ABC reports on the wealth of President Mubarak, his wife and sons.

The low estimate is $40 billion, a phenomenal amount of dough.

Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S.: Husni who?

Christine Amanpour  (January 30, 2011) to  Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S.:  "Do you expect President Mubarak to survive in power?"  He answers that the people of Egypt have shown solidarity and that every loyal Egyptian will contribute to the nation, and he never mentions Mubarak.  


In other words, dear readers, Mubarak is history.


Update:
"Would you like President to stay in power?"
Later, on Jan. 30, Ambassador Shoukry appears on CNN (12:15 EST).   He notes that it is up to the people, civil society, national dialogue to determine the future of Egypt.  When asked about Mubarak, he avoids any affirmation of President Mubarak, and refers to the Egyptians peoples' aspirations.  He refers to the importance of Egypt's institutions, never letting the president's name pass his lips.
He denies that Muhammad Baradei was under house arrest, incidentially.

Read "The Autumn of the Patriarch" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez?

If so, you have a sense of Egypt in the closing years of Mubarak's dictatorship.

Equally insightful is the new essay by Adam Shatz in the LRB, where he offers an incisive glimpse of Egypt's unfortunate political blight.

Shatz notes that Obama has only criticized Mubarak implicitly, including in his now well known speech in June 2009 in Cairo. He misses an interesting detail though. The Egyptian president intended to introduce his U.S. counterpart, but this did not happen. Obama was intent not to allow the speech to be a showcase for Mubarak. That is a small glimmer of hope for U.S. policy in Egypt, particularly as the still uncertain succession looms.

Has U.S. policy on aid to Egypt changed?

The Wapo editorial criticizes the Obama administration for reducing aid dedicated to the promotion of civil society and political reform. In fact, the U.S. has spent very little to support such activities. If one were to question a U.S. diplomat two, five or seven years ago about how the U.S. is supporting political reform in Egypt, as I have, you would learn that most of the reform activities being supported with U.S. funds are quite anemic, or simply have little to do with substantial reform. Instead, many of the program beneficiaries are business-oriented groups, or other activities that seldom if ever challenge the exisiting authorities. In fact, when I have asked the question my interlocutor usually has to strain to find examples of reform-oriented recipients.

Since 2000, the Mubarak regime has aggressively intimidated and suppressed activists. The repression began with Saad Eddin Ibrahim, once believed immune from attack, and is now understood by NGOs to mean that Egyptian NGOs only take foreign funding at their severe peril.

There were moments when the Bush adminstration push hard for reform, for instance in 2005, but the pushes did not last long. In my view, pulling back was a mistake because Egypt is quite vulnerable to U.S. pressure, but the Bush adminstration was so spooked by the Hamas victory in January 2006 that it played right in authoritarian Egypt's hands.

One hopes that the Obama people will re-evaluate the U.S. relationship with Egypt, but that is not a matter of a few more million for NGOs, but rather a more serious posture insisting on change.

What Will Unconditional Aid Buy From Egypt's Hosni Mubarak? - washingtonpost.com

Bush and his blather

You have to wonder, and I mean this as a serious question, does George Bush understand utter hypocrisy that he epitomizes in so many places around the world? Here we have a president who has espoused democracy withHosni Mubarak, a leader who mocks and superficially placates the democracy project, and that same leader is praised for "democratic reform." At the least, the president needs to find some new speech writers. This is beyond embarrassing, it is pitiful.

Bush says Egypt on path to 'political openness' - Los Angeles Times: "He made no mention of the Egyptian government's continued crackdowns on dissent and the jailing of an opposition presidential candidate.

"With President Hosni Mubarak standing expressionless beside him, Bush said journalists, bloggers and judges in Egypt were 'insisting on independence' and, along with civic and religious leaders, were 'determined to build a democratic future.'

"He said the Egyptian leader had moved his nation toward 'economic openness . . . and democratic reform.'

"But, in a diplomatic nudge, he said: 'My hope is that the Egyptian government will build on these important steps and give the people of this proud nation a greater voice in [Egypt's] future. I think it will lead to peace, and I think it will lead to justice.'"

Make it a point to read Maureen Dowd's column, "Faith, Freedom and Bling in the Middle East. " It is one her very best, perhaps ever.