I want to praise the president of the United States tonight for having moral and political courage. Here is his statement on today’s events in Egypt.
Office of the Press Secretary
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2011
Statement of President Barack Obama on Egypt
The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient. Too many Egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy, and it is the responsibility of the government to speak clearly to the Egyptian people and the world. The Egyptian government must put forward a credible, concrete and unequivocal path toward genuine democracy, and they have not yet seized that opportunity.
As we have said from the beginning of this unrest, the future of Egypt will be determined by the Egyptian people. But the United States has also been clear that we stand for a set of core principles. We believe that the universal rights of the Egyptian people must be respected, and their aspirations must be met. We believe that this transition must immediately demonstrate irreversible political change, and a negotiated path to democracy. To that end, we believe that the emergency law should be lifted. We believe that meaningful negotiations with the broad opposition and Egyptian civil society should address the key questions confronting Egypt’s future: protecting the fundamental rights of all citizens; revising the Constitution and other laws to demonstrate irreversible change; and jointly developing a clear roadmap to elections that are free and fair.
We therefore urge the Egyptian government to move swiftly to explain the changes that have been made, and to spell out in clear and unambiguous language the step by step process that will lead to democracy and the representative government that the Egyptian people seek. Going forward, it will be essential that the universal rights of the Egyptian people be respected. There must be restraint by all parties. Violence must be forsaken. It is imperative that the government not respond to the aspirations of their people with repression or brutality. The voices of the Egyptian people must be heard.
The Egyptian people have made it clear that there is no going back to the way things were: Egypt has changed, and its future is in the hands of the people. Those who have exercised their right to peaceful assembly represent the greatness of the Egyptian people, and are broadly representative of Egyptian society. We have seen young and old, rich and poor, Muslim and Christian join together, and earn the respect of the world through their non-violent calls for change. In that effort, young people have been at the forefront, and a new generation has emerged. They have made it clear that Egypt must reflect their hopes, fulfill their highest aspirations, and tap their boundless potential. In these difficult times, I know that the Egyptian people will persevere, and they must know that they will continue to have a friend in the United States of America.
The president is right, Egypt has changed, but we must change with it. We cannot forget that we have sponsored Hosni Mubarak’s thirty-year reign, and we therefore have to take a degree of responsibility for Mubarak’s misrule, his oppression, his kleptomania, his torture, and his international policies that have been so immensely unpopular with the Egyptian populace. We cannot forget that the attacks of 9/11 were planned and carried out by anti-Mubarak and anti-Saud activists who were irate about our relationships with their corrupt leaders. The people on the streets of Cairo are a direct rebuke to al-Qaeda. It is not necessary to kill innocent American civilians to throw off the shackles of Mubarak’s repression. It is far preferable, and vastly more effective, to engage in civil disobedience and insist on your rights. Courageous leaders have demonstrated this in India, in South Africa, and in the American South. Salvation doesn’t come with a suicide belt. It comes like this, like we’re seeing it come on our televisions.
We have a thirty-year history with Mubarak. He continued Sadat’s policies by honoring the peace agreement with Israel and keeping Egypt out of the Soviet bloc and in our camp. We had fantastic reasons to be friendly to Mubarak. But as Israel failed to fulfill its end of the Camp David Accords with regard to establishing a Palestinian state, Mubarak’s relationship with both Israel and the United States became increasingly unpopular. As he lost legitimacy, he had to increase his repression. His greed and cronyism and a flagging economy were also major factors in his loss of popularity.
Egypt has changed. They no longer will allow their country’s policies to be distorted by a failed peace agreement that has never been honored. They want to be able to hold their leaders accountable on both domestic and foreign affairs. Since this distortion has mainly been for our perceived benefit, correcting it comes at a cost for us.
No doubt, Obama has received a lot of nervous advice about how stability has served us very well and that we will pay a high price if friendly dictators in the Middle East start falling like dominoes to be replaced by representatives of the people. That’s solid advice because it’s true.
Tossing Mubarak aside makes our allies nervous and less reliable as partners. And if Egypt turns into the next Iran, people will say that Obama was too soft, that he got squishy with his human rights “concern,” and that he “lost” the Middle East to Islamists.
But even if we pay a price and even if things go horribly wrong, I will still defend the president for changing America and making a clean break with Mubarak while taking an unambiguous stand with the protestors.
