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WikiLeaks Cables Show Close US Relationship With Egyptian President
US embassy cable predicted Hosni Mubarak, if still alive in 2011, would run again for presidency 'and, inevitably, win'
Secret US embassy cables sent from Cairo in the past two years reveal that the Obama administration wanted to maintain a close political and military relationship with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, who is now facing a popular uprising.
A frank briefing note in May 2009 ahead of Mubarak's trip to Washington, leaked by WikiLeaks, reported that the Egyptian president had a dismal opinion of Obama's predecessor, George Bush.
"The Egyptians want the visit to demonstrate that Egypt remains America's 'indispensable Arab ally', and that bilateral tensions have abated. President Mubarak is the proud leader of a proud nation ... Mubarak is 81 years old and in reasonably good health; his most notable problem is a hearing deficit in his left ear. He responds well to respect for Egypt and for his position, but is not swayed by personal flattery," the cable said.
"Mubarak peppers his observations with anecdotes that demonstrate both his long experience and his sense of humor ... During his 28-year tenure, he survived at least three assassination attempts, maintained peace with Israel, weathered two wars in Iraq and post-2003 regional instability, intermittent economic downturns, and a manageable but chronic internal terrorist threat.
"He is a tried and true realist, innately cautious and conservative, and has little time for idealistic goals. Mubarak viewed President Bush as naive, controlled by subordinates, and totally unprepared for dealing with post-Saddam Iraq, especially the rise of Iran's regional influence."
It predicted that if Mubarak were still alive for Egypt's next presidential election in 2011, "it is likely he will run again and, inevitably, win". The most likely contender to succeed him was his son Gamal, the cable suggested.
Another cable, dated 23 February 2009, described a meeting between Gamal and the maverick US senator Joe Lieberman. Lieberman is said to have listened as the president's son expounded on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Iran's growing regional influence and how Saddam Hussein – for all his flaws – was a bulwark against Iranian ambitions.
Another cable, from March 2009, shows the US's astonishingly intimate military relationship with Egypt. Washington provides Cairo $1.3bn annually in foreign military finance (FMF) to purchase US weapons and defence equipment, and the cable said. "President Mubarak and military leaders view our military assistance programme as the cornerstone of our mil-mil relationship and consider the $1.3bn in annual FMF as 'untouchable compensation' for making and maintaining peace with Israel.
"The tangible benefits to our mil-mil relationship are clear: Egypt remains at peace with Israel, and the US military enjoys priority access to the Suez canal and Egyptian airspace."
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79 Comments so far
Show AllGee another Wikileak about something we already knew and had documented. Will the surprises never end?
Wikileaks is serving a mighty purpose in the world. You may have already known these things. Good on you. The fact is, a LOT of people don't and are just now becoming engaged. Wikileaks is generating a lot of interest for a lot of people and that is fantastic! Cynicism will get you nowhere.
Thank you for reminding us of that very important yet easily overlooked truth!
You are right.
Oikos, yes, Wikileaks you might say, has taken the cover or the 'shade' away from this hidden global ruling-elite corporate/financial/militarist Empire which control 'our' government by hiding behind the facade of its 'bought and owned' Two-Party "Vichy" sham of faux democracy.
Some don't want to have this fact of the global Empire come out into the sunshine --- to come out of the shade (if you will).
Perhaps, even here on CD, there are some who want to maintain the "shade" covering up Empire --- or of course, there may just be some little pissants who are making money out of defending Empire with shade?
Who knows what lurks in the hearts of some men?
Best,
Alan
Outstanding Post!
Well, said Allen!
TJ
Yeah, that's the dismissive of the right, and no I didn't know this before it before I saw this new release and I bet you didn't actually know it either.
If you didn't know it, then you are simply uninformed.
Thus, you counter your own argument. It is important for this information to be widely disseminated via wikileaks, as most people are not as well informed as you seem to be ... agreed?
getting scared and pissed, eh?
Really, since when do we need WikiLeaks to know that the US supports Egypt's dictatorship, including 1.5 billion in cash every year.
Just because YOU know it, and the CD posters here know it, doesn't mean the vast majority of the American sheeple know it. You take for granted so many things that you and I know, but I don't think you REALLY realize just how dumbed-down the average AmeriKKKan is.
Test it: go to a pub/bar/coffee shop in your neighborhood, and ask people if they know about these "simple facts." I'll bet you a million dollars the majority have no fucking clue that the U.S. has supported/propped up dozens of brutal dictatorships across the globe for decades, such as Egypt.
Your assumption that most Americans are as informed as you is very, VERY ill-placed.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."
Let not consider Wikileaks in Egypt. Back home even if Amerikka knows. They’re too stupid to vote the crooks out of office. Example: Obama!
