Revolution in the Arab World - Observation of a lost soul Blog

foreign policy • revolution in the arab world • 18 days
February 4: Two Cups of Tea
By Blake Hounshell
I met two generals today.
Both were exceedingly polite, welcoming me to Egypt and stressing their
concern for my safety. The first, the top Army general at a Defense Ministry
office in Mohandiseen, a middle-class neighborhood in Giza, across
the Nile River from Tahrir Square, offered me tea and cookies. He told me
how he “liked America very much,” where he attended training as a special
forces officer “many times.”
The second, a senior general at the sprawling military police headquarters
way across town—not far from the parade ground where Anwar Sadat
was assassinated in 1981—spoke fondly of his training in England. As
seemingly staged “man-on-street” interviews played on state television, he
insisted we have a friendly chat.
“It’s one thing for people to demand their rights, OK,” the first general
said. “But not like this.”
“The educated young people with Facebook and all that are one thing,”
the second general chimed in. “But the Muslim Brotherhood is another
subject.”
I asked them whether they thought the situation would end. “One or two
days, maximum,” the first general averred. “They will get tired—sleeping in
the dirt like that—and go home.”
And what about the police He laughed. “They’re on vacation. Their day
off.”
“The police are bad,” the second general offered. The unspoken implication:
But we, in the Army, are professionals.
I wasn’t exactly their invited guest, however. Two hours earlier, I had been
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