Nationwide protests haunt Mubarak

Egyptian people again pack the streets of major cities and refuse to take a step back from their campaign to topple out-of-favor President Hosni Mubarak.

In a show of power, Egyptian protesters rallied to the Interior Ministry and Parliament in central Cairo and surrounded the two buildings for a while before returning to the Liberation Square. In the capital Cairo, tens of thousands have remained camped out in Liberation Square. Protesters have slammed the talks between Vice President Omar Suleiman and some opposition groups.

Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, was also the scene of popular rallies against the regime. Many protesters are angry at the US stance toward the ongoing uprising in their country. Thousands of workers have gone on strike in the cities of Suez and Ismailia. The protests continue for the 15th day despite the government's promise of constitutional reforms and an offer of pay rise to public sector workers.

Salon.com: Egypt VP warns that protests cannot be allowed to go on long: Omar Suleiman tells reporters there will be no regime change and President Mubarak will not resign anytime soon.

PressTV: VP Suleiman: 'Egypt can't tolerate protests for long'
Jason Ditz: Suleiman: Egypt ‘Not Ready for Democracy’

[Editor's Comment:] ‘Not Ready for Democracy’ -This is one of the favorites of the authoritarians. We've heard this one any number of times during our lifetimes. (A quick sampling from recent years: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. A more telling sample from Nazi Germany here.). This pernicious idea is the implicit policy of Obama (torturer), and (now) the stated policy of Suleiman (torturer). The reason they both seem to agree on this is that this is that both are shilling for Israel. Obama & Suleiman need to call Tel Aviv first, in order to know what attitude they want them to adopt. Once that's clear, they're happy. - Happy stooges for Israel. In Jewish World Review Barry Rubin explained about 'democracy':

should the United States pursue a policy that we have every reason to believe will be catastrophic: namely, pushing for a situation in which radical Islamists are more likely to take over. (In Middle East still not ready for democracy)

See? Just like in Gaza. If you believe you can win, then you're all for democracy. But if you believe the other side's gonna win, then you don't want democracy but something else. What precisely that 'else' really is, the Gazans found out after they democratically elected Hamas. As for Egypt and Suleiman's creepy warnings, we'll find out in a couple of days. It probably won't be pretty.

Stephen Soldz: The torture career of Egypt’s new Vice President
Patrick Martin/WSWS: Omar Suleiman—longtime collaborator with Israel and US