Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Dear Mr. President,

Finally! Last night you called for “an orderly transition … [that] must begin now” in Egypt. For days I’ve wondered why you’re silent on this grassroots uprising, people risking their lives for freedom, trying to shake off the yoke of a brutal tyrant. It’s clear now what’s going on. Excuse my language, Mr. President, but as the old saying goes, Mubarek may be a sonofabitch but he’s our sonofabitch. An article in this morning’s paper tells some of what went on behind the scenes. You waited till it was obvious the protest was gaining support and the military announced they wouldn’t fire on the protesters, in effect sealing Mubarek’s fare. That’s when you folks decided to hop on the bandwagon and figure out a strategy and that’s when you sent a personal emissary to Mubarek with the message, “don’t run for re-election in September.” Boy, were you ever behind the curve! You thought that was going to satisfy protesters who’d been in the streets for almost a week? Or maybe it was just wishful thinking that your boy, Hosni, could somehow hang on and you’d continue to control him and the U.S. hegemony in the Middle East. The article also said you wanted him to promise that not only would he not run again but his son wouldn’t either. Sure enough, Sunday night Mubarek parroted your words about not running for re-election (but in a last flicker of despotic defiance didn’t mention his son). You also decided not to rule out “engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood.” Two things become clear in all this. One, that Mubarek really is a puppet of the U.S. – you tell him what to say and he says it, more or less; and two, that you guys still don’t get what this revolution is about. The Muslim Brotherhood is not running the show, the people are. The organized opposition is riding in on the coattails of the uprising and if you back these guys, that’s probably the end of Hope for true democracy in Egypt and anywhere else in the Middle East for a long time to come. What this episode shows is that American foreign policy subverts democratic movements in favor of an illusory stability by supporting despots and dictators and that, Mr. President, is sickening. It’s inescapable. We have a long history of doing this in the Middle East – more than 50 years. These uprisings against U.S. supported dictators must be giving you a headache. I hope so. I hope it’s giving you a migraine. In fact, I think we need our own revolution right here at home. Viva la Revolucion!