[robowombat]

It is irrelevant that Mubarak is a despot. What is likely to emerge is a regime that actively hates the US as the leader of the west against Islam. I have grave reservations about the ‘people just want to be free’ mantra. Individuals want to be free to do a lot of things, get revenge on rival groups, loaf, express the rage and aggression they have had to sit on for years by looting and destroying, loaf, demand to be taken care of.There are a large number of vicious and worthless individuals in every society and when the society is inclined to authoritarian forms these types will act out when the strong hand of authority is removed.
This wave of street riot cum revolution is much likelier to end as the French and Russian revolutions did than ours.

[Fishtalk]

Sheesh.

I agree with your assertion as the likely result of this, or a very possible result of this, will be a regime of anti-American types, Muslim extremists if you will.

But to say it’s irrelevant that Muburak is a dictator is a bit, eh....I’ll be nice and say...naive.

Let’s suppose Muburak was a nice fellow who held his position for, say, maybe ten years, a long enough time. Let’s suppose Muburak stashed away millions of American bucks in his swiss bank account, enough to keep his family wealthy and fat for many generations. Let’s suppose that Muburak didn’t get all selfish and shared his American largesse with the many impoverished Egyptians...in general kept his people happy.

I mean, come on, if Muburak had just not been so mean, so selfish, so greedy, maybe if he’d have walked away after swiping enough American dollars to keep him and his posh for another ten generations, maybe what’s happening today wouldn’t be happening.

Give a human being unlimited power and they tend to use it. It makes them a dictator and a despot and in due course humans will strike back like cobras.

It doesn’t matter?