As you know, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak announced yesterday that he would not seek another term as president, would spend the rest of his term working on a peaceful transition of power and would step down in September.
As I predicted, that wasn't going to satisfy the opposition, who want him out now, regardless. The army had ordered protesters to return home today, but they have pretty much been ignored.
As a consequence, there have been reports of numerous violent clashes between pro-Mubarak and opposition forces, and even the media has not been immune. CNN's Anderson Cooper was apparently attacked by a mob and punched out for no apparent reason other than being a ferenghi, an experience that may modify his views a bit on the glories of Islamic culture and civilization. ( via memeorandum)
Speaking of media, a number of commentators on the scene are reporting that a lot of the protesters hate America and hate Jews. Who woulda thunk it, hmm?
Apparently the army let the chaos go on a bit too long. At this point, they would have to shoot a few people to restore order. Since I doubt they're going to do that, it also means that (a) the army is going to have to horsetrade with the opposition and the Muslim Brotherhood to include them in a new government and (b) Mubarak will be leaving much faster than he planned.
I'd be surprised if Mubarak lasts out the week.
In Jordan, the story is similar, although as I mentioned before there's a significant tribal element involved. The powerful Muslim Brotherhood opposition has refused to accept King Abdullah's new prime minister and is demanding his ouster. Apparently he's too pro-US and supports continuing the peace treaty with Israel, so I'm sure Abdullah is weighing getting rid of him to keep the peace and may likely put a new government in place of the Muslim Brotherhood's liking.
Israel may very well be looking at a scenario in the near future where it is surrounded by Iranian proxies and allies.
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