Stand Off in Egypt

Emboldened no doubt by the support from Saudi Arabia and the ineptitude of the Bummer administration in its handling of the crisis, Mubarak has ensured that Bummer and many others have ended up with egg all over their faces by failing to bring his resignation date forward as had been so confidently predicted right up to the moment of the announcement last night that Mubarak had decided to stay on until the end. Whether Mubarak has made a wise decision or not remains to be seen although it is doubtful he would have defied the pressure for him to go if he knew the army would not stand by him as from what one gathers the army is the single most important institution in the country and is always in the background controlling the government machine. What will the crowd do now? Will they continue to occupy Tahrir Square or will they pack their tents and depart one by one? My guess is that in a few days only a token presence will be left in the Square whilst the representatives of the various protesters try to negotiate reforms with the government of which only those agreeable to the army will be enacted. The story might be different if a strong leader of the protestors had emerged but that does not seem to have happened in this case.