My wife and I were scheduled to go to Egypt on February 12. It was to be a glorious affair with several days in Cairo and then a cruise down the Nile River.
So much fun it was to be, visiting the Sphinx and pyramids and other intimate reflections with the oldest part of our civilized world. But it won’t come to pass.
The uprising last week against President Hosni Mubarak ended it all. He has been a dictator for some 30 years. Though he was called President, his vote counts on election day totalled some 88 or so percent. Does that sound like a democracy? It is said that he had a bit of “friendly” help in getting those numbers.
He won favor with our country because, after all, there was not much other choice in getting a foothold into the mideast to help spread our form of democracy. Several Presidents of the U. S. have used Mubarak for that purpose. But sometimes we have to bypass such reasoning.
It would have been better to support democracy all the way and not cooperate with such undemocratic principals.
Now, all Americans are warned not to go to Egypt. No wonder. The people of that country are so much against Mubarak that there is no way anyone touring it would be able to enjoy the countryside.
Mubarak has vowed not to run again but the next election is several months away. His countrymen don’t want to wait that long. They want him to quit now and leave Egypt.
If he does quit now, it is possible an interim government can be formed until election day this fall. And then, the big decision will be made as to who will preside over the people of Egypt. Will he be friendly to us or cooperative to our terrorist -friendly enemies?
President Barack Obama has a difficult choice to make here. Egypt has always been supportive of us in the mideast and we in return have contributed financial aid to it in many ways. It was a convenient swap that could come to an end if our enemies get control.
Meanwhile, our trip has been cancelled and we’ll have to wait until Mardi Gras to enjoy crowds on the street such as the million or so that have been demonstrating these days on the streets of Cairo. And we hope for his country’s sake that Mubarak will leave now so real democracy has a chance to get in and help spread its values to an area of the world that needs it.
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