We don need no stinkin wikileaks low-level documents to tell us that Egypt recieves billions every year from the US taxpayer and the obvious long standing imperial support of Egypt. Another example of kleptocracy and supporting terror by the Empire.
Would you be surprised to know that tens of million of America do not know that or through willful ignorance refuse to believe unless it comes from the donkey's mouth?
I would be surprised if the brainwhashed public did anything about anything that is going on, whether they see the twisted narrative on CNN/FOX/MSNBC or not.
Banskters raping and pillaging, kleptocratic enablers lying through their teeth, trillions squandered on wars to benefit cronies and banksters, theft of social security, erection of an authoritarian police state where the rule of law is suspended, etc. etc. has not sparked them into action. Why would something happening in a land they know nothing about make a difference?
"Why would something happening in a land they know nothing about make a difference?"
That is how the world gets more educated.
You act like you know it all.
Do you think you have the skill to promote socialism?
What difference are you making here just because you know something?
Knowledge is useless if can't communicate in a friendly and helpful manner and your rant is boring.
I think he's only referring to this country, the US. He's right in a lot of ways when you compare this country to almost any. If even the most oppressed such as in Egypt can rise and unite to protest tyranny while our country won't, it doesn't speak well of the American people. Let's ask this. Do you think that the American people, sheeple more like it, will wake up even after what is going on in Egypt?
You wrote: "Let's ask this. Do you think that the American people, sheeple more like it, will wake up even after what is going on in Egypt?"
It is impossible to wake a man up who is pretending to be asleep.
True but I don't think it's completely so. What do the American people know or understand about Egypt much less our government's relationship with their government? Given that, go back and see my previous question again.
maxpayne, your comment, and implied question, as to why the people of the US are so little aware of their relative serfdom is a question that has come up with respect to Tunisia (and now Egypt), and deserves a detailed answer:
It may surprise you (it certainly did me) that the GINI Coefficient of Income Inequality of Tunisia is lower (at .40, that means more fair) than that of the US (which the CIA is still listing as .45).
See charts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2172rank.html
[Note: that the US GINI is more recently noted by Alan Greenspan, of all people, in his latest book, “Age of Turbulence”, as 0.49, and even this figure has probably gotten worse (more inequality) since the great financial fraud and looting of 2008 to 2011 continues.]
When I first compared and thought about this critically regarding Tunisia I was surprised that Tunisia would not have a GINI closer to that of Robert Mugabe’s dictatorial plutocracy of Zimbabwe (GINI 0.53), or the the disguised global corporate/financial/militarist Empire which now fully controls our former country.
I was somewhat surprised that the citizens of Tunisia would actually be revolting, since the CIA warns that only countries with a GINI above 0.45 are likely to experience ‘civil unrest’, social upheavals, and potential revolution——(it may well explain why ‘our’ CIA continues to use the old US GINI of ‘only’ 0.45 and not the newer Greenspan figure 0.49 or the above 0.50 figures that many economists believe the US has actually risen to after the latest/greatest financial looting in history).
However, after some thought I would suggest that the US can allow its own level of GINI of Income Inequality to rise far above that of all functional democracies (in Europe and Japan, which range from the very low and egalitarian 0.23 to 0.34), above even Russia and China, and up to the levels of overt African dictatorships, royal family oil monarchies, and the worst countries on earth, and that US ruling-elite hidden Empire control can tolerate such a massive level of both Gini Income and Wealth Inequality, because the US populace is far more distracted by sophisticated media propaganda and far less aware of reality under this modern Two-Party ‘Vichy’ sham of democracy than are the people of Tunisia (or Egypt now) —- who, under a less guileful control are actually more aware of their oppressors than are America citizens.
As soon as I had the presence of mind to parse this conundrum myself, I immediately remembered the extensive study by Michael Norton of Harvard Business School (which was buried by the US corporatist media, but which is linked below), which compellingly proves that Americans are vastly unaware of just how inequitable a society they live in.
[ HBS Norton: http://www.people.hbs.edu/mnorton/norton ariely in press.pdf
BW review: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_44/b4201008238184.htm
“Most scholars agree that wealth inequality in the United States is at historic highs,
with some estimates suggesting that the top 1% of Americans hold nearly 50% of the
wealth, topping even the levels seen just before the Great Depression in the 1920’s
(Davies, Sandstrom, Shorrocks, & Wolff, 2009; Keister, 2000; Wolff, 2002).”]
In summary, it makes sense to me that the people of the US, since they are highly uninformed (or intentionally mis-informed) of their plight under a well disguised and hidden "Empire of Illusion", seem to be tolerating a level of Income Inequality (as well as guileful and sophisticated spying and other soft police-state security measures) that would cause people less deceived by sophisticated Empire, like those in Tunisia, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy, now Egypt, and even the UK, to be “in the streets” and at a far more substantial level of civil unrest bordering on revolution.
