Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Losing a country?

The headline said "Obama losing Egypt?"

Ideologues of both left and right hold a singular faith in the omnipotence of the USA. The left believes us to be the source of all the world's woes--but if we let them run the joint the oceans will stop rising and the prisons lie empty from lack of crime. The right believes that we've been the source of all nobility and freedom for the past few centuries, and that if our President speaks the right words the mobs in Egypt will go home satisfied. (Avant nous le deluge?)

So Israel is aghast at how we're treating a long-time ally? (So claimed one story out of Israel) Mubarak has known about these problems for a long time; if things have finally started blowing up there's no point in trying to play King Canute to save his sand castles for him. Nothing he can do to hold on to power now (use such of the army as will obey him, stir up counter-riots) will do more than postpone the inevitable, and will make the long term situation worse: for Egypt and for us. It is bad enough already.

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