On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 11:36 PM, Udhay Shankar N <ud...@pobox.com> wrote:
> list.lurker Kragen wrote this piece which is all over my twitter > timeline, and I thought I'd mirror it on silk as well, as it's a good > overview of the events in Egypt so far. Additional thoughts, folks? > > Udhay > > http://canonical.org/~kragen/egypt-massacre-sotu.html<http://canonical.org/%7Ekragen/egypt-massacre-sotu.html> > > I thought that was an excellent overview of the events in Egypt, but I disagree as to the take on the Obama administration's approach. The Obama administration's approach on issues -- both domestic and foreign -- is to favor results over the desire to appear righteous and/or take credit. I think the administration's instinct is that any obvious public support for the demonstrators on its part will be viewed as foreign meddling, and runs the risk of turning the discussion into whether what is happening in Egypt is being instigated from abroad rather than something that is happening organically -- and I think their instinct is correct. (The administration took a similar approach with the Green movement in Iran.) This is not to say that every statement coming from the administration is necessarily the smartest -- Biden's statement in particular seemed to me to be off -- but I think that generally speaking, they are playing the situation correctly. Notice also their increasing criticism of the Mubarak regime in the last 24 hours or so, focusing on the violence and the shutting off of Internet access rather than on an ultimate preferred outcome. I would add that the point about the US's historical support for corrupt/dictatorial regimes in Egypt and elsewhere is well taken, and I agree with it ... but it far predates the Obama administration, and anyone who assumes that this administration could simply change that policy when it came to power fails to appreciate the realities of US politics. That's my $0.02.
