LJ;674182 wrote:"EGYPT IS FREE, EGYPT IS FREE"

FatHobbit;674183 wrote:I hope so.

In 2007 polling by the University of Maryland and World Public Opinion, three-quarters of Egyptians said they favor a “strict” application of sharia law in every Muslim country (half said they “strongly” favored it, the other quarter favored it “somewhat&#8221. And while two-thirds approved of “democracy,” three-quarters also said they want to “keep Western values out of Islamic countries” — i.e., their conception of “democracy” is very different from Western democracy (with features like establishment of Islam as the state religion, installation of sharia as a principal source of law, the invalidation of laws that are inconsistent with sharia, etc.). Moreover, fully 92 percent of Egyptians said that the U.S. was trying to weaken and divide the Islamic world. That’s probably why 82 percent of them wanted U.S. forces withdrawn from all Muslim countries.

jhay78;674283 wrote:If by "free", you mean the next government will be elected democratically, then yes Egypt is free.

If by "free", you mean that Egyptian religious minorities (Coptic Christians, etc.) will enjoy even a fraction of the religious freedoms that minorities in the US enjoy, think again. Things weren't exactly peachy for Christians under Mubarak, but when 3/4's of Egyptians (in a 2007 study) favor the application of sharia law in every Muslim country, that doesn't sound to me like a "free" society:



http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/258717/mubarak-v-brotherhood/andrew-c-mccarthy

ptown_trojans_1;674349 wrote:Egyptian Military making statement right now on timeline for elections.

Or not. He just said the Military Council will run the country and then in a nice gesture, saluted the martyrs, the people who lost their lives.

"The term 'Muslim Brotherhood' ... is an umbrella term for a variety of movements, in the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam," Clapper said.

This isn't the first time Clapper has stumbled on the public stage.

During a televised interview in December alongside other top security officials, Clapper was stumped when asked about a major set of terror arrests in Great Britain.

The White House later acknowledged that Clapper had not yet been briefed about the sweep, while defending him as "the consummate DNI."

QuakerOats;679350 wrote:Wait a minute, I thought obama was a foreign policy guru who would achieve greatness on the world stage. I thought the ending of the Bush era would solve all the world's problems and allow America to regain status and everybody would love us.

What the hell's gone wrong with that mantra?

ptown_trojans_1;679375 wrote:Bahaha. No one who seriously was in the foreign policy circles thought that.

QuakerOats;679350 wrote:Wait a minute, I thought obama was a foreign policy guru who would achieve greatness on the world stage. I thought the ending of the Bush era would solve all the world's problems and allow America to regain status and everybody would love us.

What the hell's gone wrong with that mantra?

QuakerOats;679497 wrote:obma is making W look like Winston

CenterBHSFan;679795 wrote:Yeah, but I thought alot of "moderates" voted for Obama/Biden because of the connections of foreign policy knowledge?

ptown_trojans_1;679375 wrote:Bahaha. No one who seriously was in the foreign policy circles thought that.

I Wear Pants;679808 wrote:They voted for him because they didn't think Mccain was the better option. Get over it.

I Wear Pants;679820 wrote:

CenterBHSFan;679795 wrote:Yeah, but I thought alot of "moderates" voted for Obama/Biden because of the connections of foreign policy knowledge?

FatHobbit;680486 wrote:I thought they voted for him because they wanted hope and change?