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The Expansionist
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
 
Hey hey! Ho ho! Hosni Mubarak Has Got to Go! That's my little offering to the anti-Mubarak demonstrators in Egypt, an English-language chant to reach the world. Of course, I have no way to get that message to the people of Egypt, given the substantial shutdown of connections to the outside world committed by the illegitimate regime of "President" Mubarak.
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Now Mubarak is unleashing goons to brutalize, even kill, peaceful anti-government demonstrators. To call them "pro-Mubarak demonstrators" is of course completely false. They aren't pro-Mubarak. They're paid hooligans, criminals on the government's payroll. No one is fooled.
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President Obama is out of options. No longer can he stand mute and let whatever happens, happen. He has to do everything in his power to side with the forces of "change". Remember that word, Mr. Obama? "Change" as in "we can believe in." It's not just for the United States, and you might be more successful in bringing change to Egypt than you have been in bringing major change, of the right kinds, to the United States. The U.S. is a lot bigger than Egypt, and it is harder to overcome inertia the larger the body at issue. Egypt is little more than 1/4 our population, and the people there have a lot more to complain about than we have.
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They are a lot poorer than we are (for the moment), and there is a lot less opportunity for Egyptians than for us. If millions of U.S. jobs have been permanently exported, at least some replacements come along that aren't also exported. But in Egypt, you cannot, with a straight face, tell kids to stay in school, get a good education, get a college degree, and everything will be fine. Some of the Egyptian 9/11 hijackers had college degrees, and still couldn't find a job. Millions of Egyptians are now overqualified for every job now available or soon to develop in Egypt under a torpid, stupid, useless government. There really is no hope as long as Hosni Mubarak, who has 30 years of grotesque, inexcusable failure under his belt, remains in power.
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If Mubarak knew what to do, he would have done it in 30 years!, and Egypt would be Paradise on Earth today.
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Why is he holding on to the Presidency of Egypt? Is it such a good job as regards pay, privilege, power, and the like, as to be worth fiting for? How?
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Mubarak is apparently willing to kill to retain the Presidency of Egypt. He seems willing to plunge Egypt into civil war, to stay in power. He has lost the last shred of legitimacy he might once have claimed, and is now just a despicable dictator. He must leave office, and the United States Government must do everything within its power to guarantee (a) that Mubarak goes and (b) that Egypt transitions to multi-party, multi-religious democracy respectful of everyone's human rights.
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Obama needs to make the call to Mubarak and tell him something like this.
Mr. [not "President"] Mubarak, the time has come for you to leave office. Now, not in September. If you need a safe haven, by all means come to the United States. We have desert areas you would find very congenial, in Arizona and Southern California. Beautiful places where you will be safe to live out your life in comfort, on funds legitimately due you as a pension for your decades of service to Egypt.
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Stop sending goons into the streets. Call them all back. Apologize to the Egyptian people for sending them out in the first place, and ask forgiveness as you leave office, and possibly leave Egypt as well.
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For our part, we cannot any long stand silent or stand idle. We are wholly on the side of the demonstrators demanding your ouster, and within ONE HOUR of this call's ending, I will release the tape of our conversation to the world's media, and see to it that the word gets thru to the people of Egypt, if I have to order U.S. aircraft to drop Arabic-language flyers over Cairo and Alexandria.
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Effective one hour AGO, I have issued an order to end all U.S. aid of every kind to and thru your regime — and note the word "regime". It is a diplomatic term for illegitimate governance, a clear statement to the world that your "government" is no longer the least bit legitimate in our eyes.
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If you do not leave office immediately, we will actively seek out officers and enlisted men in the Egyptian military, all branches, who are willing to oust you if you do not both formally resign, and actually let loose the reins on all government instrumentalities. We will ask those military men to pledge to work for an immediate democratic culture in Egypt, and to bring about elections to the national legislature within three weeks, and to the Presidency within at most two months of your ouster.
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The United States will be happy to fly you out of Egypt to the United States or any other destination of your choice, anywhere on Earth, as long as you pledge openly that you are unconditionally surrendering any role in Egyptian governance for the rest of your life. We will as well evacuate any member of your family who wishes to accompany you and who also forswears seeking any role in Egypt's government for the next 20 years.
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If you refuse to step down, immediately, and seek to retain office thru violence, the United States military will launch a "shock and awe" campaign against you personally, against every member of your family who sides with you, and against every stronghold of support, be it military, financial, or other, that we believe sides with you, openly or secretly.
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We may or may not seek approval for our actions by the United Nations Security Council — which, we would remind you, meets in New York City, surrounded by the United States. We can almost certainly get our way there. And if we can't, so what? Israel has defied the United Nations easily over and over again. So have Russia, China, and other powers. So can we.
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Please do not put us to the trouble of waging a shock-and-awe campaign against you. You cannot withstand us. You cannot survive us. You must obey. There is no glory in being killed by the United States when the United States is working to deliver the people of Egypt from your evil. Remember Saddam Hussein? He defied us. And at the end of his life, his executioners mocked him as they slipped the noose around his neck. We are not playing.
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The U.S. has been a good friend to the people of Egypt, and to Hosni Mubarak when he seemed to be working for the people of Egypt. We are still your friend, and that is why we are frank with you. We will help you give up power without simultaneously giving up your life and the lives of your family. But if you try, pointlessly, to hold onto power that is already crumbling and falling away, you will see a side of the United States that you wish you never unleashed.
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It's over, and you need to accept that it's over. Thirty years is a good, long run. Let it go. You are 82 years old. It's time to retire. Now, not months from now. Resign with dignity and grace. Write a dignified, lofty speech wishing the people well and asking them to handle the majesty that is Egypt with good will toward all. Make your statement of wishes for Egypt as you leave the stage the thing that people most remember about you. Make it Egypt's equivalent of Washington's Farewell Address, something that generations after regard as wise cautions they need always to heed.
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Now, where would you like us to pick you up, and where do you want to go? We can be there in an hour.
(The current U.S. military death toll in Iraq, according to the website "Iraq Coalition Casualties", is 4,436 — for Israel.)





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