Though most of the world’s attention seems to have moved on from Tunis and are now watching the Tunisian style revolts emerging across North Africa and the Middle East, but the situation hasn’t completely stabilized in Tunisia yet, where police attacked protesters in front of the prime minister’s office.
Reports say the riot police beat several of the protesters and destroyed a makeshift protest camp in front of Prime Minister Ghannouchi’s main office, while police and soldiers moved against smaller protest camps in front of other offices across the city.
Though a complete shuffle of the cabinet by Ghannouchi, now the nation’s de facto leader, appears to have appeased some, others are still rallying for him to resign as well, and are also demanding the release of those dissidents he has arrested since President Ben Ali’s departure.
The rhetoric around the crackdown changed markedly earlier this week, when the Ghannouchi government started insisting it was the rightful government of the protesters, even though it was materially run by the same people as Ben Ali’s government. They then started insisting the arrests of protesters were on behalf of the “Jasmine Revolution,” saying the protesters were threatening stability and might lead to the return of Ben Ali.
The first bullet fired by the Egyptian military and the United States faces a profound choice. Will the US fund the authoritarian side of a civil war?
At least some of the Tunisian protesters were not buying the benevolent smiles of the new ‘President’. So far the results of an uprising have been no different than one might expect of a democratic election. The problem is of course that the mob is always looking for a political savior. He does not exist of course. Here’s the new Boss, same as the old Boss. Meanwhile, Washington is trying desperately to identify an eventual winner so that they can buy him off. My expectation is that they will find him at some point, but then I’m just an old cynic. Good luck Tunisians.
"They then started insisting the arrests of protesters were on behalf of the “Jasmine Revolution,” saying the protesters were threatening stability and might lead to the return of Ben Ali."
Ha. Well, at least they have been reading Animal Farm assiduously. (Yeah, if you don't obey the pigs, the humans will be back and you don't want *that*!)