Egypt

[Palfrem]

Anyone got any ideas as to why we are getting wall-to-wall coverage of the political situation there please?

 

[renault12ts]

Is that a serious question?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Or rhetorical?

 

[Druk]

Why does the Beeb think they need to send George Alagiah all the way out there at vast expense? The local reporters were making a perfectly good job of it before he arrived.

 

[Palfrem]

Yes, a serious question.

I know the continuing free passage of oil along Suez canal is pretty vital, but as to the sheer volume of reporting from every channel & station... - I'm just a bit bemused / perplexed as to why we need so have so much in-depth analysis along with the inevitable pointless speculation from quite so many journos when Egypt is hardly unique in a region renowned for having an unpopular, untrustworthy, unelected government with a dodgy human rights record.

 

[trapperjohn]

Nothing else much to report about. If there is not a good story about - milk one.

 

[renault12ts]

Egypt, with a population of 80 million, represented stability in the area. Now with Tunisia and Egypt being unstable... worry.

Crude reached $100 a barrel yesterday...worry.

 

[davethemus]

what happens in egypt is much more important than any other news that is happening just now. anyway i'm enjoying the coverage because it makes george bush and tony blair look like the fools they are. The only way democracy can be found is through the people taking it not through an invading army giving it too you.

 

[Howard]

The worry is that the 'stable' government will topple and Egypt will become the next Iran , an Islamic state.

Remember when the Shah of Iran was toppled , Iran went from a stable state to a fundamentalist state , very anti west , very quickly ( comparatively )

The world doesn't need anymore countries governed by Islamic fundamentalists at the moment.

I don't know a lot about it , just what i have picked up.

 

[renault12ts]

As Howard says. There are worryingly few women protesting.

 

[Palfrem]

There's also a lot of Christians (and others) in Egypt and a valuable tourist trade to nurture as opposed to just pumping up oil to the hated Infidel and facing Mecca several times a day.

Could we be in for another 1950's style Suez Crisis I wonder if the cut is jeopardised?

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Yes, a serious question.

I know the continuing free passage of oil along Suez canal is pretty vital, but as to the sheer volume of reporting from every channel & station... - I'm just a bit bemused / perplexed as to why we need so have so much in-depth analysis along with the inevitable pointless speculation from quite so many journos when Egypt is hardly unique in a region renowned for having an unpopular, untrustworthy, unelected government with a dodgy human rights record.

Would you rather have 'news' about the latest Football transfers, or so called celebrates getting off their faces at Awards?

 

[davethemus]

the muslim brotherhood aren't a jihadist group and those guys have been the main opposition for the last 30 years, remember egypt is a dictatorship proped up by the US and the media will portray things a certain way, it doesn't mean that is what is happening.

 

[grober]

Fron his BBC Bio: -Before going behind the studio desk, George Alagiah was one of the BBC's leading foreign correspondents, recognised throughout the industry for his reporting on some of the most significant events of the last decade.
Highlights of his reporting and presenting from abroad include live news programmes from the South Africa/Zimbabwe border, from Sri Lanka following the Asian tsunami, from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and from Pakistan following the south Asian earthquake. George is a specialist on Africa and the developing world.
He has reported on: trade in human organs in India; the murder of street children in Brazil; the civil war and famine in Somalia; the genocide in Rwanda and its aftermath; the plight of the marsh Arabs in southern Iraq; the civil wars in Afghanistan, Liberia and Sierra Leone; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa; the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire; the effects of Hurricane Mitch on Honduras; the Kosovan refugee crisis; the NATO liberation of Pristina; the international intervention in East Timor; the farm invasions in Zimbabwe; the intifada in the West Bank; and the aftermath of the terror attacks on New York. Among prominent figures interviewed by George Alagiah are: Nelson Mandela; Archbishop Desmond Tutu; President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda; Kofi Annan of the United Nations; Yasser Arafat; President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; and Tariq Aziz of Iraq.

They sent one of their top men to cover this such is its significance.

p.s the USA funds Egypt's military to the tune of $1.3 billion every year- you have to ask why?

 

[Howard]

the muslim brotherhood aren't a jihadist group and those guys have been the main opposition for the last 30 years, remember egypt is a dictatorship proped up by the US and the media will portray things a certain way, it doesn't mean that is what is happening.

Well , if Mubarrak goes , lets see what happens in a year or so.

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

The Government must be glad we are all focusing on Egypt , as it takes our eye off the ball with regard to what is going on over here. Ideal opportunity to slip in a couple more acts of parliament , and someone else to blame for escalating fuel prices.

 

[Godot]

On the lighter side Amazing Egypt ! Edited it down from 4 hours of footage to 11min.
No scene lasts longer than 3 or 4 seconds, so much to see and do there, this video will show you pretty much most of the main sites there...enjoy

Glimpses of Egypt - Canon HV20/30/40 on Vimeo

On the not so lighter side http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

 

[markjay]

There is yet to be precedent in the Arab world for democracy.

Arab countries seem so far to either be ruled by long-serving dictators, or decent into chaos and civil war.

Iraq was supposed to be the first stable democratic Arab state, according to Bush-Blair. A template for democracy in the Arab world. That didn't happen.

It is a big question for the west. Do we continue to support dictators - who keep stability - or do we encourage their departure? If the latter, we would like to know that democracy and not anarchy follows.

If post-Mubarak Egypt manages to emerge as a stable democratic country, this will be turning point. The west will start evaluating its support for other Arab dictators.

If the country descents into anarchy, becoming yet another Iraq, then this will be a clear massage to the west - the time for democracy in the Arab world has not yet come. We should keep supporting the dictators for now, because they are the least of two evils.

I do not disregard the fears of yet another extreme Islamic government, or the concerns about oil supplies, but I think that for the west, the basic question - do we support dictators or democracy - is a much more fundamental one.

 

[horgantrevor]

i only have too say one thing read your bible many things will happen in that part of the world and its got nothing too do with oil

 

[timskemp]

Arabs.

Nothing a quick peace anthem couldn't cure

[YOUTUBE]3UO6YlkYNJQ[/YOUTUBE]