President Hosni Mubarak announced that he would not run for another term in elections scheduled for the fall, appearing on state television to promise an orderly transition but saying he would serve out his term. In comments translated by CNN, he swore that he would never leave Egypt but would “die on its soil.”
Television cameras showed the vast crowds gathered in Tahrir Square in central Cairo roaring, but not necessarily in approval. The protesters have made the president’s immediate and unconditional resignation a bedrock demand of their movement, and it did not appear that the concession mollified them. Reports said that thousands of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square chanted “Leave! Leave!” after the speech.
Mr. Mubarak’s announcement came after President Obama urged him not to run, effectively withdrawing America’s support for its closest Arab ally, according to American diplomats in Cairo and Washington.
A 30 year presidency! I am so glad that we limited ours to two 4 year terms. The closest we ever got to a lifetime dictator was FDR.
Typical of dictators — too little, too late. Human arrogance knows no limits.
Egyptian military this morning calling for people to leave the streets. This could get tense. Chris Taylor, did you see [url=http://www.slate.com/id/2283168/]this analysis[/url] by Christopher Hitchens, entitled “The Shame Factor”? Among his points: the parliamentary elections last fall were a completely transparent sham. If Mubarak had allowed, say, 25% of the seats to be won by opposition parties, he would have had some degree of plausibility. ALL of the seats won by the ruling party? Arrogant, and unwise.
Unfortunately, instead of “land for peace”, the US has traded the moral high ground for peace, and now we’re seriously compromised with little credibility to deal with a situation in the Middle East that could make it even more hostile and anti-Western than it already is.
2, Nixon would have left office as required by the Constitution.
He has decided not to run for president but instead to run for his
**s? Thhat’d be a good choice just now.