So, I guess we could say, “that’s another thing our hidden Empire is doing for us”, or as Bill Murray might say, “at least we got that going for us”.
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
“Democracy over Empire” Party headquarters
PS. Of course another major reason that the US populace remains so placid while being screwed so purple, can be explained, with a tip of the hat, to our newest and best faux-president and CFO (Chief Facade Officer).
Which I mentioned again, just yesterday, in the CD article on "Fresh Protests Erupt in Egypt":
That's why Obama gets the big bucks, and it's why he's a perfect foil/facade for global Empire.
As I've said here on CD before:
"Obama essentially serves the same disguised role that Polish guards served in the Nazi Empire's work camps; to deceive the prisoners into thinking that they were dealing with anything less than true Nazi SS guards, to relax their communal defenses, and then to uncover any pockets of resistance and facilitate the beatings for the Nazi Empire overlords --- in other words, a stooge.
Of course, Obama serves this function with much more guile, finesse, and sophistication than an ordinary Polish prole. But then, he is serving a much more sophisticated, and Two-Party 'Vichy' facade of 21st century global corporate/financial/militarist Empire than was the Nazi Third Reich Empire. For we are now in the Fourth Reich Empire.
Just to follow-up with the most current Income Inequality data showing how bad the poor and working classes are getting screwed in various countries relative to the idle rich [the HIGHER the GINI Coefficient of Income Inequality, the WORSE the inequality]:
Zimbabwe ------- 0.53
United States -- 0.49
Tunisia -------- 0.40
Egypt ---------- 0.34
England -------- 0.34
France & Greece- 0.33
South Korea ---- 0.31
Germany -------- 0.27
Again, as Bill Murray likes to explain, "At least we got that going for us".
Have a nice day in fantasy land!
So, tell me again why, the Tunisians and the Egyptians, as well as the English, French and Greeks are revolting in the streets -- and the Americans are watching NASCAR, "Dancing with the Stars", and FOX News (sic)?
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
"Democracy over Empire" party headquarters
That's good that you mentioned the numbers and all. I will have to look at what you wrote and think it through some more. It's one thing to get screwed but another on how the screwed respond.
Alan from Maine...I like your style. Your comments are always right on...
And the Super Bowl. Let's not forget the Super Bowl.
Jim Glover, you are no Danny Glover.
I know, I'm the Black Sheep of the family.
But seriously, In Egypt, they don't have the freedom to write anything they want to their politicians or demonstrate as freely as we do without getting in a lot more trouble than here.
I heard their unemployment is about the same but 50 percent earn a few bucks a day.
I think that contributes to the question above about folks here saying we could never do this.
Calling everyone "Sheeple" doesn't help but they let off steam I guess. I feel the lack of revolt here stems more about all the hope in free speech but on top big money controls what is broadcast and so many think writing letters and stuff is gonna make the necessary change when big money controls the politicians.
I hear they have mainly one party in Egypt so the people are not fooled by the promise of an election that will change anything.
I think that means that when they have a demonstration it is a big release of decades of frustration.
But If we did have that kind of revolution in the streets here, I think our police and military would crack down more violently than I am seeing there so far.
They don't have the big two party diversions to divide the people, so when they hit the streets it seems everybody gets it.
Glover is right, imho.
TJ
Mr. Glover
The world gets more educated by reading, thinking and deliberating; not by watching television. If the system is serving your interests, I can understand how you think that my rant is negative and boring. In superficial phony USA, I am supposed to be always Zoloft-happy and chipper. Since you imply that things are not so bad and that "knowing something" makes no difference, I can only infer that:
You believe that we live in a democracy
Your interests are being served by the status quo
You voted for Ds and Obama.
Perhaps I am wrong.
Ignorance and hypocrisy are indeed rampant in the USA. Please do not fall into that stereotype.
Have a Nice Day!
socialist says:
" erection of an authoritarian police state ..."
Quite apropos for the response of the American state. Michele Obama was called in, I hear, to cool said uprising in the state's pants upon seeing all that mayhem in Egypt.
Hello folks, big difference between knowing something in general, often from anonymous sources.
And pure unadultrated raw data proof.
Yes I am amazed at how some get upset if a writer publishes something from wikileaks that just confirms what they knew or read about before.
So true, Glenn.
That one particular TV image yesterday from Cairo of two well dressed businessmen or lawyers, CARRYING brief cases --- WHILE REVOLTING IN THE STREETS, and then jumping over a bridge barricade, said more in that one picture to middle-class American sheeple than most that has been written on many progressive sites.
That "raw data (and picture) proof" from Egypt compellingly puts it in the face of Americans.
