The Autumn of Mubarak -Jeffrey AzarvaEgypt's Hosni Mubarak, 80, the man who has ruled longer than almost any pharaoh, is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to secure the longevity of the regime and a seamless transition of power. Determined to pass the baton to his son, Gamal [pictured above], he has embarked on an unbridled campaign to crush dissent and consolidate autocratic rule.
For years, Mubarak [pictured at right] has walked a tightrope, billing himself as
a stalwart U.S. ally and secular dike against the rising tide of extremism. This balancing act has paid off. For maintaining nominal peace with Israel and strengthening strategic cooperation with the U.S., his regime has been rewarded with $2 billion annually. Now his regime treats U.S. largesse as an entitlement and dismisses Washington's demarches as "unacceptable interference" in Egyptian affairs.Egypt's continuing pro-Western orientation cannot be taken for granted. As a new U.S. administration prepares to enter office, it would do well to send Mubarak and the one-in-three Arabs he rules the message that U.S. aid cannot be taken for granted.
(Weekly Standard)
9 comments:
Mubarak knows that he does all he needs to do. There are no signals to be sent. He only needs to be a moderate voice and keep nominal peace, and that makes them one of our biggest friends and allies in the Mideast. In truth, he may not be able to do much more, without risking backlash and assassination. Nevertheless, he will not do more because he does not have to. America is not in a position to ask for much more. Much of the world seems either uninterested of the region or afraid to rock the boat because of the oil supply. Whatever the reasons, there is not enough momentum for positive change to enable us to require more of our superficial allies there.
Sometimes I wonder if we could be getting more bang for our buck....maybe that's a poor choice of words.
But a 2 billion dollar yearly donation should come with some serious strings attached...no?
You don't have to convince me. I didn't set up those payments. And it's not all to blame on the current administration, as many things have been going on for many, many, years. It is a sad lack of understanding about the Mideast that has led to most of us. It just so happens that no one has misunderstood the Mideast more than the current administration. As dirty Harry said "a man has to know his limitations". It's bad when you're in a high position of power and you don't know what's the right thing to do. It is much, much worse when you're in a high position of power and you think extremely wrongly, that you do in fact know what is in the best to do.
As luck would have it, you won't have Bush to complain about for long.
You didn't even have to listen to him @ the Republican convention.
Yes, my concern now, is to make sure luck has it that I do not have to complain about W. Bush II for another 4 years. Believe me, I think it wold be better for a chance to have Hillary or another experienced and proven leader be President in 4 years if McCain wins now, but I do not think the country can stand that, so I too, must work for the common good even if it goes against what I believe might be absolutely the best circumstances.
I am fairly certain that McCain is not George Bush II.
However, I am frightened that Mr. Obama may be Jimmy Carter II.
Given McCain's complete and gushing acceptance of all things W. Bush the last 4 years or so, I would love to hear why you are so confident in him now. I too am a bit concerned about Obama, but he has history to teach him what not to do, and unlike McCain and Bush, Obama has not embraced to poor policies of Jimmy Carter.
We have slipped into an area that I've promised my readers I would avoid. Good MidEast policy transcends partisan posturing.
I assure you that whichever candidate becomes the US President, I will hound him with my blog!
Certainly, these are 2 true things. 1-I believe we will both hound any President. and 2-Good MidEast policy should transcend partisan politics. I believe we are more likely to see a lot of number 1 and I fear too little of number 2.
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