ALISON WEIR : Is Mubarak approaching his end?

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ruled his country with an iron fist, backed by the US along with Egypt’s strong neighboring ally Israel; however, the Egyptian people are forming a common uprising against his regime.

— Alison Weir / PRESS TV

Press TV interviewed Alison Weir, Executive Director of “If Americans Knew” regarding the Egyptian protests, and the position of the United States in this regard, as the common Egyptian people revolt against Mubarak’s regime.

Press TV: Joining us from Sacramento, California we have Alison Weir on the line who is the Executive Director of “If Americans Knew.” Washington must be looking at this Egyptian scenario unfold while biting their nails. We have had Hilary Clinton come out and speak, but she was still at essence standing by her man Hosni Mubarak, wasn’t she?

Weir: Yes she was as was Vice President Biden. They denied Mubarak was a dictator despite all the evidence of the opposite. The US government is in a quandary because it’s very clear. Finally even Americans are seeing a bit that Mubarak does not represent Egyptians, has not been a popular leader, and basically part of the lack of his popularity is that he does the bidding of the United States which does the bidding of Israel. That is the problem and I’m sad to say its unlikely Hillary Clinton will say that.

Press TV: What do you think the discussions in the State Department and at the White House might be behind closed doors now? How are they looking at the scenario? What planning is taking place? Do they have a plan B?

Weir: It’s difficult to know because what goes on in the United States is that the State Department that is charged to try to defend and protect American interests is subservient to the Israeli lobby,  which largely controls the elected officials.  The Israeli lobby arranged the deal in approximately 1979.  They bought off Egypt, which is the largest, most populous and richest country in the Middle East from supporting Palestinian rights, and to make its own unilateral peace arrangement with Israel.

In return the United States has been giving Egypt a massive amount of  tax money every year. It’s something like 28 billion dollars over the last 30 years basically on the basis of this arrangement. Now the State Department is in a quandary because the people of Egypt have finally begun the process of probably overthrowing an unpopular dictator who was helping Israel to imprison the people of Gaza. People because of programs such as yours, and Al-Jazeera and other international media in Egypt were very aware of what was being done to the people of Gaza, which was to starve them and cause a massive humanitarian crisis. That was partially enabled because of the Mubarak regime closing off the border between Egypt and Gaza and forcing the imprisonment of the Palestinian people.

Press TV: Comparing to the Iranian Islamic Revolution, which was a long time ago, 32 years ago, it’s a big difference that a lot of people have been commenting on though. Of course in Iran there was clear leadership. In Tunisia and Egypt and Yemen and even in other areas in other countries in the region where this kind of political movement is taking place there isn’t clear leadership. Is that positive or negative for these movements?

Weir: It’s probably both. Having strong leadership can of course be valuable, if its wise leadership and leadership with the ability to rally the people and be in concert with what they believe in. However, in some ways that it is a popular uprising, and it is as we call in the US more of a grass roots movement that was representing the people of Egypt; that’s real valuable…. And I expect that Mubarak is out he is. I’m not there on the ground so I’m less knowledgeable in that aspect, but if he is out as is the expectation, who will replace him is a major concern. Who will be funding that person? What will be his ties?

NM/PKH

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• US vice president supports Mubarak

Debbie Menon

Debbie Menon is an independent writer based in Dubai. Her main focus are the US-Mid- East Conflicts. Her writing has been featured in many print and online publications.

Her writing reflects the incredible resilience, almost superhuman steadfastness of the occupied and oppressed Palestinians, who are now facing the prospect of a final round of ethnic cleansing. She is committed to exposing Israel’s Lobbies’ control of ‘U.S. Middle East Policy. Control’ which amounts to treason by the Zionist lobbies in America and its stooges in Congress, and that guarantees there can never be a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, only catastrophe for all, in the region and the world.

Her mission is to inform and educate internet viewers seeking unfiltered information about real events on issues of the US/Middle East conflicts that are unreported, underreported, or distorted in the American media. PS: For those of her detractors that think she is being selective and even “one-sided,” tough, that is the point of her work, to present an alternative view and interpretation of the US-Israel-Middle East conflict, that has been completely ignored in mainstream discourse.

The purpose is to look at the current reality from a different and critical perspective, not to simply rehash the pro-US/Israel perspective, smoke and mirrors that has been allowed to utterly and completely dominate Mainstream discourse.