Cairo official death toll passes 500
Source: BBC News
Egypt says 525 people were killed on Wednesday when security forces stormed Islamist protest camps in Cairo after a stand-off lasting weeks.
Most of the victims died in the capital but there was violence around the country on the bloodiest day since the pro-democracy uprising two years ago.
The final toll is believed far higher as scores of bodies are not registered.
Supporters of President Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted last month, say more than 2,000 died.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23711534
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another_liberal
(8,821 posts)There are reports that the coup government's so-called Interim Cabinet is meeting to discuss, "The way to go forward."
I can help them with that. They should file murder charges against everyone involved in ordering or directing yesterday's massacre. That would be an excellent way forward.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Next steps?
cali
(114,904 posts)set a schedule for elections, set up a commission for reconciliation.
None of that will happen.
Al-Sisi is a dangerous man. This is a sick, brutal regime. Murderers.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Sadly, I agree as well. It is a scary situation.
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)You stay home and protect your family.
Everybody stay home.
Not a general strike, a state of emergency.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)President Morsi should be returned to office, on the condition he call new elections for early 2014. Finally, all factions should be brought together for the drafting of a new, national constitution, including a universal bill of rights.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Do you support some kind of outside intervention?
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)I do support "some kind" of outside intervention, yes, but not direct military intervention. That would most likely give the generals hero status with many Egyptians. Economic, diplomatic and cultural pressure may be enough to force the kind of change Egypt badly needs. Egypt is far more dependent on the West than North Korea, Iran, or Syria. A concerted effort by Western nations and our allies in other parts of the World could work.
We in the Untied States could start the process by severing all military ties and ending all aid to the generals. In fact, President Obama has already started rolling back our close ties to the Egyptian military. Lets hope he continues that policy by finally calling the generals' seizure of power what it was, a coup.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)I fear an act like that could end up backfiring.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)In fact, I intend to let my Congressman and Senators hear about it as well.
As to your fear of a "backfiring": Isn't our aid currently going to Egypt already backfiring rather loudly?
oberliner
(58,724 posts)I just would hope that cutting aid to Egypt wouldn't have the unintended consequence of actually making life worse for the people there.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Consequences unintended or not, it could hardly make life worse for at least five hundred Egyptians.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)In fact, I see this situation getting a whole lot worse for Egypt before it gets better, regardless of what we do.
Response to another_liberal (Reply #17)
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PaulKersey
(59 posts)
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Egypt's interim government and its backers remain defiant amid a rising death toll and widespread international condemnation of Wednesday's massacre of Islamist supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi – the country's third mass killing in six weeks.
The prime minister, Hazem Beblawi, said the crackdown was essential to create stability, and praised security forces for what he characterised as maximum restraint – despite Egypt's health ministry on Thursday saying 525 had died in the violence that ensued when pro-Morsi camps on either side of Cairo were cleared.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/15/egyptian-pm-defends-cairo-crackdown
Islamists call Cairo protest march as Egypt death toll mounts.
(Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood called on followers to march in protest in Cairo on Thursday, after at least 525 people were killed in a security crackdown on the Islamist movement that has left the most populous Arab nation polarised and in turmoil.
A Reuters witness counted 228 bodies, most of them wrapped in white shrouds, arranged in rows on the floor of the Imam mosque in northeast Cairo, close to the worst of Wednesday's violence between police and demonstrators.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/15/uk-egypt-protests-idUKBRE97514U20130815
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Destabilization by another name and that's exactly what it's looked like all along, from that Christmas church bombing in Alexandria to now, at least to me. Really heartbreaking.
Turbineguy
(37,295 posts)Or is it the usual, 'the more people who die for me, the better'?
cali
(114,904 posts)how the fuck is he supposed to communicate?
Oh, and here's a thought: Blame the fucking asswipe military and Al-Sisi for carrying out mass murder. Kind of a no-brainer.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)He's being held for a further 30 days.
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)another_liberal
(8,821 posts)The generals have shed tanker cars full of their fellow Egyptians' blood. How can they be allowed to remain free and unpunished, let alone still in power?
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)It will be well-earned.
