31 January 2011
Egypt Is America's Ally, Not Mubarak
In his OpEd article in the January 31, 2011, Wall Street Journal, Stephen Hadley wonders what the effect of abandoning an ally would be on the perception of the U.S. by other nations. However, it is important to distinguish that our ally is not Hosni Mubarak. It is Egypt. It is incumbent on us to know whether the leader of an allied nation still represents the predominant portion of the population.
Owing to the information revolution, the police cannot control Egypt like they used to. Our interests in the Middle East require that we rely on a controlling authority for collaboration in political, military, and strategic matters. It would be nice for that authority to be a democratic government; but it is not our role to install one. That is up to Egyptians to do.
It is up to us to be vigilant and correctly assess the strengths of the competing factions in Egyptian governance so we maintain good relations with whomever will dominate the country. Violent oppression will probably not settle the issue--not by us nor by the Egyptian police or military.
In his OpEd article in the January 31, 2011, Wall Street Journal, Stephen Hadley wonders what the effect of abandoning an ally would be on the perception of the U.S. by other nations. However, it is important to distinguish that our ally is not Hosni Mubarak. It is Egypt. It is incumbent on us to know whether the leader of an allied nation still represents the predominant portion of the population.
Owing to the information revolution, the police cannot control Egypt like they used to. Our interests in the Middle East require that we rely on a controlling authority for collaboration in political, military, and strategic matters. It would be nice for that authority to be a democratic government; but it is not our role to install one. That is up to Egyptians to do.
It is up to us to be vigilant and correctly assess the strengths of the competing factions in Egyptian governance so we maintain good relations with whomever will dominate the country. Violent oppression will probably not settle the issue--not by us nor by the Egyptian police or military.
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