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Africa North

US wants 'orderly transition' in Egypt

2011-01-31

[Arab News] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill...
on Sunday called on Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak to hold free and fair elections and said Washington was not considering a cutoff of aid to Cairo for now.

Appearing on a slew of US news programs, Clinton pressed Mubarak for sweeping reforms in response to unprecedented mass protests but urged an orderly democratic transition to avoid a result like that of Iran which she called a "faux democracy."

Clinton kept up the B.O. regime's delicate balancing act. It is trying to avoid abandoning Mubarak -- a key US strategic ally of 30 years -- while supporting protesters who seek broader rights and demand his ouster. But Washington has limited options to influence the situation.

"We want to see free and fair elections and we suspect that will be one of the outcomes of what is going on in Egypt right now," Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press."

She also said on ABC's "This Week" that Mubarak's appointment on Saturday of intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as vice president marked the "bare beginning" of political reform, but insisted that much more needed to be done.

Clinton said the B.O. regime did not want to see a "void" in power in Egypt, which she hailed as an important US partner in Israeli-Paleostinian peacemaking and other matters. "I don't think anyone wants to see instability, chaos, increasing violence," she said. "We want to an orderly transition to a democratic government, to economic reform."

Clinton also held off on using the most tangible leverage the United States has with Mubarak when she said on ABC, "There is no discussion as of this time about cutting off aid," though she added "we always are looking and reviewing our aid."

The United States provides $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt, the vast majority of which is military assistance.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his government is "anxiously monitoring" the political unrest in Egypt. "Israel and Egypt have been at peace for more than three decades and our objective is to ensure that these ties be preserved. At this time, we must display responsibility, restraint and utmost prudence."

Egypt is only one of the two Arab countries which have signed peace treaties with Israel. The other is Jordan.

Posted by:Fred

#8 The dilemma for the USA + POTUS BAMMER is whether the same will tolerate TIANNENMEN-STYLE, MILITARY-LED GOVT VIOLENT = BLOODY CRACKDOWNS on the street protestors in order to save from PRO-JIHAD RADIC ISLAMIST = MILTERR GROUPS WHOM WILL KNOWINGLY USE THE PROTESTS TO COVERTLY EMPOWER THEIR MOSTLY UNPOPULAR, ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE AGENDUMS, ESPEC ANY DEMANDS FOR POTENT POLITICAL/GOVT. POWER-SHARING E.G. HEZBOLLAH GOVT. IN LEBANON???

What is the Econ-troubled US' response iff ANTI-US, PRO-JIHAD ISLMAISTS GAIN POLITICAL-GOVT POWER. RIDING ON THE TAILS OF PRO-DEMOCRACY PROTESTORS???

NAZISM = COMMUNISM = "FREEDOM + DEMOCRACY", LIBERTE-EGALITE-FRATERNITE, "LAND + BREAD", etc. DON'Y YA KNOW!?

RADICAL ISLAM, SHARIA + SUPER-SHARIA, IS "FREEDOM + DEMOCRACY", ETC. IN THE ISLAMIST VIEW + THEIR PUBLIC ARGUMENTS, REMEMBER?

Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-01-31 22:28

#7 What the transition will involve, from elsewhere on the Web "there's a fair chance that it includes mischief like promoting a Sharia state, inciting trouble through Hamas, supporting uprisings in other key Muslim nations, and egging on new, unwelcome disorders in a region that the stability of the world hinges on these days."

Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-01-31 15:56

#6 What they'll GET is a disorderly transition to another Islamic hell-hole. Which undoubtedly makes the 20 million Princes in Saudiland a trifle nervous.

Posted by: mojo 2011-01-31 15:51

#5 "We want to an orderly transition to a democratic government, to economic reform." What's she up to now? That would make a fine campaign slogan for a presidential candidate next year, seeing as the USA needs the same thing.

Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-01-31 14:18

#4 and if you're as smart as some say, you know it, too.

The problem is that there are different kinds of intelligence, Bobby. She had the kind that led to good grades at school, not at all the same as mastery of the subject.

Posted by: trailing wife 2011-01-31 14:02

#3 I susppect it's too late for that, Hil, and if you're as smart as some say, you know it, too.

Posted by: Bobby 2011-01-31 06:05

#2 You are an awesome man, Fred.

Posted by: newc 2011-01-31 03:25

#1 Imagine being a dental assistant working for Hillary's dentist---having to polish the footprints from her teeth twice a week.

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-01-31 01:26

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