A Degradating End

Qaddafi will, along with Hitler and Hussein, take his place in the annals of history and crimes to humanity.

And how to judge them (and others of course)?  Are they devils come to wreak evil upon the world?  Or are they ordinary humans whose accumulation of power placed them in a position where they could no longer see the evil they brought.  I don't know the answer.

I thought I believed that we all choose the lives we enter into. That if our lives are difficult, it is because we've chosen that in order to work through some weaknesses.  I feel naive in that belief now as I contemplate what men like Qaddafi face ahead.  Will it all become clear to him, once he's made the "grand transition" and will he regret not using his tremendous power to enrich the lives of his countrymen rather than to drag them into poverty and dependence and degradation. 

I do not know the answer.

I do know that the Libyan people have brought about a revolution and thrown off the mantel of oppression.  They have won and I commend them. Now let them show us what they can do with the liberty they've won. 

Voices from Tahrir

My heartfelt congratulations to the people in Tahrir Square. Now that Mubarek is gone, what next?

Will the U.S. be happy with the results of a free democratic election, no matter who becomes the next Egyptian leader? Even if the Muslim Brotherhood gains seats in the newly formed Parliament, it does not mean it is not a democratic process. The Brotherhood, as I understand it, represents no more than 25 or 30 percent of the population, but that is a significant minority which must be heard.

The fear is of course that a new Egyptian democracy will be hijacked as it was in Iran June a year and a half ago or back when the Shah was removed from his throne during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The people of Egypt are not going to let this happen: theirs is an educated and intelligent movement and they have history to learn from.

The U.S. can not support democratic elections in the middle east and then quarrel with the results.

Egypt

Will the people in Tahrir Square be happy with Suleiman as interim president -- until the September elections?

Wael Ghonim--is he the one?

I'm not so sure. A brave young man, yes. But the leader of the opposition -- maybe not.