it looks to me like the revolution in egypt is slowly being co-opted by the u.s. and others interested in maintaining something close to the status quo. sure, mubarak is on his way out. but other than swapping heads at the top, it's looking like the new system won't be all that different from the old system when the dust finally clears. maybe there will be some token members of the MB and other opposition parties having some, effectively powerless, role in the new egyptian government. but otherwise, a couple of lambs will be sacrificed and the rest of the old power structure will resume business as usual. relations with israel will slip back into the old comfortable pattern: gaza will stay blockaded and, most importantly, the american aid gravy train will keep flowing as it was before.
i could be wrong, of course. that's just where it looks like it is going at this particular moment. i'm still convinced that if the u.s. told the egyptian military that mubarak needed to dissolve parliament, call a new election for both parliament and the president, and then resign and leave the country or else all u.s. aid would stop, hosni would be picking out the curtains in his london flat later this week. but that's not going to happen because that's not what the u.s. wants to happen.
i keep seeing people critical of those who talk about american influence over the events in egypt. "this isn't about you", one middle-eastern commentator wrote. if only that were true. that is how it should be. the bottom line is that the egyptian military is one of the few parties in egypt that is in a position to determine the outcome. and the u.s., as the entity that signs the military's paycheck, has the power to get the egyptian military to do what it wants.
to those who say that the u.s. should not get involved, i say we're already involved. our tax dollars are paying for this regime. we bought them long ago. the u.s. just can't make it too obvious that it is calling the shots if it wants to avoid blame for the consequences of what comes next.
i could be wrong, of course. that's just where it looks like it is going at this particular moment. i'm still convinced that if the u.s. told the egyptian military that mubarak needed to dissolve parliament, call a new election for both parliament and the president, and then resign and leave the country or else all u.s. aid would stop, hosni would be picking out the curtains in his london flat later this week. but that's not going to happen because that's not what the u.s. wants to happen.
i keep seeing people critical of those who talk about american influence over the events in egypt. "this isn't about you", one middle-eastern commentator wrote. if only that were true. that is how it should be. the bottom line is that the egyptian military is one of the few parties in egypt that is in a position to determine the outcome. and the u.s., as the entity that signs the military's paycheck, has the power to get the egyptian military to do what it wants.
to those who say that the u.s. should not get involved, i say we're already involved. our tax dollars are paying for this regime. we bought them long ago. the u.s. just can't make it too obvious that it is calling the shots if it wants to avoid blame for the consequences of what comes next.
