February 10, 2011

Egypt on the Brink - And the U.S. on the Wrong Side

Phyllis Bennis' "Talking Points" column addresses the current situation in Egypt, and she warns that: "If the Obama administration is serious about building a new kind of engagement with the Arab world and with Arab peoples, it better get serious about the movement rising in the Arab world’s largest and most influential country."...

Excerpt:

"Moving Forward: A New Kind of Engagement

Furthering the danger facing Egypt’s democratic movement, the U.S. remains committed to its 30-year stability-trumps-democracy position. Despite its effort to distance itself from Wisner’s open support for Mubarak, the Obama administration has in fact all but endorsed Wisner’s position. On Monday the New York Times headline was “Warning Against Hasty Exit for Mubarak” and the one doing the warning was Hillary Clinton. On February 7, the Times’ print version front page top story was headlined “For Egypt, U.S. Seems to Settle on Slow Path.” The danger for the administration, of course, is that whatever post-Mubarak government emerges from Egypt’s democratic surge, it will have to do far better than Mubarak ever needed to do in winning public support. And its alliances – and allies – will be judged by Egypt’s people on the basis of where they stood when Egypt’s democracy was born." ...

Read complete report here.