[Bobboau]

Ahmadinejad tries to produce enough irony to form an earth devouring black hole

[Scourge of Ages]

This just in: In a totally unexpected turn, Mubarak resigns.
Will it stick? Who knows?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

[iamzack]

Didn't he say he was gonna resign as PResident but then stay on in a supervisory role of the new govt?

[Sushi]

Pretty sure it's for real this time. He's turned the gov over to the military and gotten out of Cairo.

Now Egypt gets to deal with the hard part.

[perihelion]

Wow.  After yesterday's announcement, I was sure he was going to hold out for at least another couple weeks, if not for good.

Now what?

[iamzack]

Now what?

It's time to party.

[NGTM-1R]

Wow.  After yesterday's announcement, I was sure he was going to hold out for at least another couple weeks, if not for good.

Nixon did the same thing. They even have similar hairstyles.

[Kolgena]

Well, this sort of came out of the blue.

I wonder what Egypt's new gov't is going to be like.

[Bobboau]

are there any major sites affiliated with this that have an English speaking section, I really would like to tell these people how impressed I am with what they have accomplished.

[peterv]

I am afraid that all they've accomplished is to get rid of a dictator who was not useful to his masters anymore.
The rapid reaction of USA and EU, along with the behavior of the military, both point to a professionally organized "revolution".

[iamzack]

...no, isreal and the US and europe still liked him, i think

[NGTM-1R]

The rapid reaction of USA and EU, along with the behavior of the military, both point to a professionally organized "revolution".

So how much does that tinfoil weigh?

[karajorma]

Yep. That reaction makes no sense. The West in general would probably have preferred none of this happened on the grounds of "Better the devil you know"

[peterv]

Unless our leaders loooove pure democracy in middle - east. 

[iamzack]

They really don't. The US is probably going to have a hand in the "democracy" that'll follow in Egypt.

[Mars]

I don't believe that Egypt is considered a place of great importance, as long as they're strictly limited. They could theoretically cause problems with Isreal and the Suez canal, but honestly they lack the resources to. Much like most of Africa, they simply don't have the knock out power to be a major figure in foreign policy.

If we were talking Saudi Arabia, Iran, or China. . .

[peterv]

Think about it again.

[iamzack]

So you missed the part where Israel was trying to get the US to stop criticizing Mubarak so he'd remain in power?

[Mustang19]

Yep. That reaction makes no sense. The West in general would probably have preferred none of this happened on the grounds of "Better the devil you know"

There's nothing to be gained from openly supporting a doomed government. The only thing America can do now is try to get on good terms with the Egyptian people and hope that they forget about the billions of dollars worth of military aid it sent to Mubarak.

Obama is following his normal modus operandi as he did after the 2009 election in Honduras; support the democratic opposition just to prevent people from blaming the US for a dictatorship. Everyone hates the United States; whichever side it endorses is hurt more than helped.

[peterv]

So you missed the part where Israel was trying to get the US to stop criticizing Mubarak so he'd remain in power?

Israel usually don't try to get the US to do anything at all. They know what the US leaders will do before them. 

I seriously believe that the Israel reacted that way to convince Egyptians to get rid of Mubarak.