Wednesday's crackdown was vintage Mubarak

[babylonsister]

Wednesday's crackdown was vintage Mubarak

Associated Press

Anti-government protesters display a collection of police ID cards and a knife they claim were taken from pro-government supporters in Cairo's main square. Egyptian army tanks and soldiers moved to end violence between anti-government protesters and supporters of President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday. | View larger image
By Hannah Allam | McClatchy Newspapers


CAIRO, Egypt — Not long after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged political reforms and promised not to run for a sixth five-year term, pro-government demonstrators with reported connections to the Egyptian security forces laid siege to a downtown square Wednesday and fought fierce battles with anti-government protesters.

The assault was so well planned that it suggested government orchestration, or at least complicity, according to political observers, who noted that Mubarak backers had been conspicuously silent during a week of massive demonstrations against him.

The strategy of sending in the thugs after making half-hearted promises was vintage Mubarak. The tactic is familiar to political observers, for he's employed the same approach in national elections — assuring Western allies of fair polls and instead rounding up opposition candidates and dispatching foot soldiers to rough up their supporters.

Samer Shehata, an Egypt expert at Georgetown University, said Mubarak has used such tactics for years to break up anti-government demonstrations and to prevent opposition supporters from casting ballots.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/02/02/107997/reform-promises-followed-by-crackdown.html

[rfranklin]

1. sounds like a Republican vote suppression scheme...

I guess techniques that work well are used round the world.