“Now Means Now”

It’s really strange: Masses take to the streets in an Arab nation, and, for once, no U.S. flags are burned. For anyone trying to find an example of American crisis management effectiveness, this could well be it.

After a period of caution at the outset, Washington has finally taken a definite position. Special Envoy Frank Wisner, who was tasked with providing a transition in Cairo that would be relatively friction-free, returned home empty-handed. President Hosni Mubarak stubbornly clings to power and has unleashed his goon squads. Thus, the old man who had been the guarantor of regional stability for the United States all these years had finally become a burden to America.

And the United States is letting Mubarak know what the reality is; President Obama demanded an immediate transfer of power in Egypt. For all those in Cairo who might misunderstand, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs explained, “Now means now.” And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the Egyptian military while asking the new Egyptian vice president to look into those responsible for the violence.

The White House has hesitated to make an outright demand for Mubarak’s resignation. It won’t be long, however, before the inner circle of the Egyptian regime gets the message that this mortgage is just too big for Mubarak to handle.