Memo to United States Government: Stop the love affair with Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak

Following the footsteps of the recent ouster of the dictator of Tunisia, there have been intense protests against  Hosni Mubarak’s rule of Egypt. Reliable reports are scant, but there is widespread word that Mubarak is quelling dissent as best he can.

The Egyptian Government(EG)  is an ally of the United States Government(USG). The USG generally purports to be pro-democracy/human rights. Time after time, the USG is unequivocal in its criticism of several governments with poor human rights records, including the likes of Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. Now that many Egyptians want an end to the Mubarak regime, VP Joe Biden of the USG is claiming that human rights are talked about only as fodder to advance geopolitical interests.

In an interview with PBS newshour, Biden was asked it was time for Mubarak  to leave power. He responded:

“No. I think the time has come for President Mubarak to begin to move in the direction that – to be more responsive to some… of the needs of the people out there.”

Asked if Mubarak is a dictator, Biden answered:

“Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he’s been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with – with Israel. … I would not refer to him as a dictator.

Biden goes on to say that everyone should be peaceful and if the protesters demands are reasonable, the EG should accommodate them accordingly.

The problem with Biden’s words are that they are not a reflection of reality.  The 2009 Human Rights report on Egypt written by the State Department is clear as to what type of government Mubarak is at the helm of.

For example, Egypt has been under one-party rule since 1978. Hosni Mubarak, has been President since 1981. If one person has been in power for 30 years and is not a dictator, I don’t know who is.  Here are some excerpts from the report:

In 2005 President Hosni Mubarak won a fifth consecutive six-year term with 88 percent of the vote in the country’s first presidential election, which was marred by low voter turnout, charges of fraud, and government efforts to prevent opposition candidates from participating effectively.

The report is damning on Mubarak’s human rights record:

The government’s respect for human rights remained poor, and serious abuses continued in many areas. The government limited citizens’ right to change their government and continued a state of emergency that has been in place almost continuously since 1967. Security forces used unwarranted lethal force and tortured and abused prisoners and detainees, in most cases with impunity.(emphasis added)

Biden said that Mubarak should not step down because he is an important ally in the Middle East. Biden also admits, implicitly, that the Egyptian people’s demands for a government that is not run by a dictator mean nothing if it involves endangering the United States’ geopolitical interests.

Endorsing a dictatorship is bad enough on a regular day; doing so when there is widespread popular unrest is insidious and will undoubtedly reap disastrous consequences, such as future attacks on the endorser.

It is time that the U.S. halt its support for Hosni Mubarak and fully support the Egyptian peoples’ demand for a government that respects its desires and rights. To do otherwise is to commit a crime against humanity.

Tags: Dictatorship, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Revolution