Alexandria protester: "[Mubarak]'s supporting Israel! Israel is our enemy. We don't like him... Israel and America supported him. We hate them all." Another: "The US stands behind President Mubarak 100%, because they know if Mubarak fails... the whole people in Egypt they are going to be be free. The people free in Egypt... they are going to destroy Israel. The country that controls the United States is Israel."
Video: Alexandria: No to Mubarak! | CNNedition.cnn.com
Alexandria residents demonstrate against the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. CNN's Nic Robertson reports.
Posted on 31 January 2011
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Why is the future of Egypt more important to Israel than to the United States or just about anyone else? This photo from space explains it even better than a conventional map.
Nile basin and eastern Mediterranean from space, November 2010www.flickr.com
A night view of the Nile River winding up through the Egyptian desert toward the Mediterranean Sea, and Cairo in the river delta. Photo: @Astro_Wheels (Douglas H. Wheelock) / NASA via TwitPic
Posted on 31 January 2011
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"The Americans and the Europeans are being pulled along by public opinion and aren't considering their genuine interests," one senior Israeli official said. "Even if they are critical of Mubarak they have to make their friends feel that they're not alone. Jordan and Saudi Arabia see the reactions in the West, how everyone is abandoning Mubarak, and this will have very serious implications."
Israel urges world to curb criticism of Egypt's Mubarak by Barak Ravid | Haaretzwww.haaretz.com
Jerusalem seeks to convince its allies that it is in the West's interest to maintain the stability of the Egyptian regime.
Posted on 31 January 2011
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Ari Shavit nails it: "Obama's betrayal of Mubarak is not just the betrayal of a moderate Egyptian president who remained loyal to the US, promoted stability and encouraged moderation. Obama's betrayal of Mubarak symbolizes the betrayal of every strategic ally in the Third World... Everyone grasps the message: America's word is worthless; an alliance with America is unreliable; American has lost it."
Obama's betrayal: as goes Mubarak, so goes US might by Ari Shavit | Haaretzwww.haaretz.com
The policy setback which Washington will experience will be no less dramatic than the regime debacle which Cairo is experiencing. Should he not change direction, Obama will be remembered as the US president who undid the American empire with his own hands.
Posted on 31 January 2011
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Aluf Benn: "When Obama and his advisers look at a map of the region, they see only one state they can count on: Israel. The regime is stable and support for America is well-entrenched. Obama may dislike Netanyahu and his policy toward the Palestinians, but after losing his allies in Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and with uneasiness gripping his friends in Jordan and the Gulf, Washington can't afford to be choosy."
For Obama, Egypt protests may garner a new friend: Israel by Aluf Benn | Haaretzwww.haaretz.com
Now is the time for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to justify their claim that Israel is a "villa in the jungle," the West's outpost in the Middle East.
Posted on 31 January 2011
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You knew this was coming: Israel will determine whether Mubarak survives! Al Qassemi is a columnist for The National (Abu Dhabi), and also has 21,000 Twitter followers. Here goes: "If the US Defense Secretary convinces the Israelis that it's safe for Mubarak to exit, he's doomed."
@SultanAlQassemi | Sultan Al Qassemitwitter.com
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a columnist for The National.
Posted on 30 January 2011
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Spengler: "Egypt will face capital flight, a collapse of its critical tourist industry, higher borrowing costs, in short, far less government capacity to address the urgent needs of its hungry poor. We haven't yet seen food riots. We probably will... Is Egypt governable? I expect a failed state and a prolonged period of chaos, in which the financial impact of chaos makes conditions worse, in a vicious cycle."
Egypt and the Markets: Buy More Oil by David P. Goldman (Spengler) | Seeking Alphaseekingalpha.com
Food and fuel subsidies alone account for 7% of GDP. Just to keep the population's nose above water, the Egyptian government each year must spend a sum comparable to the Obama fiscal stimulus–year after year after year.
Posted on 30 January 2011
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You wondered where Tunisia's Islamists have been hiding? Well, here they are, thousands of them, at Tunis airport this afternoon, receiving Rachid Ghannouchi on his return from exile. Allahu Akbar.
Retour Triomphal de Cheikh Rached Ghannouchiwww.youtube.com
Aéroport Tunis-Carthage dimanche 30 janvier 2011, les islamistes de Tunisie reçoivent leur leader.
Posted on 30 January 2011
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Les Gelb: "The real danger is that our experts, pundits and professors will talk the Arab and American worlds into believing we can all trust the Muslim Brotherhood. And that's dangerous because, outside of the government, the MB is the only organized political force capable of taking power. And if they do gain control, it's going to be almost impossible for the people to take it back. Just look at Iran."
Beware Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood by Leslie Gelb | Daily Beastwww.thedailybeast.com
Baloney and wishful thinking aside, the MB would be calamitous for U.S. security. What's more, their current defenders don't really argue that point, as much as they seem to dismiss it as not important or something we can live with.
Posted on 30 January 2011
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Aluf Benn sums up the Obama legacy: "Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as 'the president who lost Iran,' which during his term went from being a major strategic ally of the United States to being the revolutionary Islamic Republic. Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who 'lost' Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled." Way to go.
Obama, the president who lost Egypt by Aluf Benn | Haaretzwww.haaretz.com
A superpower isn't the civil rights movement. If it abandons its allies the moment they flounder, who would trust it tomorrow?
Posted on 30 January 2011
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