Stench of death hangs over Cairo

[shaayecanaan]

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

There are bodies as far as the eye can see, and the blocks of ice laid on their chests to slow down the decomposition fight a losing battle with the intense summer heat.

Volunteers spray air freshener over the shrouded corpses in an attempt to mask the stench, but there is a point, as you first enter the makeshift morgue that in the last 24 hours doctors say has received nearly 350 bodies, where your knees go weak. Just for a moment.

Some of the bodies are charred beyond recognition, many were the victims of sniper fire to the head, others have gunshot wounds elsewhere on their bodies. Volunteers counted six children and four women among the dead.

The carpet is wet from the melted ice, and stunned family members, their eyes red from weeping and glazed with grief, sit next to the bodies as large pedestal fans blow the fetid aroma of death mixed with air freshener in a sickening loop.





Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/stench-of-death-hangs-over-cairo-20130816-2s0yk.html

[Beacool]

1. Poor people, poor Egypt!!!!

[delrem]

2. John Kerry says the Egyptian military is "in effect, restoring democracy."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10243606/John-Kerry-Violence-in-Egypt-is-deplorable.html

Now, you tell me how John Kerry is different than the odd characters in 'Alice in Wonderland'.

Maybe we're expected to rack this one up next to the others in "executive branch reinterpretations" of terms otherwise well-known.
It started in earnest with G.W.B.'s executive interpretation of 'torture', as explained by John Yoo.
Now it's an everyday occurrence that citizens can no longer know what a term in our vocabulary actually means.

[shaayecanaan]

3. interesting aside from that article

The Obama administration has refused to label the military's decision to remove Mr Morsi a "coup" because that designation would trigger a US law that would cut off American aid to the Egyptian armed forces.

I'm always amazed at just how much latitude American politicians have to engage in denial of the true and/or blatantly obvious.

[dipsydoodle]

5. They had democracy inasmuch the majority of their electorate voted for Morsi.

Some may not have liked eventual outcomes those being the minority who with help have now deposed him. The fact they have as a result completely fucked their own economy seems not to matter to them.

Nothing will change the fact the Brotherhood , like it or not , are part of the electorate. They had been restrained under Mubarack by only being allowed to stand as independents as opposed to a party.

Wednesdays events have moved the situation beyond reconciliation in the near future.

Kerry might consider ..............................

I am appalled.

[Igel]

6. People have said that the MB was worse.

I never bought this as a sufficient reason for justifying the slaughter. It didn't sit right. I think I have a reply.

Some claims used to justify the coup/massacre are false.

Morsi = MB. Often true, but you can't just attribute to Morsi what MB leaders said. There were differences; Morsi not infrequently revised bills and policies to move farther away from the MB's stand on things when pressed for compromise. Often the initial bill or regulation already was different from the MB's stance. He was not a sock puppet.

One vote/one time. There's no evidence that Morsi would fail to have elections on schedule. If he failed to do so, then that would be the time to stage a coup to preserve democracy.

Morsi did nothing. It's hard to do anything when everything you do is ruled unconstitutional. When the lower and upper houses of parliament are ruled unconstitutional. And when any proposal to change the unconstitutional law to allow a constitutional legislature is rule unconstitutional. The courts annuled the legislative branch, and then said that Morsi needed the legislative branch to authorize him to make changes.

Morsi made the economy worse. Can't be true--in 2 days of no leadership the economy suddenly got better as soon as Morsi was gone. There were those with opportunity and motive to bollix things up; they despised Morsi. When Morsi was gone, suddenly things remarkably unbollixed. Moreover, lots of foreign aid arrived shortly thereafter.


I don't like Morsi. I honestly wished him well, though, because this is the outcome of wishing him badly. Odds are that since Egypt's problems won't be helped by a bailout and nobody's making the problems better Morsi would have had the economy become worse without sabotage by self-styled patriots. No need for a coup--at the end of his term he'd have lost. Most voters are economic voters.

That would have been steps on the way to democracy. A change of power by ballot. Trying something and letting it succeed or fail on its own. Going back and fixing mistakes in a way that involves consultation between groups and possibly showing that compromise and mutual consent are necessary. Instead we have extreme polarization, the new government pressuring the families of the dead to say they committed suicide to keep the massacre count down, politicians making excuses for massacres and a military coup and trying to say that gunning down protestors after a military coup that displaced elected leaders (and parliament) is a perfectly fine step towards democracy.

[Skittles]

4. this is dreadful

[dipsydoodle]

7. c. 50 more deaths in the past 4 hours

that's according to Reuters which I picked up here on UK tv news just now.

[rafeh1]

8. Egypt survey shows 69% of Egyptians oppose coup

Dont believe the 33 million lie. Vast majority of Egyptian oppose coup regime. It is same as Chile in 73 with Pinochet doing the mass killing.

The coup supporters come from primarily Mubarak supporting elites and constitute around 25% of Egyptian society. They are vocal and hate the mass of poor Egyptians who voted for MB (67% in parliament, 64% constitution and 52% for Dr. Morsi). These elites want no more election at least elections where MB can participate.

The real issue is not Islamist but Egyptian Army control of Egyptian economy.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/6850-study-shows-opposition-to-morsi-ouster-rises-to-69#sthash.SGN2kQ5J.dpuf

[John2]

9. Morsi won the

Presidency with 51.8 percent of the vote to 48.7 percent for the next person. The Brotherhood sided with Salafists for Morsi to win the presidency. Millions of people did not participate when the Muslim Brotherhood tried to force new referendums because they thought Morsi was acting like a dictator.

I see where you are going with this. You are trying to make him look innocent and didn't have an agenda. I've said also there were other things that he did which tipped people off, including the Army. The Muslim Brotherhood was and is very much involved in the Syrian War.

That is why I don't beleive anything Washington or the Saudis say. That includes Israel. They need Egypt period, and whomever controls it on their side to carry out their agendas. Morsi was actually cooperating and the Brotherhood was also. That is probably why McCain and Graham hightailed it to Egypt. Washington and the Saudis are playing tightrope, and trying to please either side, whichever one comes out on top. They can't do anything to the Egyptian military and they know it, regardless of their bribes.

I don't know why people keepp ignoring Egypt's history or Syria's at that. Both country's militaries are closely tied to the leadership and both had been oppressing the Muslim Brotherhood for years, ever since the Brotherhood came into existence. It is very ignorant to think either militaries are just going to disband and hand power in their countries to the Muslim Brotherhood or any puppet Government of the United States or Saudi Arabia. What do they take these people for, stooges? It shows arrogance at best. What I've said is true, and why the United States, Saudi Arabia, Europe or any other country want do anything to Egypt's military, as long as they are the true power within that country. Egypt will also have better relations with Syria actually, with Morsi out of the way. Both countries feel the Brotherhood are Terrorists.

[JCMach1]

10. A former student of mine was one of the reporters killed on Wed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023470739