| TML sends its militant greetings to the heroic Egyptian people, who have stood their ground for 15 days demanding much needed regime change in their country. Despite violence, intimidation, arrests and torture, the Egyptian people have refused to back down from their just demand that the regime of President Hosni Mubarak in its entirety step down. It is a life and death issue for the Egyptian people that the Egyptian state be made to serve them and not Anglo-Zionist imperialism. Will the Egyptian government continue to be a pawn for foreign interests, including its infamous role of working hand-in-hand with Israel to maintain the criminal blockade against Gaza and the humiliation this represents for the Egyptian people? Or will it be a state that sides with the just national movements of the Middle East and world's peoples against Anglo-Zionist imperialism, one that uses its material and human resources for the well-being of the people? A battle for a new Egypt rages behind the calls for Mubarak to resign and his attempt to placate the people by saying that all will be solved in the September election. It is a battle between the people with their aspiration for the new and the reactionary forces doing everything possible to maintain Egypt's status as a U.S. client state. From Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, the Canadian government has issued various statements calling for non-violence, a peaceful transition, order and even dialogue. The government's purported dedication to democracy and freedom of expression is endlessly reiterated by the monopoly media, as if the Harper government is genuinely interested in the affirmation of these rights for the Egyptian people, when they do not even afford Canadians such possibilities. The U.S. and many European states sing a similar song. Canadians should not be fooled by such high-sounding statements whose only aim is to hide the real role being played by Anglo-Zionist imperialism, with Canada in tow. Statements by Canada and these countries, with their long history of supporting the illegitimate Mubarak military regime, which claim concern for the democratic rights of the Egyptian people are to fool the gullible. They are but self-serving posturing to divert from what is really taking place and what the situation demands. By presenting violence as the issue and calling for calm, they divert from the violence committed by the Mubarak regime against the Egyptian people. The government has organized contingents of so-called pro-Mubarak demonstrators (read "hired thugs") to attack people. News agencies report that at least 300 people have been killed, with thousands illegally detained and many tortured, although these are conservative figures given the level of repression and the difficulty of obtaining accurate information in this situation. All this is taking place while Canada, the U.S. and others caution against any violence being committed. Were they genuinely concerned for peace, they would unequivocally denounce the violence of the government in its illegitimate attempts to block the people from exercising their democratic rights, including their right to dissent, freedom of expression and assembly. These hypocritical calls for civility and orderly transition also aim to divert this democratic struggle into a pro/anti-Mubarak issue. However, Mubarak is not the fundamental issue, nor is he seen as such by the Egyptian people. It is clear to all that the people are denouncing the whole regime in Egypt. The Egyptian democratic movement recognizes that if Mubarak remains in power until the September election, the status quo will reign. The election will only give rise to another U.S. client government and their henchman is already being groomed, namely the newly appointed Vice-President Omar Suleiman. He is head of the security services and deeply linked to all the machinations of Anglo-Zionist imperialists in Egypt. In this manner, the imperialists hope that while some details may change in the elections, no genuine change will take place. When they speak of transition they mean simply that they want the appearance of change, while in fact the same forces remain in power. This is the same bid they made in Tunisia, allowing the people to remove Bin Ali but maintaining the status quo in the government. The same forces in power under Bin Ali's rule are in control of the government today, hence the Tunisian people keep fighting for change. Thus the Egyptian people are calling for the entire regime to step down and for a transitional government to be constituted. They have pointed out that the current government has no right to decide what takes place. Since it is the target of the people's movement, it has no legitimacy to decide how the people's democratic aspirations will be realized. TML salutes the Egyptian people and their refusal to be cowed or be diverted from their aim. The imperialists will not give up on Egypt easily. Along with Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Mubarak's regime in Egypt has been one of its main stalwarts in the Middle East for the past 40 years. Yet the Egyptian people are not to be underestimated. Their proud revolutionary history includes their historic battles against British colonialism, which led to the liberation of Egypt and the rise to power of the peoples' hero Abdul Nasser. These are the people that led the nationalist movements of the region and earned their place of honour amongst the fighting forces of