News Nuggets 546

Scenes from Tahrir Square yesterday.  From the Huffington Post.

Egypt's Joy as Mubarak Quits (Tariq Ali) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"With Hosni Mubarak's departure, the age of political reason is returning to Egypt and the wider Arab world."
Here again -- this does not sound like the harbinger of Islamist fundamentalism.  Just the opposite.

In Mubarak's Final Hours, Defiance Surprises U.S. and Threatens to Unleash Chaos from the Washington Post
"The scheme would unfold Thursday, with the only uncertainty being Mubarak's fate. "There were two scenarios: He would either leave office, or he would transfer power," said a U.S. government official who was briefed on the plan. "These were not speculative scenarios. There was solid information" and a carefully crafted script.  But the Egyptian president decided at the last minute to change the ending. "Mubarak called an audible," the official said."

Fall of Mubarak Shakes Middle East from the Wall Street Journal
"Army Takes Control as President Yields to Furious Protests; Region Astir as Second Arab Leader Is Toppled in Two Months."

Mubarak Assets Frozen by Swiss Government from CNN Money
"Switzerland's government moved Friday to freeze any assets in the country's banks that might belong to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak or his family, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday."

Mubarak's Lesson About The Limits of American Influence (Marc Ambinder) from the National Journal
"This morning--Washington time--word came from Mubarak’s inner circle that Mubarak had accepted his fate. The military accepted this on face value and began to execute what appeared to be a well-planned, highly public transition ritual. The Egyptian diplomatic corps began to tell their contacts in other countries. The American embassy in Cairo passed word directly to Obama through the National Security Staff and the State Department. This time, it seemed real. Obama allowed himself a rare moment of imprudence, predicting that the day ahead would be transformational and historic. Then Mubarak changed his mind."

Postcard From a Free Egypt (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"Tomorrow we can all talk about how hard this transition will be, how many pitfalls and uncertainties lie ahead for Egypt, but to be in Tahrir Square tonight, to feel the energy and pride of a people taking back the keys to their country and their future from a tired old dictator, was a privilege."

After Thursday Speech, White House Pushed Mubarak: You Must Satisfy the Demonstrators In the Street from ABC News
"Sources tell ABC News that after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak spoke last night, handing over powers to his vice president but not stepping down, the White House and Obama administration in general conveyed to Egyptian government --at all levels – that his message was not enough for the demonstrators, whom they needed to satisfy or the crisis would continue and get worse."

Out of Egyptian Protests a New Obama Doctrine is Born (Simon Tisdall) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"US president's decision to back revolt against Mubarak-led repression has implications for region's autocrats."

Who Lost Egypt: Not Obama for Sure (Aaron David Miller) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Don't blame Washington for walking the political tightrope in Egypt. It's simply not our revolution."

Gates and Mullen in Close Contact with Egyptian Military (Josh Rogin) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The Gates and Mullen phone calls are emblematic of the sustained but quiet engagement with their military counterparts that the Pentagon has been undertaking throughout the crisis. That effort has been especially important in recent days, as the military's role has increased and its allegiances have come under closer scrutiny."

‘This Is Who Egyptians Are’ (Yasmine El Rashidi) from the New York Review of Books
An in-depth look at how events unfolded on the ground the four days before Mubarak stepped down.

Sometimes It's Right to Cooperate with Dictators from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The uprisings in the Arab world have prompted much hand-wringing among Europeans, who worry that the West has been too lenient with the region's autocrats. Sometimes, however, tolerating dictators is very much in the West's best interest."
And sometimes it is the dumbest thing imaginable.  Lots of dictators in the Middle East seem to be very much misreading what's happening in Egypt and somehow thinking that Obama (or anyone) could (or should have) saved Mubarak.

Important reverberations around the Middle East:
Deep US-Saudi Rift over Egypt: Abdullah stands by Mubarak, turns to Tehran from the Debkafile [of Israel in English]
FYI: Debkafile is an Israeli intelligence news blog.
"The conversation between President Barack Obama and Saudi King Abdullah early Thursday, Feb. 10, was the most acerbic the US president has ever had with an Arab ruler, DEBKAfile's Middle East sources report. They had a serious falling-out on the Egyptian crisis which so enraged the king that some US and Middle East sources reported he suffered a sudden heart attack. Rumors that he had died rocked the world financial and oil markets that morning and were denied by an adviser to the ruling family. Some Gulf sources say he has had heart attacks in the past. Those sources disclose that the call which Obama put into Abdullah, who is recuperating from back surgery at his palace in Morocco, brought their relations into deep crisis and placed in jeopardythe entire edifice of US Iran and Middle East policies."

