A diplomat is a Gentleman who lies for his country.

Don't shoot the messenger. Egypt reinforces the comments mad by Assange that behind oppressive regimes is the shadow of the US propping up this bad regimes.

Mubarak's Egypt is another part of the crumbling edifice of the American Empire.

As this spreads Obama it will be interesting to watch how Obama calms this with another beautiful, but empty, speech. Soaring rhetoric, with no follow up actions.

As John Mitchell said, "Ignore what we say, watch what we do".

New York Times, By David D. Kirkpatrick & Michael Slackman, January 26

For decades, Egypt’s authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak, played a clever game with his political opponents.

He tolerated a tiny and toothless opposition of liberal intellectuals whose vain electoral campaigns created the facade of a democratic process. And he demonized the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood as a group of violent extremists who posed a threat that he used to justify his police state.

But this enduring and, many here say, all too comfortable relationship was upended this week by the emergence of an unpredictable third force, the leaderless tens of thousands of young Egyptians who turned out to demand an end to Mr. Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

Now the older opponents are rushing to catch up.

“It was the young people who took the initiative and set the date and decided to go,” Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Wednesday with some surprise during a telephone interview from his office in Vienna, shortly before rushing home to Cairo to join the revolt.

Dr. ElBaradei, a Nobel prize winner, has been the public face of an effort to reinvigorate and unite Egypt’s fractious and ineffective opposition since he plunged into his home country’s politics nearly a year ago, and he said the youth movement had accomplished that on its own. “Young people are impatient,” he said. “Frankly, I didn’t think the people were ready.”

Washington Post, By Scott Wilson & Joby Warrick, January 27

The Obama administration is openly supporting the anti-government demonstrations shaking the Arab Middle East, a stance that is far less tempered than the one the president has taken during past unrest in the region.

As demonstrations in Tunis, Cairo and Beirut have unfolded in recent days, President Obama and his senior envoys to the region have thrown U.S. support clearly behind the protesters, speaking daily in favor of free speech and assembly even when the protests target longtime U.S. allies such as Egypt.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that "the Egyptian government has an important opportunity . . . to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people." She urged "the Egyptian authorities not to prevent peaceful protests or block communications, including on social media sites."

Asked whether the administration supports Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs replied only: "Egypt is a strong ally."

[...]

"Some of the confidence and assertiveness comes from having spent time in government, and now we've identified ways where we want to make our push," said a senor administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss White House thinking on the Middle East developments.

The official said Obama's emphasis on Internet freedom as well as on U.S.-funded programs to encourage rule of law and government accountability are among the measures the administration is using to foster change.

"We've aligned our approach to where we see the currents of democratic reform moving," the official said.

Whoo, doggie!

Col Lang's insight and commenters over at his blog.
"The similiarities in the Iranian situation in the last days of Pahlavi (the shah) rule and let's say, the Egyptian situation now, are striking"

"There are two types of folk music:
quiet folk music and loud folk music.
I play both."

Dave Alvin

The Post reporter lumps together the demonstrations in Tunis and Egypt with those in Lebanon. But keep in mind that's a mistaken association. In Lebanon the U.S. and Israel are attempting to weaken the Hezbollah and to that end have been effectively manufacturing demonstrations against the Hezbollah.

What are those cryptic mixed messages with capitalized letters, numbers, and a few other symbols - a bit algebraic - referring to Egypt? I've been seeing them for quite awhile now and even had a professor from Chapel Hill retweeting.

Interestingly, they're retweeted several times as well. When I run across one again I'll send you the link.