How America sees the Egyptian riots
January 29, 2011 Leave a Comment
The president of the United States just gave his message to the public regarding the riots in Egypt. President Obama’s statement sounded like as if he is already resigned to the idea that embattled Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak’s time at helm in the north African country, which is a major US ally, is coming to an end.
The regime has been the dominant figure in Egyptian politics for 30 years and for most of it, the Egyptian people were largely simply supportive of it and passive about their rights. But for the last four days, the people have shown tremendous fury on the streets indication that they have lost their sense of fear to the regime.
Mubarak has himself declared that he is not going anywhere but as his government continues to show helplessness in the face of riots in Cairo, Suez City, and Alexandria in front of a worldwide audience, he simply does not have the political base to stay in power for long.
The United States, on the other hand, could find itself in the wrong side of history as the Obama administration continues to maintain support for the current regime. Understandably, Washington is careful not to pull the plug on Mubarak since there are Islamic fundamentalists determined to take control of the government once the regime steps down.
Obama might not be too thrilled of Mubarak keeping his post but the alternative might lead to another Iran, which the president is not willing to contemplate. He might be open to the idea though of a transition process that could lead to some kind of a compromise with the protesters. However, the lack of a leader on the side of the protesters could pose a significant hurdle to any compromise that can be made.
The Obama administration simply knows it cannot ignore the anger of the Egyptian people, who mostly live on less than $2 a day. It is playing a delicate balancing act since the current regime has been friendly to US interests in the Arab world and it is a major stability force in the region because of its cordial relations with Israel.
