a geographical point about Tahrir

Graeme Wood made this point in his radio interview, and I forgot to mention it here for those who have never seen Tahrir Square.

Namely, one of the miraculous things about the protestors still being there is that Tahrir is just about the hardest terrain to defend that one can imagine.

*there are countless entrances that must be defended; I can visualize at least 10 different ways to get into Tahrir, and I may be underestimating since I’m not there at the moment.

*the government has “practically unlimited supply lines,” as Wood put it

*Tahrir is also surrounded by tall buildings, almost all of them under government control. So, the square is under complete surveillance at all times. And, despite what the Vice President claimed, there were snipers firing on the Square all night long on February 2/3. Anyone who spent that particular night in the Square ought to be given a lifelong pension for heroism.