Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire! Obama Tries to Choose Sides on Egypt

Now that one of the favorite dictators of America and her Middle East allies is about to go one way or another, Obama seems to have picked the winning side and the spin is on: (1) Obama has been top of it for 2 long years, and (2) the US is behind the popular uprising.

Yeah right.

One of the outsourced White House mouthpiece, aka ABC News, reports on the first, citing David Axelrod, Obama's departing senior advisor:

Axelrod: President Obama Has “On Several Occasions Directly Confronted” Mubarak on Human Rights for the Past 2 Years “To Get Ahead of This”

In a network exclusive interview to air on Nightline tonight [1/28], we sat down this afternoon with White House senior adviser David Axelrod, the president’s closest aide, whose last day at the White House is today.

We talked about a number of issues in this exit interview, but perhaps most news-worthy were his comments on Egypt in which Axelrod suggested President Obama has for two years “directly confronted” the Egyptian president over human rights issues in order to get ahead of growing discontent among his people – a stronger characterization of President Obama’s discussions with Mubarak than we’ve so far heard from the White House.

The relevant section of the interview is below.

TAPPER: Hosni Mubarak is not a good guy and that government tortures, is repressive, doesn’t believe in the same freedoms we do and they’re also one of our closest allies in the Middle East.

AXELROD: Obviously these are the challenges of the presidency in a very difficult world. And, but the way he’s confronted it, is he went to Cairo and talked about the need, the universal human rights of people. He’s -- on several occasions directly confronted Pres. Mubarak on it. And pushed him on the need for political reform --

TAPPER: To get ahead of this.

AXELROD: -- in his country. Exactly to get ahead of this. This is a project he’s been working on for 2 years ...

... and this:

Egypt has been helpful in the region on some issues and there’s no question about that. Right now, we strongly, strongly believe that they need to restrain their security forces and police and set in motion a process to deal with the very legitimate grievances of people there.

On some issues?

Egypt has been one of the favorite places for Clinton, Bush the Lesser and Obama to send so-called "terrorists" for "rendition" (aka torture by proxy). Its military has been trained by Americans and equipped with American weapons, just like in many other troubled spots in the world. To the protesters on the streets of Egypt, the military and the police represent not just the corrupt, dictatorial regime of Mubarak but the United States.

Egypt was also the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel. (By the way, the Egyptian president who signed the accord, Anwar El Sadat, was assassinated in 1981 and the then-vice president succeeded him. Hosni Mubarak was that VP.)

On the second, citing WikiLeaks, UK's Telegraph reports (1/28/2011) that the US has been on top of it for not just 2 but 3 years (!) by supporting the dissidents and planning the regime change to take place in 2011. Uh huh.

The American government secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change” for the past three years, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

The disclosures, contained in previously secret US diplomatic dispatches released by the WikiLeaks website, show American officials pressed the Egyptian government to release other dissidents who had been detained by the police.

...In a secret diplomatic dispatch, sent on December 30 2008, Margaret Scobey, the US Ambassador to Cairo, recorded that opposition groups had allegedly drawn up secret plans for “regime change” to take place before elections, scheduled for September this year.

The memo, which Ambassador Scobey sent to the US Secretary of State in Washington DC, was marked “confidential” and headed: “April 6 activist on his US visit and regime change in Egypt.”

It said the activist claimed “several opposition forces” had “agreed to support an unwritten plan for a transition to a parliamentary democracy, involving a weakened presidency and an empowered prime minister and parliament, before the scheduled 2011 presidential elections”. The embassy’s source said the plan was “so sensitive it cannot be written down”.

Well that looks as credible as Ahmed Chalabi, doesn't it?

So a revolution should be planned either by the CIA or George Soros and carried out by their favorite dissidents; otherwise it is just a terrorism.

Muslim Brotherhood didn't participate in the demonstration until Friday. El Baradei, a opposition figure, may be "prominent" in the eyes of Americans but not in the eyes of Egyptians on the street, as Robert Fisk indicates.

Judging by the disjointed, confused reaction coming from his administration (basically the effort to spin it to enhance their image, just a branding exercise again), the whole thing looks totally over the head of the ex-community organizer at the White House who increasingly rules by fiat (executive orders). Above his pay grade. This is for adults.

On top of it for two years? Give me a break.

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