The Morning After

While CNN frets, Cairo rejoices.

When Hosni Mubarak announced his resignation, Egypt exploded.  Not in strife or anger, but in triumph and elation.  My sister and her husband were present at the celebrations in Tahrir Square, and they sent a few pictures.

I’ve rarely seen the spirit of hope and optimism so eloquently conveyed.

Of course, to hear it from the Western media, the whole situation is a powder keg waiting to blow.  We’ve consistently sold the Egyptian people short, and they’ve consistently surprised everyone.  We expected civil war, and they showed us that a peaceful revolution is still possible in this day and age.

Their will could not be broken by Mubarak’s thugs.  It could not be starved by being deferred.  It could not be silenced by censorship.

Yet, the American media wring their hands and predict gloom.  Perhaps it’s the embarrassment of admitting that we’ve been willing to back tyrants in the name of regional stability.  I once mentioned this hypocrisy to a friend in foreign policy circles, and his response was, “yeah, he’s a dictator, but he’s our dictator.”

I’d hoped we could have gotten past that when the Cold War ended.

In any case, the Egyptians have taken ownership of their own destiny.  The balance will shift, but I’m not getting the impression that these people would have risked so much and worked so hard just to trade one set of chains for another.  They want a better life and a representative government, not another dictator with a different face.

Normally, I’d be terrified at the prospect of the military running any government. Historically, that’s never ended up well.  However, the Egyptians have broken quite a few precedents in recent days, and by all accounts, the Higher Council is taking their role as caretaker very seriously.

The coming days and weeks will be fascinating.  We’ve seen history in the making, and it’s still being written.