Many, otherwise asleep Americans, must have thought; "Gee, that guy looks like my son-in-law, the lawyer in NY. It even looks like his fancy brief case."
"And that well-to-do young guy is actually confronting his government? Wow. What's up in this world?"
"These people don't look like any kind of radicals --- they look like average people in a modern city. It could be Orlando, or Phoenix, or anywhere warm right here in the U.S. The young kids look like college students and the middle class workers look like guys from my office."
"Now that I think of it the people in the streets of London, and Ireland, and Italy also looked just like us. They must be really hurting economically to be doing that? But so are we!"
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
"Democracy over Empire" party headquarters
i believe their 'cozy' relationship is about to implode.......
"The tangible benefits to our mil-mil relationship are clear: Egypt remains at peace with Israel, and the US military enjoys priority access to the Suez canal and Egyptian airspace."
... and to hell with democracy and human rights.
Wikileaks is lifting the curtain on the machinations of the world's powerful, and deserves our thanks and support. Another true hero in informing the world of what is really happening is the Al Jazeera broadcasting service.
Despite attempts to cut off information flow by cutting off cellphone and internet service, governments are unable to cut off all information about what is happening, because Al Jazeera's reporters are stationed across the world, and broadcast live via satellite.
As I listen to U.S. radio today, I am struck by how often I hear U.S. "reporters" say it is hard to get news from Egypt today, because Mubarak has cut off access, while at the same time, I am watching livestream broadcasts from Egypt, in English, on my computer:
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
Great point
Egypt has VSAT internet; cannot shut that down (unless the US tells the US satellite providers to censor data feeds).
It would be interesting to see what inroads Aljazeera makes into US mainstream media. I have been following Aljazeera as well as the Guardian and find much better coverage. Amazing how the convergence of Wikileaks and new media is changing the world for the better.
Cable TV should offer Aljazeera as a counter to the Propaganda Channels.
If Aljazeera were allowed to report, then we could decide.
petrkrop January 28th, 2011 3:09 pm
You are quite right in a sense. But you are also being too hard on the American press. Al-Jazeera is known to have violated several international copyright laws, including the BBC format and even stealing its reporters. American press respects President Mubarak's copyright to all visuals of the mayhem he creates in Cairo and Egypt. Without visuals, the Murkan public will not follow the story if it gets more than two lines long.
Go get em Wiki !
Due to our geographical isolation from most of the world,we for the most part remain ignorant of the happenings in the rest of the world, but that is changing rapidly, through the tech. of the computer age,and people across the world are tiring of the corporate interests dictating the policies that keep people impoverished and beholding to their whims.
Perhaps the new world order, may not look so rosy,for the elites that rule.
lardy1 January 28th, 2011 3:44 pm
I agree with your isolation observation. But I disagree with your geographical characterization of it. We are observing what is happening in Egypt through the Hubble telescope from the planet we live in, which is quite a bit distant from Earth.
Nothing surprising here, but what I cannot understand is why the Tea Partiers are not up in arms over the US tax-payer supported US MIC.
If Tea Partiers believe in the "free market", then quit the subsidies (via FMF and other vehicles) to the US MIC already!
Alas, critical thinking is not a Tea Partier value.
No that is not true. The Tea Party would definitely nick the MIC if it knew what the acronym MIC stands for. Michelle Bachman said that in her response to Obama's speech except that the camera she was facing at the time she said it was to her left. We couldn't see it because our CNN camera was dead centre when she said it. This part of the footage was caught on the CBC camera in Canada which did not catch the rest of the speech which was shown separately by hooking live onto the CNN broadcast.
Solidarity with the people of Egypt in its insurrection against the tyrannical and corrupt regime of US puppet Mubarak!
When Egyptians pick up tear gas canisters fired at them and see 'made in USA' on them they get a bit peeved at the US -- whose massive aid to Mubarak was going for his suppression of them.
What is secret from Americans is often common knowledge among the people in the rest of the world.
When Americans figure out that the US government is also a puppet of the international fascists we might see some interesting events occuring here.
If this has gone unnoticed by anyone it's because they choose not to know. Hell, I would rather believe the us was a democracy instead of a servant of multinational corporations. It's just not true.
I would love to know some details. Maybe Wikkileaks has some in store for us.
bluepilgrim January 28th, 2011 4:10 pm
I was totally with you until your last paragraph which begins with:
" When Americans figure out that the US government is ..."
That is what we in the logic community call a "counterfactual", meaning that the conditional "When ..." is not part of objective reality like a standard conditional such as "When the Sun sets..." It is a hypothetical possibility that may not occur during the current estimates of the life of the Sun, which is about another 8 billion years.
At least Mubarak was right about Bush