Saturday, February 5, 2011

Dear Mr. President,

Dodging and feinting, dodging and feinting, now you see him, now you don’t. That’s your approach to foreign policy in the Middle East. I can’t believe this latest turn of events. Your personal envoy to Mubarak, Frank Wisner, says now, Mubarak “must stay in office to steer a process of gathering national consensus around the preconditions for the way forward.” What bullshit! Excuse my language, Mr. President, but I’m a tad upset at this two-faced diplomatic-speak for a sell-out of the protesters. And I know he wouldn’t have said it without your OK. It makes me nauseous. National consensus is right there in Tahrir Square: Mubarak must leave. The protests by hundreds of thousands both in Cairo and other cities have made it abundantly clear what the national consensus is. I’m incredulous, appalled and sickened by your latest sellout. You’ve just condemned all these young people who’ve put their lives on the line for democracy and held off Mubarak and his thugs for 12 days knowing full well that if they don’t succeed in toppling him, they’re doomed. According to the latest reports from Cairo, it’s obvious that the strategy now is to isolate the protesters, cordon them off and let them protest but wear them down, play the waiting game, that’s how Mubarak survives this and the movement for democracy is snuffed out – unlimited resources against people with limited resources who can’t hold out or hold on forever like the oppressors can. This is unpardonable, your shift back to supporting Mubarak. Even if it does turn out to be only 7 more months till “free and fair” elections. Who’s going to guarantee any of that? Let alone believe it. Already, other autocratic regimes in the Middle East are falling in line. According to Al Jazeera, “Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia's top religious authority, warned that anti-regime uprisings are ‘chaotic acts’ aimed at ‘tearing .. apart’ the Muslim world.” How could you do this, Mr. President? Who and what convinced you? What possible justification can there be? It simply leaves me speechless. Shame!