Mubarak Steps Down. What happens next?

[Bailey Guns]

I, too, am of the opinion that Mubarak leaving is not necessarily a good thing for everyone involved.

I'm worried about what might happen to Israel.

[ChunkyMonkey]

So far the armed force remained united. Civil war is unlikely as the egyptians are a bunch of nationalists and very prideful of their heritage. They do have their share of wacko like the Muslim Brotherhood, along with few other extreme right groups.

US diplomats are very active currently, and are in contact with all major parties. US will weigh its support once there is a clear winner of the next 'regime.'

Be prepared and hope for the best I guess.

[ChunkyMonkey]

... in addition, I would like the US State Dept shift its focus to the US counselor that is being held HOSTAGE by the Paki's govt.

[BPTactical]

What's next? Let's see- power has been handed to the VP, who is also in charge of the military. He has been responsible for incarceration and torture in the past. Military rule of law.
What could go wrong?
War with Israel-Islamic takeover of neighboring countries-instability of the entire region-Iran getting really ballsey-instability of Europe due to Islamic rabblerousers-an American President who if not a muslim is certainly a sympathizer of their cause.
Nah-nothing to see here, move along now, these are not the Jihadist's you are looking for.......

Caliphate?

You want some humorous reading?
You ought to read some of the comments posted on Yahoo's page regarding Mubarak stepping down. It is funny until you realize these people can vote.............


"US diplomats are very active currently, and are in contact with all major parties."

Gee, I feel better already.........................

[ChunkyMonkey]

One thing in those area of region works... money! $1.2 billion a year buys a peace cord, US is ready to shake hand with the lesser of evils AGAIN.

[Marlin]

Shah of Iran was out on Feb 11, 1979...
Mubarak of Egypt is out on Feb 11, 2011...
exactly 30 year later!!! Lets hope with a different result!

32.

[ChunkyMonkey]

hehehe Marlin.. good catch.

btw...
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/821...mubarak-assets

They start messing with Mubarak money, this old guard will start messing with the country. Once a dictator is disposed and exiled, you leave them alone! They are just giving him more excuse to intervene again.

[TFOGGER]

anyone around here have a Warlord resume? might be an opportunity for someone.

http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html

[Elhuero]

I guess I'm the only one not worried about israel.

if egypt tries to mess with them, israel will just end up owning the sinai peninsula again.

[theGinsue]

I haven't searched the site bto see if this was psoted anywhere here, but did you all hear about the Saudi Kin's phone call to Obama about Mubarak on Jan 29?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226003947985

SAUDI Arabia has warned Barack Obama not to push for swift regime change in Egypt, vowing to bankroll President Hosni Mubarak if the White House cuts aid to Cairo.

In a testy telephone call on January 29, King Abdullah told the US President not to humiliate Mr Mubarak and said the Egyptian leader should be allowed to stay on to oversee the transition towards democracy and then to leave with dignity, The Times of London reported yesterday.
King Abdullah threatened to step in with funding for Egypt if the US withdrew its $US1.5 billion ($1.47bn) a year aid program.

"Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the king is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated," a senior source in the Saudi capital told The Times.

Two sources confirmed details of the king's call, made four days after Egyptians took to the streets.

The revelation of Saudi concerns sheds new light on America's apparent diplomatic paralysis and lays bare the biggest rift between the nations since the oil price shock of 1973, according to The Times. It said the tough line from Riyadh was driven by concern that Western governments were too eager to shove aside Mr Mubarak, without proper consideration of what should follow him.

"With Egypt in chaos, the kingdom is Washington's only major ally left in the Arab world and the Saudis want the Americans to remember that," said a source in Riyadh.

Riyadh's intervention seriously undermines the US leverage in the Egyptian crisis.

The White House declined to comment on the revelations by The Times yesterday, but warned Egypt's leaders to expect unrelenting protests unless they began real reforms and a transition to a freer society.

Government concessions offered so far did not meet even the minimum threshold of what the people wanted, the White House said.

Obama administration officials were increasingly blunt in describing the limits of their leverage. The US was not seeking to dictate events in Egypt - and could not. "We're not going to be able to force them to do anything," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Mr Gibbs and other officials called on Egypt's leaders to end the harassment of activists, to broaden negotiations with opposition leaders, to lift a repressive emergency law, and to take up a series of other moves the Obama government has requested for days.

Mr Obama reinforced that message yesterday. In a phone conversation with the Saudi king, he emphasised the need for "immediate steps towards an orderly transition that is meaningful, lasting, legitimate and responsive", the White House said.

Thousands of state workers joined strikes and protests around the country yesterday, despite warnings from Vice-President Omar Suleiman that they won't be tolerated much longer.

Calling on labour unions to join it, Egypt's opposition movement extended its protest to new ground outside parliament, blocking the street and access to other government buildings and forcing cabinet ministers to move a meeting ahead of a mass protest tonight.

Mr Gibbs suggested that some Egyptian leaders thought they could wait out the protesters by offering up some concessions and assuming "life will return to normal" after years of repression.

"I think that's largely been answered by a greater number of people, representing a greater cross-section of Egyptian society, who have come out," he said.

"Those are not likely to dissipate until the government takes some genuine steps."

What this article doesn't really say but was in other articles I read was that the Saudi King finished his very short call to Obama with a declaration that if the U.S. did anything that wasn't pro-Mubarak, we would "regret" it. So, we were threatened by a thrid-world King. Anyone remember what our response has been to the Egypt thing since about hte time of this phone call? Nothing. We did nothing. THere was even less rhetoric and comments about Egypt from the White House after this point. Seems to me (and certainly will seem to the Saudi's and the rest of the world) that we acquiesced to the Saudi Kings demands.