9 am in Cairo after a Hellish Night : A Brief Report of Cautious Triumph
►http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/524/9-am-in-cairo-after-a-hellish-night_a-brief-report-of-cautious-triumph
The assault throughout the night left 5 protesters dead and more than 800 injured—though only a few critically so. These casualties were primarily a result of attacks by thuggish mercenaries (paid the equivalent of $10 to $30 and given free meals) and what was called “invisible security officers” (because they would be camouflaged). The army’s role was unclear. commentators are split among those who said the army mostly played a neutral role, assuming that there are two groups: pro- and anti-Mubarak. That narrative, however, carries less credibility than other more nuanced accounts that affirm the mostly negative role of the army that did not take sides in a battle between unarmed protesters and variably armed aggressors who clearly were not there simply to voice support for Mubarak. Moreover, some activists and eye witnesses interviewed on various satellite stations asserted that some army divisions were actually special forces belonging to the Republican Guard dressed as army officers. These armed “soldiers” would oscillate between allowing the aggressive “بلطجية” (thugs) to penetrate their lines of defense and firing intermittent shots to repel them. Whatever the reality, it is evident that the “army’s” role was neither clear nor unequivocally protective of the protesters as was professed by official sources.