The Egyptian Military's Decision

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110131/ts_yblog_thelookout/all-eyes-on-egypts-military-how-will-it-respond

   Zachary Roth from Yahoo's news publication The Lookout speaks to Stephen Zunes  about the role of the Egyptian military in the current popular uprising. Zunes says that the military is the linchpin for where the crisis will go from here; the top generals are likely aware that the protesters on the street will never take President Mubarak's authority seriously until he is removed from office. But he doubts that they are truly democratic, and would be hesitant to allow a transition of the sorts that protesters are demanding. However, Zunes says that the rank-and-file soldiers are generally conscripts from the lower classes of Egyptian society, and it would be unlikely that they would turn their guns on their fellow countrymen.

   Stephen Zunes is a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco and the chair of its Middle Eastern Studies. As such, he brings a good deal of ethos to the argument; but just because this is an academic discussion, I don't feel as though Zunes assumes that the audience knows all about Egyptian political and military history. He lays out what he sees as the behind-the-scenes situation involving both the military leadership and political leadership, who are often the same people. I have to agree with his doubtfulness that the ordinary Egyptian soldier would allow a Tienanmen Square-type crackdown on their own people, but I don't think that the top generals would be foolish enough to think that they could get away with reimposing an authoritarian state when the whole world is watching. But of course, crazier things have happened in politics.