troops wildly running over protesters with armored vehicles have jolted them.
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