[credit: Pat Oliphant]
Update: After a massive march on the presidential compound by pro-democracy demonstrators that went unopposed by the military, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned. He turned over power to a "Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces". It later issued a statement that says in part, "the Armed Forces are committed to sponsor the legitimate demands of the people and achieving them...until the peaceful transfer of authority is completed towards a free democratic community the people aspire to". The Council pledged to end the state of emergency "as soon as the current circumstances are over", and conduct free and fair elections after approved constitutional amendments are made. US Person wishes to commend the Armed Forces of Egypt for their restraint during the 18 days of civil unrest, and their commitment to a democratic Egypt. The young freedom fighters of Egypt have taught the world that their nation is not just the land of sleeping pharaohs, but a land of the free.Actually he didn't, and that is one of the reasons Egyptians are in the street demanding his immediate retirement. If the United States wants to improve its standing in the Arab world--which is why President Obama went to Cairo to make a speech--then the last thing it should do is continue to prop up another corrupt despot who has enriched his coterie and himself at the expense of his nation. As another Nobel laureate, Mohamed El Baradei put it, "To ask a dictator to implement democratic measures after thirty years in power is an oxymoron. It will not end until he leaves." Asking the former security chief who has blood on his hands is even more hypocritical. The US has one real lever on the Egyptian regime which has ignored the administration's rhetoric about peaceful transition to democracy, and that is its $1.3 billion in annual military aid. Up till now the Egyptian army has taken a neutral stance, but as the uprising moves towards an escalation and the regime becomes more desperate, our own peace prize winner in Washington should seize the moment to alter the dynamic in a positive way. Supporting democratic movements should be what the US is about. Who knows, we might even be remembered and thanked for it without firing a shot. And our President might regain some of his credibility.