In some (i.e. morality) you give reasons for support

Yet in others (allies/stability) you hint it will have negative reprecussions but use these reasons as why it is significant.

I understand that we should be aware of the ongoing turmoil in Egypt. A lot of this article has emphasis on the same verbage, "you may want to pay attention to.." it would have been more interesting to read if you went in depth as to why we should.

u r so stupid we have cost most of the instabitiy in the mid east i lived there for 3 years and it is always the united states that cause all of the problems

I think this list could have had more depth. For instance, the repercussions for America if things turn ugly and people in the region blame America not only for not supporting the protesters (revolutionaries?) but also for the 30 years of financing the brutal regime - similar to the Iranian revolution, which 30 years latter is still impacting the United States.

Also, you mentioned the $2billion per year of aid and the impact on America's budget. You could also have explored, in the War on Terror session, the impacts that such blow on AlQaeda could have in terms of spending. I mean, we spent trillions of dollars in wars in the last 10 years fighting terror and "spreading democracy". Well, perhaps the events in Egypt will help us save a few trillion dollars more in the next 10 years - or, on contraire, spend even more depending which direction things take.

And there's also the effects that terrorism has on American society: fear, increased security, reduced civil liberties, extraordinary powers for the president, etc. If Egypt has an impact on Al Qaeda, it certainly could have an impact on all those things as well.

Perhaps in fear of overstating the importance of Egypt to America, you may understated it. Isn't this kind of conservative analysis, after all, at least partially to blame for foreign policy experts like yourself for failling to predict the events now shaking the Arab world?

I think you are right, we should pay attention. We should also remember that we can have a million opinions in the end Egyptian Citizens and the Egyptian Military will have the only voices that really decide where this will end. In America our morality often bends when it causes us to pay $70 to fill the tank.

America should not act as a commander of the world and let countries decide their own sorrow. The more they involve in my opinion the worser the situation goes.
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Obama Arrogance: World Class.

Boston Globe and NY Times: Obama anoints ElBaradei in Egypt.

ElBaradei speaks for Islamic Brotherhood. Obama: Good choice?

Barack, anyone trust you or your real advisors: George Soros, Van Jones, Bill Ayers, Tides Foundation, Apollo Alliance, “Center for American Progress"?

Mr. Obama go back to work for Soros directly.

Need a New USA President.

Who is asking the question :
Do the protesters actually represent the majority of Egyptian people?

... keep in mind the FRANCE24 video "SOME EGYPTIANS STILL SUPPORT MUBARAK" (at http://f24.my/h0qbAe ~ by France24's special correspondent Virginie Herz & Tatiana Massaad) towards the bottom of the linked page!

The only time in Egypt's 5000 years that it had good/not bad government was in the 200 years after it was Muslimised and maybe 50 years under the Brits. Before Nasser, the last time Egypt had an Egyptian Pharaoh was in 350 BC! All rulers in between were foreigners who treated the locasl like donkeys. As Mubarak,our ally, is continuuing the tradition.

Rgypt doesnot get $1.5 billion for military aid. This money is a subsidy to the US arms industry. The money goes from the Treasury to the Lockheeds etc via sticky fingers in Congress, K Streeet and the Pentagon, for supplying overpriced and second rate equipement to the Egyptian brass who in turn get looked after by the K Street mob.

After all, our national interest in the area is Likudism, Russian speaking version.

1. Don’t have a visible spokesperson or committee to speak in public for the revolution. A beast with one head can be beheaded, by assassination, arrest or smear. A many-headed creature cannot be killed.

2. Keep your aims and demands simple and don’t have too many. The more stated demands you have, the easier it is for the regime to satisfy some of them and split off support. Justice must be the first demand.

3. Use ridicule, satire and contempt as your primary weapons. This has a two-fold effect – tyrants are extremely vulnerable to embarrassment, and are unsettled by disrespectful attitudes; and at the same time a sense of humour will make you much more attractive to the outside world.

4. Your principal strategy is to make the regime uncomfortable. Anything – from striptease protests to pirate videos to simply violating existing etiquette and forms of address – is valid here. Think big in your aims and think “small and many” in your actions.

5. All despotic regimes have a state TV station – that is the principal target. Cut the cables and power lines, jam it with radio signals if you can, blockade it to stop staff getting in.

6. All despotic regimes have nations that back them or trade weapons with them – the public in those countries will be guilty about participating in your oppression. You must also target them with letters to newspapers in those countries, telephone interviews, blog comments, and all other media.

7. Don’t attack or storm any regime positions – swarm around them. Never harm anyone. Isolate anyone in your movement who urges violence, don’t allow them to act in your name.

8. Don’t act in the darkness – dictators love the night. Try to coordinate all events in the full daylight so that the videocameras can record any repressive or violent action.

