Thursday, February 17, 2011

Did Someone Lose Egypt?


By Philip Giraldi

"Discussing any issue very much depends on the starting point. I have been experiencing a huge disconnect relating to what has taken place in Egypt. The usual talking heads, inside the beltway edition, are already opining over what the United States must do to deal with the "Egypt problem." Apart from the conceit that it is up to Washington to "do something," operating under the assumption that anyone will even listen to President Obama, one has to ask what are the interests that can plausibly be construed as vital to the United States. Apart from the usual concern for how Israel might be viewing developments, I can’t find any, and in that context, I can do nothing but welcome enthusiastically the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak and his eventual replacement by a freely elected government.....

The argument about how America’s pundits and politicians are shaping the discussion on Egypt is critically important because Egypt might only be the first of a number of states that could seek regime change from autocracy to at least some form of popular mandate. If the United States decides that it has no vital interests at stake justifying interfering in that process it will be welcomed by many while serving as a benign enabler of change. If it goes the other way and decides it has to shape and guide what is developing there will only be trouble and bad feeling all around....."

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