Considering how much money we send the Egyptian military each year, someone in Washington needs to have a serious discussion about this. Until the Egyptian military is neutered from its current position of controlling the country, reform is going to be very difficult. It's hard to see the new regime (yet to be elected) being much different from the old regime when events like this occur. The Guardian:
Strained relations between Egyptian activists and the country's military rulers appeared close to breaking point on Sunday after dozens of protesters were attacked by assailants during a rally in Cairo at the weekend.
The march on Saturday evening began with a two-week sit-in in Tahrir Square, the iconic heart of the revolution, and was heading towards Cairo's defence ministry when it came under attack by armed baltagiya – Arabic for thugs. The unidentified assailants appeared to be sympathetic to the ruling generals, who were a pillar of the old regime.
Thousands of placard-wielding and chanting protesters, who had approached the ministry of defence in the Abbasyia district, were blocked en route by tanks and hundreds of soldiers stationed behind a makeshift barrier of metal frames and barbed wire. They found themselves trapped and were set upon by armed thugs wielding swords, knives and hurling rocks and molotov cocktails.