the world. This is the Egypt struggling to be reborn on a new basis for the 21st century. No diversionary talk of the imperialists can change the will of the Egyptian people to realize this new Egypt nor the indomitable striving of the peoples of the Middle East for independence, democracy and the affirmation of rights. Role of Egyptian Military - Jamilé Ghaddar - The revolutionary movement unfolding in Egypt represents all sectors of the society, including the unions, professionals, diverse political parties, farmers and the unemployed, with the youth in the forefront. They stand as one, united in the struggle for a new Egypt. Against this united front, the Anglo-Zionist imperialists and the Egyptian regime and its armed forces are fighting tooth and nail to divert the movement from realizing its aim. What role is the Egyptian military playing in these events? Some claim that its role is unclear while others declare the army as neutral. Some Anglo-Zionist pundits, especially in the monopoly media, have even gone so far as to claim that the people are friendly towards the military: a protestor somewhere is said to have hugged a soldier, while the head of the military supposedly joined the protestors during one demonstration. It must be stated unequivocally that the Egyptian military is a pawn of the Anglo-Zionist agenda in Egypt and that there has been an intentional policy of creating doubt about this simple fact. In the face of the disinformation about the role of the military, it is important to keep in mind that the Egyptian military was reconstituted by the U.S. in 1979. Since then, the army has been financed to the tune of billions of dollars by the U.S. Despite this, concerted efforts by the U.S. seek to divert attention from this obvious direct relationship between the army and the imperialists. While the police have been executing the regime's violent, repressive measures against the people, the military is posturing as friendly, reasonable, a partner for dialogue, a cautioner for calm and orderly transition. Why is this? The strategy is simple: the army stays "neutral" in these events so that it can be in a good position to intervene at an opportune time to maintain the status quo. The imperialists have already realized that Mubarak is finished; he can no longer be the face of their client state in Egypt. They are trying wholeheartedly (and failing) to convince the Egyptian people that if Mubarak goes then they have realized their aim for change. If the army is seen as a defender of Mubarak, it will be committing political suicide and go the way of Mubarak himself. Instead, they have opted for a tired old ploy that is sure to fail: to present the military as neutral, gain the trust of the people and be seen as a legitimate player by the international community. Then, once Mubarak is gone, the entire regime collapses or at some other opportune moment, the army will take over in the name of the people while in fact the same imperialist agenda would reign in Egypt and the people's movement will be blocked. Their first attempt to pave the way for the military to intervene has so far failed. This involved the Egyptian regime withdrawing the repressive police from the streets and unleashing thousands of hired thugs, including former police officers imprisoned for corruption and crimes against the people. These organized gangs, dubbed pro-Mubarak protestors by the monopoly media, attacked demonstrators in the most vicious and brutal ways. The hope was that the demonstrators would react with all-out violence and vengefulness, making it possible to demonize the protestors as violent and extremist, then voilà, the military would have an excuse to intervene between the two violent "sides." Similarly, the Anglo-Zionist imperialist states would then have some basis to defend whatever the Egyptian regime and military decided to do in order to stop the alleged violence. It would also ultimately justify the position of the army, which has begun cautioning that now is the time for people to go home or chaos will ensue. The plan so far has failed due to the acumen of the revolutionary forces. Outside of pure self-defense, the millions of protestors have not fallen into this trap. They have refused to take the bait and are maintaining the restrained, peaceful character of the mass actions. The role of the army will become increasingly obvious for all to see as the time for Mubarak's inevitable departure nears. Already, the military is shifting its discourse. For instance, on February 4, for the first time the Minister of Defense, Mohamed Tantawi and an army spokesperson addressed the demonstrations demanding that the people empty the streets because their actions are destroying Egypt as a country. Certainly, the piper is now playing a different tune. The reactionary forces would have us believe that while the police are bad, the military is good and the hired thugs are pro-Mubarak Egyptians. They would have us believe that under a military dictatorship -- i.e., Egypt is ruled by the military due to the State of Emergency declared by Mubarak 30 years ago -- it is possible for the military to be neutral. The military, the police and the government are one entity -- the power arrangement established by the imperialists so that Egypt is a pawn for their interests. Overall, this is the play, these are the players, but the Egyptian people are a factor in the unfolding events that cannot be underestimated and they are playing for keeps. |