Obama Was Told Not To Humiliate Mubarak

I guess when it comes to foreign policy, Obama is completely out of his element, or truly does believe that a weak America is a good thing. A story has been leaked that he was told by a number of high powered leaders in the middle east not to “humiliate” Mubarak. Conceivable, this is the root of his terribly weak handling of the Egyptian crisis.

Here we have literally millions of people crying out for freedom and democracy, and instead of holding up the United States as an example and a beacon to the Egyptian people, and encouraging the Egyptians to seek freedom, his reaction was muted. Was it muted by the “advice” of these Middle Eastern leaders. Probably. I guess since Obama does not believe in American exceptionalism, he figures that he should just do whatever they ask. No longer are we a force to be reckoned with, we are now the wimpy kid being shoved around by the playground bullies.

Mubarak To Step Aside: Good News or Not?

Good news from Egypt? Mubarak, according to two sources, has decided to step down and his VP, Omar Suleiman, would be stepping into his place. The question is: does it matter? This is why I wonder, is this really good news for Egypt? Will Suleiman simply continue the same policies under a different name? What will life be like under someone from the same administration. Will this really lead to more democracy and freedom in Egypt?

In my opinion, its doubtful. Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss? Could this just be yet another tactic for Mubarak to maintain his grip, but use Suleiman as a figurehead in order to deflect the rage away from him personally? Who knows, but all signs points to yes.

Let’s hope that is this is not the case. But if it is, let hope that  the masses yearning for freedom wont be fooled and continue to pressure whoever is in charge for freedom and democracy.

Pro-Mubarak Forces Fomenting US Hatred

Additionally, (see my previous post on the attack of journalists in Egypt) these pro-Mubarak, pro-government forces and gangs are also fomenting hatred against the United States. Which, if you ask me is pretty ironic, since the United States has supported this regime for the last 30 years. In some ways this is probably a way to incite the opposition to sound more anti-democratic and anti-American, so the current regime can get more backing from the US in order to quell the rebellion.

The reality is that we have spent way to much time and effort over the last 50 plus years getting into entanglements we probably should have stayed out of. One of the hopes that many progressives and independents had with Obama was that he may finally start pulling our troops and people out of places where they don’t need to be anymore, and that has not happened.