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)US media reports that Robert Ford, former top US envoy to Syria, will be Washington’s next ambassador to Egypt has sparked a vitriolic Twitter campaign over a Canadian conspiracy website's claims that he once ran “death squads” in Iraq.
A little over two years ago, on July 8 2011, a convoy carrying the then US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford made its way through army checkpoints to the besieged city of Hama, then the centre of protests against the rule of the Assad regime.
The surprise visit was seen as the first concrete sign of US support for the Syrian opposition. It sparked a furious response from the government but won the ambassador hero status in the eyes of the opposition and, as he arrived in Hama, protesters were seen greeting Ford with flowers and olive branches.
But these days, the veteran US diplomat is being showered with invective and diatribe – on Twitter.
http://www.france24.com/en/20130806-egypt-usa-robert-ford-ambassador-twitter-syria
John2
(2,730 posts)and Syrian miltaries were allies against Israel. Their conflict with religious extremism is not new against the Muslim Brotherhood. The military in Egypt was built by Nasser, and Sadat. Mubarak was part of the military. Everyone of those men favored secular rtule in Egypt. They are not going to give any power to the Muslim Brotherhood. People are dreaming. They probably find these demands just as insulting as the Syrian regime does. If you want to take power from them, than it would be at the point of a gun and to the Death.
jpak
(41,756 posts)Egypt is doomed to civil war...
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)John2
(2,730 posts)I'm literrally laughing at the comments on this thread. I'm not joking either. Just who is going to tell the Egyptian military what to do in their own country? Put the Egyptian military under whose control, Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood? That is the same stupidity going on in Syria. The U.S. and the West isn't that Great. They are not God.
Just read the History of Egypt. Egypt wasn't always the ally of the United States or the West. That is why I find this funny. They have one of the most powerful armies in the Middle East next to Israel and Iran.Egypt and Syria use to be Military Allies, and they both caused havoc on the Muslim Brotherhood. It was the military that forced the British to leave. It was the military that forced the Russians to leave. They told Turkey to mind their own business. So what makes you people think anybody can dictate to the Egyptian military in their own country, especially when portions of the population support them? I think you are overestimating this Policy of Democracy in Egypt, when it concerns the Muslim Brotherhood. They got slaughtered in the past and they are getting slaughtered now.
The bottomline is Egypt has a lot of leverage of their own. Number one, the West can go right ahead and make Egypt allied with Syria, Iran, Russia and China. They can also open the door to other countries like North Korea. Egypt is the country that controls the Suez Canal. That is the entrance from the Meditteraenean to the Pacific ocean. You don't need to sail all around Africa.
Egypt is a country of 85 million people, which is equivalent to Iran. It is the most powerful African country on the continent. Egypt also broke ties with most of the Arab countries, when they signed a treaty with Israel. These Generals are not stupid. People overblow what the U.S. and her Allies can do. So go ahead, support the Muslim Brotherhood just like Al Qaeda and see how far you get. It is just going to be another rejection just like in Syria. Egypt doesn't need the money as much as the West needs Egypt. It was nothing but a bribe, and the military loved the new toys, much better than the Russians were providing at the time. Just look through their History, and see if anybody ever told the Egyptian military what to do. If you think Egypt can be threatened, then you are fooling yourselves.
Warpy
(111,169 posts)You'd think knowing that would keep us from getting involved, but that's not likely going to be the case if this goes on much longer.
I just hope friends there are OK.
I'm giving people a clue. Go back into the entire History of Egypt, Post World wasr II, and the relation the Muslim Brotherhood had with every secular ruler in the Middle East. They consider them dangerous to the state and National Security. Morsi made a big mistyake calling for Jihad in Syria.
Warpy
(111,169 posts)and tried to begin instituting the Muslim Brotherhood idea of heaven on earth, something the mostly secular Egyptians rejected.
Unfortunately, elections had been forced too soon, possibly due to pressure from the outside, and the Muslim Brotherhood were the only group organized enough to put forth a viable candidate and do the legwork to get him elected.
And yes, I have seen them get crushed before. One wonders why it continues to be so popular since the chances for longevity decrease markedly if one joins. Then again, I am an atheist with absolutely no understanding of religious motivation.
PaulKersey
(59 posts)far from innocent.