Egyptian protests: John Bolton calls statements from Obama and Hillary "mush"

It is understandable as to why Hillary has not been clear on where the administration stands in regard to the ongoing Egyptian revolution. On the one hand, Mubarak has been an "important partner" in the Middle East, and yet the people under him deserve to have their rights and freedoms respected. A smooth transition to a democracy for the people is desirable but there is no guarantee that new leadership will bring a better quality of life to the citizens. It could bring worse, especially when Islamic factions come into play.


FORMER U.N. AMBASSADOR JOHN BOLTON relays that we don't yet have evidence that these demonstrations are necessarily about democracy, that "we have an authoritarian regime in power that has been our ally. We don't know at this point what the real alternatives are."


He believes statements from Obama and Hillary have been nothing but "mush" and have only served to show their confusion: "I mean this is a case where we are far better advised to remain silent, try to understand better what's going on, what the stakes are, rather than making statements that other people are parsing to say, 'oh, they are supporting the demonstrators,' 'oh, they are supporting the government.'"



He explains that the rulership of Egypt has "not just been by the Mubarak-family government. The military has ruled Egypt since Gamal Nasser and they overthrew King Farook. It's the military that is the real government and they are not going to go peacefully."

"I think the question is whether and to what extent the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islamists have infiltrated the leadership. If the military holds firm, it's entirely possible, although bloody, that the government can hold onto power. That doesn't necessarily mean Mubarak will be in power, but the military will be, and I think that is why this contrast makes it so important for people to understand, this is not a choice between the Mubarak government on one hand, and sweetness and light, Jeffersonian democracy on the other."


"And I think there is substantial reason, for example, to worry the minority Coptic Christian population, about 10% of the population will be very worried if the Muslim Brotherhood came to power."

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