[Peace-discuss] U.S. journalists call Cairo violence "government-sanctioned, " journalists say "pro-govt mob" hunting journalists

[C. G. Estabrook]

Robert Fisk has been writing from Cairo about these thugs sponsored by the 
Egyptian (and hence US) government.  From today's Independent (UK):

"...There I was, back on the intersection behind the Egyptian Museum where only 
five days ago – it feels like five months – I choked on tear gas as Mubarak's 
police thugs, the baltigi, the drug addict ex-prisoner cops, were slipped 
through the lines of state security policemen to beat, bludgeon and smash the 
heads and faces of the unarmed demonstrators, who eventually threw them all out 
of Tahrir Square and made it the Egyptian uprising. Back then, we heard no 
Western support for these brave men and women. Nor did we hear it yesterday...."

On 2/2/11 12:15 PM, E.Wayne Johnson wrote:
> In the US they generally send in the paramilitary police but since
> at least some of the police are non-compliant, Mubarak and Co seems
> to have hired other goons.
>
> It's a shame that the citizens have been disarmed.  Whips and machetes
> just dont have the range and power of a .45 ...
>
> The Egyptian freedom fighters had best arm themselves, and soon.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Naiman" <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com>
> To: "Peace-discuss List" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 1:48 AM
> Subject: [Peace-discuss] U.S. journalists call Cairo violence 
> "government-sanctioned, " journalists say "pro-govt mob" hunting journalists
>
>
> Guardian liveblog:
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/02/egypt-protests-live-updates
>
> New York Times liveblog:
> http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/latest-updates-on-day-9-of-egypt-protests/ 
>
>
> Ben Wedeman of CNN: "All indications are that what is happening in
> Tahrir Square is government-sanctioned."
>
> Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: "In my area of Tahrir, the
> thugs were armed with machetes, straight razors, clubs and stones. And
> they all had the same chants, the same slogans and the same hostility
> to journalists. They clearly had been organized and briefed. So the
> idea that this is some spontaneous outpouring of pro-Mubarak
> supporters, both in Cairo and in Alexandria, who happen to end up
> clashing with other side — that is preposterous. It's difficult to
> know what is happening, and I'm only one observer, but to me these
> seem to be organized thugs sent in to crack heads, chase out
> journalists, intimidate the pro-democracy forces and perhaps create a
> pretext for an even harsher crackdown."
>
> Full Kristof:
> http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/the-view-from-tahrir/
>
> As we reported in our 8:32 a.m. update, journalists, including
> Anderson Cooper of CNN, have been attacked by Mubarak regime
> supporters on Wednesday.
> [...]
> "Protesters are hunting down Al Jazeera journos," wrote Abbas Al
> Lawati of Gulf News in Dubai. "I keep having to clarify that I'm not
> one of them."
> [...]
> Two reporters for The New York Times, David Kirkpatrick and Mona
> el-Naggar, said they had been cornered by pro-Mubarak demonstrators
> who tried to prevent them from reporting just as clashes began.
> http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/latest-updates-on-day-9-of-egypt-protests/ 
>
>