MUBARAK GOES DOWN

Finally I have the time and desire to do this!

Yesterday (or the day before, I forgot =P), President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt finally resigned from his post. Unlike the Tunisian President Ben Ali, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, Mubarak decided to stay in Egypt and is probably relaxing at his million-dollar-mansion at Sharm-el-Sheikh by the Red Sea in the Sinai Peninsula, bordering Israel. Sadly, Egyptian democracy is still a long way away as Mubarak has left the High Council of Egyptian Armed Forces in charge. Basically, all of the military officials of the Mubarak government are still there, and only Mubarak (who I now regard as a puppet for the army), has left. Sure, the Council has dissolved the Egyptian Parliament, but it probably aims for appointing more of its own members in official positions. It shares a faint resemblance to Hitler's rise in power in 1930s Germany, with the dissolving of the German Reichstag numerous times just for more Nazis to get elected. Same in Tunisia, where there are still protests going on against the new Tunisian government, which, coincidentally, is also a military official. Maybe the Muslim Brotherhood is behind all of this after all!

I could go on for ages, but I've been on the computer for far too long and I need to rest my eyes. Bye!

The Arab World Crisis

Alright I think everyone has heard the news. You know, the crises in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen and all the other Arab World countries. The Tunisian President Zine Bel Ali has already resigned and a new government has been formed. And in Egypt after only 5 days of protest President Mubarak has already appointed a new vice-president and prime minister.

I think that if President Mubarak resigns, instability will consume the Middle East. Egypt has been a moderating effect on other, less stable Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon and Iraq, and both the United States and the EU consider Egypt to be a vital ally. If Egypt tumbles, who knows? Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran could all be drawn into war. Israel is actually much like North Korea on the other side of Asia. If North Korea attacks its southern neighbor, most of Eastern Asia will be drawn into war. Just like Israel's conquests of Syria's Golan Heights and Egypt's Giza Strip.

The Arab World is in a transition period. In the Middle Ages they were the cutting-edge in medicine and science. But now we see terrorism, suicide bombers and war all associated with the Muslim religion. I highly doubt that Islamic culture is like this. I might be mistaken, but doesn't the Koran (the Muslim holy book, for those noobs that don't know) value peace over war? There is fear in their eyes. Fear of Western influences. Fear of the Jews in Israel. Fear that their way of life will be crushed.

Now that I mention it, the West. Egypt's crisis isn't very good for the West. What if Mubarak is overthrown, and some pro-terrorist Taliban takes his place? Egypt could become a second Iraq and Afghanistan. They do share some similarities: Iraq and Afghanistan were once stable, prosperous countries. But then the stern dictatorships of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban take over, and both countries have been plunged into chaos. Egypt could add oil to an already blazing Middle Eastern fire.