Is This Not An Important Moment for Chorus Discussions?

Are we not all Egyptians?

But if so, which ones?

Lordy, these Muslim and Christian Egyptians want self-determination, an end to tyranny! What is going on here? And we didn’t even have to invade them.

What is, what should be, our response to Egypt’s (US supported) rulers killing three hundred of their people, arresting or disappearing perhaps over a thousand (according to Amnesty International) because they were peacefully attempting to free themselves?

First Washington sent its consultative envoy who reported back that Mubarak should be given the time to write his legacy!

When Obama went to Cairo, he made a gesture of friendship to the Muslim world.

Now he wants to substitute for Mubarak Mubarak’s intelligence general, known for torture (important for our renditions), to oversee the transition – to what? The Egyptian people know better and we see them reacting in disappointment against the US.

Was this not the perfect moment for our government to stand with Muslim people to help them? Even if for self serving reasons? Would not gaining their good will begin to redress the legacy/consequences of our support for their dictators, etc.? Would it not help take away the most important recruitment tool from Al Quaeda? Would it not help to help to undo some of the effects of our blundering into Bin Laden’s trap by invading Iraq? Would it not be more cost effective than our military efforts which tend to create more enemies? (Would it not benefit us more than the efforts of some of our Congressional Representatives to criticize Muslims in the US for not cooperating more with the authorities – even though their premise has been refuted.)

Robert Fisk of the Independent reports that when he wrote down the English markings on tanks in Tahrir Square the Egyptian military chased him (he ran and escaped into the crowd which is fortunate because the military has been arresting reporters). He reports that the markings included MR which he takes to mean Military Reserve, prepositioned weapons owned by the US, a telling detail related to our empire.

Questions about the relationship between the state and the people were important in the early days of the Chorus – then with regard to the USSR and by comparison with the US. Are they not now? With all of the Chorus’s experience and expertise do we not have something to offer now? If not now ---

P.S. Thanks Henry McHenry for your posting. In a sense we have a “gig” with the White House because we all vote for the occupants and can exercise our freedom to speak out about their policies. Wouldn’t it be helpful for us to first speak amongst ourselves about how the US is ruled and about empire and then do some cultural exchange in the US?

JBrightlyYRCCorrespondence@gmail.com