To Our Egyptian Friends

I really wonder if our Egyptian friends have had a nice dream after Mr.Mubarak's speech in the small hours of Saturday, 29 January, Egyptian time, particularly after they have heard Mr.Obama's statement made shortly afterwards. It is apparent that Mr.Obama, though cautiously, supported Mr.Mubarak at least for the time being. After his predecessor's approach to Israel, the US has been supporting the undemocratic regime in Egypt. It has meant a lot for the whole Middle East since she is the largest Arab country. Now that they are not easily able to remove their ally in the absence of a viable alternative, the failure of the US Middle East policy, if not specifically Mr.Obama's, has become clear. After the police is discredited by their brutal behaviour, it seems it is the army that the US will heavily depend upon now. This writer is not sure if the Egyptian Army Chief of Staff who is said to be on his way back from the US has been visiting there for emergency consultation. But the army has been a major link between the two governments, and the US has been pouring $ 1.5 billion every year, mostly in the form of military aid. It was reported that the tear gas used by the police is labelled 'Made in USA'.
Mr.Mubarak referred to the 'dark forces' in his speech to justify himself as an authoritarian ruler as against radical Islamism. As we have seen in these columns many a government has tried to legitimize its strong hand in the name of anti-terrorism. Therefore it was impressive that a citizen has pointed to the demonstration and said 'The streets are secular', meaning that it is wrong to talk of the movement as if it is going to be snatched away by some extremists. It was equally impressive that the people in the streets are demanding basic human rights. These are universal values and not a matter of this or that specific culture.
Whether Mr.Mubarak will step down or not some time soon, the Egypt of tomorrow onwards will no longer be the same. But it is highly doubtful how he is at all able to deliver what he has failed to do in the past three decades. The people of Egypt have already shown him the door. He will be well-advised to follow the sign.