Intimidation in Egypt and Turmoil In Yemen: Is it any Wonder?

UPDATED 02/02/2011 @ 11:00EST

****UPDATE:  Four deaths and hundreds of people have been injured in the violence in Cairo. Molotov cocktails have been used, shots have been fired, and crowds attacked Western Journalists, beating a Canadian television cameraman severely .**** 
I am always amazed by the speed at which change occurs when there is  no other alternative possible.
Such is the case in the Arab world, where quantum change is taking place.
In Egypt, with the exception of a few ugly-natured Mubarak supporters riding camels and horses, into crowds,  viciously beating  and intimidating innocent protesters with sticks and whips as might be expected,   Hosni Mubarak is supposed to be in retreat,  encouraged  by  the Egyptian revolution and little other choice. Why would any sane observer be surprised to see intimidation and violence by Mubarak supporters?  Instead, it appears that pro-Mubarak support and demonstrations  and clashes between the two groups have been orchestrated and encouraged.  
 Tunisia is also  in turmoil,  the President was forced into exile with his treasures and  not much other choice,  so it is little wonder President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen is also suddenly taking pre-emptive and creative  steps to remove himself from power.   Is he  removing himself from mortal danger too?   After three decades of dictatorship, President Saleh has announced his departure. The people have spoken, the writing is on the wall,  so yet another dictatorship will fall ‘willingly’. 
 President Saleh has pledged that he will not seek re-election --and also vowed that his son Ahmed,  who leads  military special forces and the presidential guard, will  not  inherit the powerful position.  Both pledge and vow are convenient and timely.

It takes little imagination to explain Saleh’s sudden urgency for change; revolt is at hand,  the government of Yemen is rife with corruption, the nation has been dependent  upon shrinking oil production for revenue,  and little if any  of the income from that oil has ended up in the hands of the people. Half of the population of Yemen subsists on less than $2.00 per day, infrastructure for roads and sanitation is marginal or sub-standard, and unemployment is the norm,  as unrest  blooms like a desert receiving the blessing of seven days of rain.    Saleh has happily and boldly  proclaimed a 50% income tax cut.  It is a  nice promise and a creative tactic to stall for time, Mr. President.    
 In the presence of such extreme economic disparity, one might easily  wonder if a dictator’s accumulated wealth is best removed quickly to avoid confiscation,  a la’ Saddam Hussein -- when  hanging also may be both convenient and inevitable?
“But father, I wish to inherit the kingdom and rule the people just as you have”
 “Let us leave now, son, we finally have it  all, and the natives are restless... ”
 The “timely” evacuation of dictators is not unknown to the rest of the world.  If you are about to be hung, drawn and quartered, or  run out of town on an rail anyway, it is beneficial to do anything to delay action,  pretend happiness,  lead the parade in style, and clutch the strings of the golden purse tightly in both hands on the way out.   
“Time to leave.  What did you expect, Mr. President"?    Just as it did in Iraq,  the truth always comes out.  

EXILE: Is the Revival of an old punishment a Solution to Home-Grown Terrorists?

There is a growing problem the west must face, and soon.
Civilized western countries are sadly discovering“home-grown” terrorists within their borders, radicalized  individuals holding  passports and legal citizenship by being born or naturalized in Canada, the United States, France, Germany or England.
 Some individuals have already been found guilty of  planning terrorist attacks on their respective countries  in spite of the fact they should clearly pledge allegiance  instead of training and planning treasonous, death-dealing  terrorist attacks upon the innocent within their borders.

The Asian Times Online, based in Hong Kong,  citing Taliban sources, has recently reported that as many as a dozen Canadians were being trained “for jihad” in Pakistan by al Quaida.   These recalcitrant individuals  were reportedly being specially trained for attacks within large cities in Canada. (1)
“The Canadian RCMP and their security and intelligence partners” are reportedly investigating the information. The report adds that other westerners from the U.S, Britain, and Germany area also being trained for jihad in North Waziristan, Pakistan, which borders on Afghanistan.  The Canadians reportedly joined Jihad al-Islami, an Egyptian terrorist organization.

Canada is not alone with this problem.  As many as 30 or 40 “hardcore terrorists” from Germany are known to be in the same area of Pakistan.  “A spokeswoman for Germany's Federal Criminal Police office said in October there was "concrete evidence" that 70 German citizens had undergone terror training in Pakistan’s lawless border region and that about a third of the militants had returned to Germany.”(1)

Returned to Germany?  The question must be posed, “Why were they allowed to return to Germany?”    Will the radicalized, terrorist-minded Canadians now also  be allowed to innocently “return” to Canada to carry out their terrorist attacks any time they wish ?
Let us give our heads a shake.  The western world needs to remove the blinders it is now wearing. The concept of treason comes to mind.

Treason  has been known to be punishable by death in times past. The death sentence was usually carried out by “hanging by the neck until dead”. It sounds kind of barbaric, but do fanatic  suicide bombers that kill or maim thousands of people annually care if their own terrorist activities are “barbaric”?  No.
 Regardless, in civilized countries, the concept of  “an eye for an eye” and a death sentence inflicted is considered to be  repulsive to the majority of peace-loving people.  That was not always so. .
I remain unconvinced that modern society retains the stomach for applying the death sentence even to radicalized  individuals who, only a few years ago, might have been quickly hung for treason or murder,  and a few centuries prior to that, may have been disemboweled,  drawn and quartered with their remains “spread to the corners of the kingdom”,  their heads left to dry on tall pike-poles as a deterrent to any new  would-be perpetrators. Some found “less guilty” may have been  chained in dungeons until they became repentant skeletons.
So be it. Times have changed.  What can be done now?

 I fail to see how any civilized society should be required to feed and care for  such evil individuals,  maintained in a nice federal penitentiary, a dark dungeon or otherwise, with  a nice  warm bed, television,  good books,  education, rehabilitation,  and entertainment provided to them even for a day, much less for a lifetime of luxury and enough time to foment other evil, destructive plans.
Modern times demand different solutions.
 Back in the “good old days” as punishment for any number of crimes, such recalcitrant, evil or misguided individuals might also have been exiled,   banned permanently from a village or city, or in the extreme, shipped off to live elsewhere offshore  quite uncomfortably,   never to be allowed to return to their  homes  under any circumstance.  The basic concept was to ship convicted individuals to live where they can ultimately  harm no one but themselves. Great Britain shipped thousands of convicts and criminals to Australia.

Is it time for civilized nations to begin using the same  legal process once more?  Let us evaluate whether complete removal of these individuals from our  society and country will act as a deterrent.  Most Canadians  believe that living in Canada is a privilege, not a God-given right and it involves responsibilities, demands loyalty rather than deception, and most certainly should not permit  treason, terrorist activities, and murderous acts.
“ Sir, do you wish to be a fanatic?  You have been trained for terrorist Jihadist attacks upon Canadians?  You are hereby deemed to have willfully abused and discarded your rights and privileges as a Canadian.  As of today, you  are no longer a Canadian citizen..... Hereafter, within a period of 24 hours,  you shall be shipped off to live elsewhere, in a third-world hole of your choice, and you shall remain there for the rest of your natural life. Do not try to return to Canada under the penalty of death. ...... “ Bye-bye”....   “Next case!”  

Perhaps we really  should revive the concept of permanent exile.    It just might be worth a try.
(1)  http://ca.news.yahoo.com/rcmp-probe-report-saying-canadians-training-al-qaida-20110114-194834-598.html