Events are moving very fast in Egypt. Egyptians, and other who love this great Arab country, are chasing after them. They are surprising sometimes, and worrying most of the time, but they are in any case indicative of the extent of the differences that exist between the different groups. These groups gathered together during the Revolution for the single purpose of overthrowing Hosni Mubarak's regime, and then began the phase of struggling over the spoils of the Revolution, gaining a position at the forefront of the political scene in the post-Revolutionary phase, settling accounts with the past or obtaining the rights of the martyrs. The scene today highlights numerous forces which had remained throughout the Revolution and up until the moment Mubarak stepped down “united as one”, to later become dispersed and scattered in public squares, on satellite television, at conferences, at seminars and in the centers of decision-making – as decisions are now made on television shows, on websites on the internet, in vast public squares or in closed halls. In power is a Military Council that runs the country by using methods and taking measures which some forces disapprove of, and that pledges everyday to hand over power to a civilian government after the parliamentary and presidential elections, yet has doubts shed on its intentions by forces in the street or in public squares. There is also a government, the Prime Minister of which seems completely powerless, facing pressures from every direction. He thus modifies, swaps and re-forms the government every once in a while to gain the approval of this or that side, gaining that of none. There are Islamists who are making sure not to clash with the military, are busy dealing with the street and are continuing to link people's interests to themselves by providing services that people need, as well as to maintain direct contact that would alter convictions, motivate changing decisions and direct votes in the elections towards the kind-hearted. There are also Left-wing and Liberal forces which are supposed to be each other's enemies, or at least to reject one another by virtue of the differences between their ideas and principles, yet have united at this stage to confront the Islamists, out of fear that they would not be able to confront them in the elections. And between the mechanisms being used by the Left and the Right to confront the Islamists and expose their mistakes, there are also forces that have become influential, taking shape in movements and coalitions formed mostly of young people who have grown weary of politicians' games throughout decades, have understood political maneuvering, have experienced alliances that were made by political parties that were supposed to be part of the opposition with the regime under Mubarak, have understood that the opposition in the previous period had been mere “decoration” with which the regime completed its image, and have realized that change is made in the street. They have thus been skilled at using mechanisms governments or political parties had never known, and have succeeded at moving the street. After the fall of the regime, those young people found themselves as if being asked to retire after having completed their task or accept to be used in the interest of this or that faction. There are also remnants of the former regime at various levels, from baltagiya (paid thugs) to top businessmen who have eluded prison, and they all seek to breach the forces present on the scene today, in order to cleanse their reputation on the one hand, and to reserve a place for themselves on tomorrow's scene on the other. As for the masses of the people, who take credit for the Revolution and have the right to a better future, they have become confused and perplexed, especially as they chase after the media, which is most often being “utilized” in agendas that benefit this or that side. At the same time, those masses have become exhausted from being pulled at by the other forces, while they had been exhausted to begin with as a result of poverty and the difficulty of life. When there was only one purpose, everyone had rallied around it… The regime fell by the mere fact that millions of people gathered in Tahrir Square and in the public squares of other provinces without the revolutionaries harming any government facility or center. And when the revolutionaries became dispersed and the struggle began, every segment had a different public square, every group a different “Friday”, and every political party a different “channel”, and paths multiplied in various directions. Thus clashes have begun, tensions are increasing, and each segment, movement or group evades the charge of provoking violence, while violence is taking place in broad daylight. That is the situation now, during the phase of the “show of force”. Indeed, both the Left and the Right are angry at the rapprochement taking place between the military and the Islamists, and the Islamists have decided to respond to what they consider to be the “obstruction” of their dominance of the scene through the elections by organizing a million-man protest in “Tahrir” next Friday, while the military and Sharaf's government stand between the two sides. Meanwhile, the Revolution is breaking down, its goals melting away and disappearing. It is true that the head of the regime has fallen, and that some of its body is in prison, but peoples do not engage in revolutions just for the sake of punishing their regimes, but also for the people to lead a better life… and certainly not for this segment, group or political party to obtain power.
