WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – He spoke of the world witnessing a true moment of history in Egypt, but President Barack Obama also sought to advance U.S. interests in his remarks yesterday about Hosni Mubarak’s fall from power.
Obama sent messages to several key groups related to the uprising — the military, the protesters, and the wider Middle East region. Here are the signals he sought to send:
* To the Egyptian military: Obama praised the military for presiding responsibly over peaceful demonstrations by Egyptian protesters for more than two weeks.
He made clear that he wanted that stance to continue and expected the military to lift the emergency law governing the country, ensure a credible transition to democracy and lay out a clear path for free elections.
Unlike the White House’s repeated threats to the government of former President Mubarak, Obama did not suggest he would revisit U.S. aid policy to the country or the military. Instead, he said the United States was ready to provide any assistance necessary for a democratic transition to continue.
The message: If the military keeps up its peaceful behavior, money from U.S. coffers will continue to flow its way. Washington gives some $1.3 billion a year in military aid to Cairo.
* To the protesters: Obama lavished praise on the protesters who succeeded in pushing Mubarak — a longtime U.S. ally — out of power.
By talking of them as an inspiration and comparing their movement to other leaders who spurred peaceful change such as Mahatma Gandhi in India and Martin Luther King in the United States, Obama sought to smooth over hard feelings among some Egyptians who had felt Washington did not move quickly enough to back them instead of Mubarak during the days of massive protests.
