Egypt Seems Calmer.

Although some limited clashes continue around Tahrir Square today (21/11/11) there seems to have been no repeat of the three days of nationwide rioting that left at least 20 dead and thousands more injured. While I'm finding it extremely difficult to believe either the BBC or Al Jazeera coverage of events I am starting to get a better idea of what took place.

On Friday (18/11/11) the Muslim Brotherhood called a million man march against military rule because the Brotherhood's leadership objects to articles 9 and 10 of Ali al-Selmy's constitutional principles document. Several hundred thousand people attended and while I'm not sure of the exact circumstances as the Brotherhood's demonstration was due to end it was joined by a few thousand more demonstrators intent on setting up camp in Tahrir Square in an attempt to copy the worldwide "Occupy" protests that started in the United States. Egypt's interim military rulers - the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) took one look at this and did not like what they saw.

This is because SCAF have already looked at their western neighbour, Libya where all the world's major spy agencies are competing with each other for influence over the local militias and power brokers in order to win control over Libya's vast natural resources. SCAF have also looked at their eastern neighbour, Palestine whose bid for statehood is still at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). SCAF have also looked at their other eastern neighbour, Israel which is preparing it's civilian population for an attack on Iran and a possible regional war.

SCAF then looked towards the global COP17 Summit that begins on November 28th and rightly decided that a protest camp in Tahrir Square represents a significant threat to Egypt's national security and decided to clear it. Unfortunately because SCAF still needs to be an effective military force they cleared the camp the only way they know how - through violence. This is not the same as saying the SCAF don't think that ordinary Egyptians should discuss, understand and shape their new democracy. They just think it's better if this is done in homes, shops and cafes rather then in a massive public square under the ever watching gaze of the world's media.

As for Egypt joining the global Occupy movement the occupiers are trying to copy what the Egyptians have already done. So the Egyptians are already the leaders of the movement and serve it best by not screwing up what they've already achieved.