9. Find out which officers command the platoons and companies on the front lines, and try to find family members of those officers who will stand with them in the protest. Also sergeants and private soldiers if possible. This reinforces the idea that the army are the people, and discourages any violent response from the soldiers.

10. Believe no promises from the authorities. Ever. Even the most democratic of politicians lie to save their positions, and a despot will lie more grandly and more readily than any other.

So far the Army has been a "people's Army". I hope they move swiftly toward establishing democratic rule. Anything less, and there will be hell to pay.

The problems that caused the revolution remain, and we want to see skilled managers get into the drivers seat.

The press has mad much of the youth and unemployment as powerful ingredient s. But it goes well beyond that to include factors like Income Inequality and the price of basics like food. As the Spanish proverb says, "Civilizat ion and anarchy are only seven meals apart."

Charles M. Blow had a good op-ed piece at the Times on this. I reviewed it and put together a variety of charts that help explore the relationship of food to revolution and social unrest. For those readers interested , see:

http://8020vision.com/2011/02/05/what-feeds-a-revolution/

Jay Kimball
8020 Vision

More on the Obama Administration's response and Egyptian-American protests in DC here: http://www.americaabroadmedia.org/aam-insight/index.html

I'm amazed by the developments in Egypt, and I hope it works out well in the end. On the other hand, it is impossible to follow everything, and my background knowledge of Egypt is insufficient to have useful ideas on policy. My tendency is to concentrate on India and Pakistan.

But you're right that it is a diversion. It has not only distracted from the subtleties of China, it has diverted attention from the Raymond Davis case, a sensational dual murder in Pakistan committed by a US "security guard" with Special forces experience and a di[diplomatic passport. Things have gotten a bit more complicated, and if you want more info, consult my blog at:

http://rememberjenkinsear.blogspot.com/2011/02/neutral-assessment-of-raymond-davis.html

So forget the sutle stuff, Egypt totally overshadows a lurid murder case. The problem is, it doesn't totally overshadow the lurid murder case in Pakistan.

Thanks,

Ray,

It requires some twisted, creative "logic" to argue that China, an opaque totalitarian state with a history of food price inflation and insufficient employment for college-educated youth, is the big winner out of the Egyptian uprising. Barry Eichengreen's recent article on Egypt was instructive in that regard.

In any case, this is a pretty nicely detailed article for someone who once lectured his readers about why Tunisia's revolution wouldn't spread to the rest of the region.

Mubarak may be gone but Plan B has materialized on cue; It is Amr Musa. Mubarak's ex-foreign minister, Arab League's (Loaded with dictators, kings and other America's flunkies) Secretary General. He has already said right things about Israel. Thus the control continues.

I'll give him a hat tip -- he was really, really wobbly, but at least he didn't fall. I do think he should have supported democracy with a more full-throated statement, but I do agree with his "cool breeze" approach. His defining moment was the angry response to Mubarak's non-resignation, and he pulled that off nicely. I think he ensured that the new government in Egypt won't hate the US for its non-support, while not betraying Mubarak and setting bad precedent for our other similarly situated allies (though we did put them on notice).

I still can't wait to get rid of the chump, but I'll give kudos where they're due.

Sorry we robbed you of your moral high ground. The good news is your new neighbor is the largest democracy in the middle east. May you be blessed with many more, and may the next be Palestine.

Sincerely,

Egypt

Getting into the streets and making our wants known CAN CHANGE the US TOO!

The fall of Mubarak shows the classical foreigin policy of US ought to follow other direction from now on. What kind of nation is that on whose constitution it's written every man must have certain intrinsic rights respected, like freedom, however in order to keep its interests safe this own nation makes wars, destroys countries, kills innocent people and backs up dictators! The 30-year-oppressive-government under what Egyptian people have lived is US selfishness' fault in some way. So neither Americans nor Europeans can demand nothing on them as well as intervene in the current situation. Besides, the West shouldn't even fear a possible rising of Muslin Brotherhood because only the Egypt will decide if they will set up an Islamic state like Iran one or they prefer Turkish democracy model. Let Egyptians build their own fate.

Does "buggered" mean the same thing in American as British English? In British English it is really rather rude.

Number nine isn't particularly new. The US ostensibly learned that you cannot successfully impose a top-down "democracy" after it prolonged Vietnam's internal conflict for several bloody years. In fact, most of the people who opposed the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq made the same point well before more than a trillion dollars, several US lives, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Afghani lives were wasted.

On the other hand, conveniently "forgetting" this lesson allowed some military contractors to make a small fortune, and gave US companies greater control over one of the world's largest oil reserves.

Therein lies the key problem: you could inscribe the message on a 30 meter x 30 meter block of solid gold right in the middle of the mall, and the people in the Pentagon, the State Department, and the AEI would still manage to forget it the moment another opportunity for a major military adventure in a geopolitically important region rich in natural resources arrived.

To all the tourist that left Egypt:
please come again. Egypt is now very safe and free. we wait for you to see new egypt