There are some apologists for Mubarak who contend that he is a great ally of the U.S. and a strategic partner for Israel. Other wizards of smart like John Kerry and the Bush foreign policy crowd feel that we should actively side with the Muslim Brotherhood to overthrow Mubarak. There are some good columns out today explaining why they are both wrong. The bottom line is that Mubarak is not such a strong ally and doesn't deserve $1.5 billion in aid; however, the alternative is much, much worse. To that end, it would be Carteresque to support the "democratic" protesters.
- Here is Max Boot's Op-ed in the WSJ detailing Mubarak's efforts to undermine Israel and turn a blind eye to the Muslim Brotherhood. Nonetheless, it is clear that the vacuum of his departure would be filled with real nefarious characters.
- Caroline Glick has a great piece in today's Jerusalem Post explaining the coalition between the anti-colonialist left and the Bush democracy peddlers in their pursuit to overthrow Mubarak. They are both misguided in their lack of insight into the Muslim world.
- Bret Stephens of the WSJ explains why he thinks that Mubarak his playing his cards prudently and that the revolution will eventually fizzle.
It is disturbing to see the GOP circle the wagons around the administration and John Kerry by supporting regime change. It is also disconcerting to see fellow Massachusetts politician Mitt Romney call for Mubarak to resign. Would these politicians support the protesters in Jordon to overthrow King Abdullah? Unlike Mubarak, he is a true ally. Worse yet, the Jordanian people are even more radical than the Egyptians (70% of them are Palestinian). Don't they understand the consequenses of their actions?
We cannot afford another Iranian revolution paradigm in which we oust a dictator in favor of an Islamist state. Then again, when we have someone like Dick Lugar leading the Republican foreign policy in the Senate, would you expect anything different?
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