Egyptians can't be trusted with democracy

[opebo]

Would it be where you see people getting the death penalty for 'blasphemy' or leaving the Muslim religion? yes Would the peace treaty with Israel be in jeopardy? yes Would there be Iran-style stoning sentences? yes What about the civil rights of the Coptic Christian minority?gone  Are we about to see a ass exodus of this minority as the Yemenese Jews in the last century?yes  Perhaps even more basically, would a democratic government be able to maintain stability? who cares? Will we see the return of 1990's style terrorism? Tyes

[opebo]

when you say Egyptians can't be trusted with democracy, what form of government can they be trusted with? what reason do you have to believe that another form of government will respect human rights any better?

One far-away, disinterested potentate is always more conducive to personal freedom than a million little dictators right next door.

[opebo]

Much to deal with in this thread; but that can wait. For now... um... you all do realise that the Mubarak regime promoted (in various different ways) Islam of the sort you all recoil from and was probably responsible for some of the attacks on the Copts?

Of course, but what replaces him will be a million times worse because it will be more democratic - in other words it will respond more to the vicious desires of the people.

[opebo]

Anyway, the fundamental problem with the argument that launched the thread is the implication that it is up to the West to decide which countries may or may not have elected governments. Not only is that ideologically dubious (and so obviously so that there's no need to elaborate. Besides, others have done so already), but it's also questionable from a practical point of view. Should Western soldiers invade Egypt and install a pliable puppet dictator to make sure that Western economic and strategic interests in the country are protected? Why, I'm sure that that would go down very well in a country with a colonial history within living memory and in which anti-imperalism (anti western imperialism, that is) forms - or at least used to - an important part of national identity?

No, but at the very least we should have been calling up every connection we had in the Egyptian Army saying - 'please, mow them down, please use the bunker busters, we won't have any criticism, in fact we'll send you 3 billion next year instead of 1.5', instead of that crapola about wanting 'democracy'.

[opebo]

Yes, I read that Egypt likely has a population of about 100 million, with would be 20 million more than the official government estimates.

So, even more to spare than we thought.