Hundreds of people have been injured as more riots sweep through Egypt. Journalist Afshin Rattansi believes the activists are angry at the interim government because there have been no improvements since Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February.
“The government, such as it is, hasn’t responded to the concerns of the people,” he said. “People are not getting what they thought they were getting when they toppled Hosni Mubarak.” An Egyptian court has ordered a probe into fresh clashes between police and protesters in Cairo.“There are strikes at the Suez Canal,” Rattansi said. “People are being killed again on the streets of Cairo.”Afshin Rattansi believes the US seems to want the military government to hold on to power in Egypt. In his view the Obama administration is set on staving off more demonstrations that might overthrow the current interim government. And this is why the US wants to leave the Muslim Brotherhood out in the cold.“I am not sure whether the American strategy will work in this case,” he concluded.“The people of Egypt are not going to forgive the US or its allies any time soon for the years of misery caused by that proxy government,” he added. “At least the Egyptian government, such as it is, did refuse the IMF $3-billion loan, which would have been in return for mass privatization and all the things that many of those protesters would not have wanted, particularly the loss of sovereignty.”Afshin Rattansi says what is really crucial in this situation for the international outlook is the Suez Canal, because that is vital to trade. “And we are not hearing anything about it in the corporate news,” he said. “It’s as if that revolution is done and dusted, and the Egyptian people are fine.” Afshin Rattansi believes there is hope for a real democracy now that Egyptians have got rid of Hosni Mubarack despite US hegemonic concerns.“I think the future still looks bright,” he said. “Let’s hope the demonstrators get what they want.”
Walid Phares from the National Defense University in Washington says youth movements, minorities and labor unions in Egypt expected that the country would get rid of the authoritarian regime and the military council would stay out of any political affairs. “What they are seeing now is that all the promises are not happening, and that Egypt is moving towards a new type of authoritarian mandate, so that’s why they are trying to tell the world with their demonstrations that democracy is not yet in Egypt,” said Phares.