Well, it hasn't even been a year since the fall of Mubarak, and it seems like Egypt's military, once loyal to Mubarak, are hell bent on keeping it a totalitarian state. Its ironic how the military that once helped protect and extend the protests in Cairo is now turning against its own people. Why? To maintain order and safety of course. That's the excuse that gets over-used by many a totalitarian regime. While Egypt's society may be a little freer than it was under Mubarak, it is no way the Democratic society that its protests hoped it would be by this point. Especially over the past few days, it seems any order that the military had instilled is slipping away with more and more clashes between citizens and the military. Watching videos of the protesters getting mercilessly beaten is horrifying. To see humans treating other humans this way all because they were told to do so is despicable. Perhaps the worst evidence of the military's brutality was the beating of a woman caught on video. My words will do nothing to explain it. If you haven't already seen the video, I urge you to check it out here. There is no respect for human life on the part of Egypt's military right now. In fact, I would go so far as to say they believe that humans are merely cattle that need to be guided down the proper path.
So how did it get this way? In my mind, the current generals and military commanders now in charge of the country saw an opportunity in the protests that occurred at the beginning of this year. They saw the protests as an opportunity to take over the country. All they had to do was to protect the protesters against Mubarak's security forces and the people would bring them to power. They would promise anything to get there, and then do what they want after taking power. They were simply being classic opportunists and unfortunately, had only self interest in mind when executing their plan. Does anyone at this point honestly think that they were ready to relinquish power after democratic elections? I don't believe so. Being under Mubarak's command, they saw where Mubarak had issues with controlling the people, and they probably figured they could do a better job as they had the whole military under their command. Well, here we are, almost a year later and lo and behold, the people of Egypt don't like the military anymore, perhaps disliking them more than they did Mubarak's security forces. In fact, they are not waiting around for something good to happen; they have taken to the streets again to protest against the military. Lets only hope that they have the drive to see this through regardless of the amount of blood that is shed.
How can the military commit such acts of brutality against their own people? Well, they are currently exempt from any sort of punishment for their actions as they are being told to take care of the problem. Further, with the amount of military personnel involved, they get sucked into this mob mentality where if one person starts beating someone, they all jump in because of the adrenaline surge or whatever. It really doesn't matter why they feel they can act the way they are, there is no excuse for their actions, for their brutality, or for their complete disregard for human life. If you look closely at the video I linked up to, there are occasional acts of humanity on the part of the military, but they get lost in the brutality of the masses. There is some human dignity left within certain individuals in the military, but I feel that it is draining away with every passing day. Hopefully, the military will see what it is doing, the harm it is causing, and reverse its course despite what the commanders in power tell them to do. Its a waiting game again, especially for us not directly involved. Let us all hope that peace can once again come to the people of Cairo, Egypt, and the entire region. Its disheartening to see so much violence and I only hope that peace can be reached somehow.
No comments:
Post a Comment