Herzliya, Israel
Tonight, Hosni Mubarak revealed how out of touch he is with the situation in Egypt. Minutes later, his newly minted Vice President Omar Suleiman discredited himself as a prospective leader of an authentic democratic transition by telling the protesters to go home and adopting Mubarak-style rhetoric, blaming the continued protests on foreign interference.
On Wednesday, Wael Ghonim, one emerging face of the opposition, told CNN that the protesters would not stop at anything to achieve their goals and specifically directed his message at Suleiman. Some in the United States have expressed concern about the involvement of the Muslim Brotherhood in the unrest, but Ghonim made clear that the genesis of the protests was secular and passionately declares that he and other protesters are willing to risk all to ensure that Egypt is free:
Watch the whole interview here.
After pursuing what one commentator here at the Herzliya Conference described as a “zigzag” policy toward the unrest in Egypt in recent weeks, the Obama administration now has no choice. It must side wholeheartedly and unabashedly with the protesters. It is time for the United States to suspend all military aid to Egypt and to publicly call on Mubarak to step aside immediately. A continuation of the rhetorical dance deployed to date will only deny Ghonim and his fellow freedom fighters the U.S. support that they will desperately need in the days to come.
