The situation in Egypt

Following the uprising in Tunisia, Egypt has become the center of uprisings and protests against the Mubarak government. Egypt, I believe is the recipient of the second most US aid at around $1.5 billion per year. Moments ago, Fox News reported that the Obama government was considering suspending its financial support of Egypt in the wake of the uprising and the lack of any contact with President Mubarak. As the press secretary Robert Gibbs stated, "Grievances in Egypt have to be addresses by the government."

The situation in Egypt could be a huge problem for the Middle East and the world. Egypt has typically been one of the US's best allies in the region, outside of Israel. If Egypt's government is to fall and be replaced by a islamic govern run by a group such as the Muslim Brotherhood, many other countries in the Middle East might also run into many problems. Countries, such as Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Oman might also become the targets of radical islamic protestors hoping to overthrow the governments. The US can not allow that to happen. The US must stand with its allies. We can not accept a radical islamic takeover of the Middle East.

This situation is a huge issue for the Obama Administration and we can only hope that they understand that this protest could lead to additional situations throughout the region. The fact that President Obama has not reached out to President Mubarak so far sends a pretty strong signal that the administration either doesn't feel that the situation is all that bad or that they believe that Mubarak is no longer in control of the country, or in the worst case scenario that they have no idea what to do. This sounds a lot like the 2008 campaign where then Senator Clinton ran the ad referring to the 2:00am phone call stating a diplomatic crisis breaking out and who do you want to take that call? We can only hope that a peaceful resolution is found and a non-radical islamic government does not take over...