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People Power Revolution v2
Author: TriSec    Date: 02/05/2011 14:01:31

Good Morning!

It's been an interesting week watching the goings on in the ancient streets of Cairo. Today is day 12, and there's no end in sight for the ongoing protests. Hosni Mubarak is still solidly ensconsed in his palace, and the people are still restive. Meanwhile, with little else to do but pontificate, many of the pundits are starting to make comparisons to history.

Because Egypt is Arabic and Islamic, it's inevitable that they would be looking to the Islamic revolution in Iran that thrust the Ayatollah Khomeine to power 30 years ago. I'd have to say the connections are tenuous at best; Egypt's protest are not religious in nature, and there have been multiple recorded instances of Muslims and Christians working together to protect each other during prayer times these last two weeks.



Another comparison was made to the uprising after the Iranian elections two years ago. But this is tenuous too, as Iran had a corrupt election that proved to be the spark, and in the end they sent in the troops and quashed it.

I think everyone has missed the most obvious connection of all. It's been 25 years now. On the other side of the world, a despotic ruler propped up by the United States held rigged elections, assasinated the opposition, and generally terrorized his citizens to get his way for more than two decades. It was a simple, unassuming housewife that somehow managed to unify the opposition and give the people a rallying point.


The People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986) was a series of popular nonviolent revolutions and prayerful mass street demonstrations in the Philippines that occurred in 1986, which marked the restoration of the country's democracy. It is sometimes referred to as the Yellow Revolution due to the presence of yellow ribbons during the arrival of Benigno Aquino, Jr.. These protests were the culmination of a long campaign of civil resistance by the people against the 20-year running authoritarian, repressive regime of then president Ferdinand Marcos and made news headlines as "the revolution that surprised the world".

The majority of the demonstrations took place at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, known more commonly by its acronym EDSA, in Quezon City, Metropolitan Manila and involved over 2,000,000 Filipino civilians as well as several political, military, and religious figures, such as Cardinal Jaime Sin. The protests, fueled by a resistance and opposition of years of corrupt governance by Marcos, occurred from February 22–25, 1986, when Marcos fled Malacañang Palace to the United States and conceded to Corazon Aquino as President of the Philippines.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/EDSA_Revolution_pic1.jpg


There's oh so much more to that than what a couple of paragraphs culled from the Wiki can yield...I do suggest you take a look at the page and also check out who would become the 11th President of the Philippines, .Corazon Aquino. In every revolution there is a leader, and she skillfully used the national sympathy from the assasination of her husband Ninoy to rally the people to the cause. The rest, of course...is history.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Cory_Aquino_-_Woman_of_the_Year.jpg


That's what I see as the parallel to Egypt today. I have my theories on why it hasn't been successful yet. The biggest thing missing from this people's revolution is a clear leader; these protests are organic and self-sustaining now. Without a leader, who would take charge once Mubarak resigns? The second thing lacking is a safe place for the President to go. In every revolution, there have been 3 outcomes...failure, the assassination of the current despot, or the fleeing of said despot to a friendly ally. President Mubarak has repeatedly stated that he is going to die in Egypt...whether at a ripe old age or at the protester's hands has yet to be seen.

So indeed, remember your history. Let's see if the people can do it again, or if the revolution in progress will devolve into something more devastating and unfortunate.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/01/29/alg_egypt_protest15.jpg

 

3 comments (Latest Comment: 02/05/2011 20:27:04 by BobR)
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