Blow-Up in the Gulf from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The revolution arrives in Bahrain ... and Kuwait, and the Emirates."

The Al Jazeera Effect: The Inside Story of Egypt's TV Wars and How Saudi Arabia Could be Next from Foreign Policy Magazine
""Long live Al Jazeera!" chanted Egyptian protesters in Tahrir Square on Feb. 6. Many Arabs -- not least the staff at Al Jazeera -- have said for years that the Arab satellite network would help bring about a popular revolution in the Middle East. Now, after 15 years of broadcasting, it appears the prediction has come true."

Echoes of Cairo In Tehran from The Diplomat
"Iran’s reformist Green Movement looks like it’s beginning to regroup. But is President Obama paying attention?"
Ahmadinejhad has been trying to spin the Egypt revolt like it is comparable with the 1979 Iran revolution -- but the truth is that its the Green Movement in Iran that is actually getting inspired.  Iran's conservative leadership are NOT HAPPY about the direction the Egypt protests have gone.  Iran's brand of "big change" is deeply threatened by what has happened.

Algeria Police Stifle Egypt-Inspired Protest from Reuters via RealClearWorld
"Thousands of police in riot gear blocked off the center of Algeria's capital on Saturday and stopped government opponents from staging a protest march that sought to emulate Egypt's popular revolt."

Who's Next? from Freedom House
"With Hosni Mubarak stepping down in Egypt, tyrants around the world may be anxiously wondering who will be the next to fall. Here are some gentle suggestions."

Israel's Moment to be Bold (Robert Shrum) from The Week
"The crisis in Egypt will present Israel with an opportunity to seize the high ground — and maybe peace, too."
A good sentiment -- but I suspect Israel has missed its opportunity to be bold.  What is predictable is that the Palestinians and the Egyptians will put ALL peace talks on hold until the Egyptians establish a new government.  Once THAT happens, what's predictable is that whoever is leading that new gov't is going to be MUCH MORE hard-nosed in its dealings with Israel -- and the PA will look for and expect that they have a NEW patron in Cairo.  Make no mistake: together the PA and new leadership in Cairo are going to put Netenyahu on the spot.  They are going to drive a MUCH HARDER BARGAIN!  Netenyahu and company will curse themselves for not seizing the many opportunities they have had in the last several years to cut a very favorable deal with the PA.  I suspect that the window of opportunity for a favorable deal got slammed shut yesterday.  Now, almost certainly the Israelis -- if they want to continue to enjoy some semblance of normalcy with Egypt [and other moderate Arab states] -- will have to FIGHT to resist much more serious concessions.

Republican Says Government Shutdown Possible, as House GOP Work to Bridge Divisions from CNN
"A top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee says that the fight to cut spending could lead to a government shut down."

Jon Kyl Retires: Who's the Next Senate Dropout? (David Graham) from the Daily Beast
"As the retirements of Jon Kyl and Jim Webb make plain, the era of Senator-for-Life Strom Thurmond is over. David A. Graham reports on what's pushing senators out early—and more possible retirees, from John Ensign to Ben Nelson."

The Republicans' CPAC Misfire (Eleanor Clift) from the Daily Beast
"Conservatives won big in the midterms by focusing on government, not social issues. But they seem to be going back to their old ways. Eleanor Clift reports from CPAC."

In the Belly of the Beast: CPAC's Carnival of Groups Offers a Glimpse into the Conservative Universe (Bradford Plumer) from the New Republic
"Down in the basement of the Marriott sits a convention hall lined with various groups hawking pamphlets and various bits of swag. The scene offers a glimpse of the varied organizations that compose the conservative universe."

Abraham Lincoln, Inflationist (Paul Krugman) form the New York Times
"There was a time when Republicans used to refer to themselves, proudly, as “the party of Lincoln.” But you don’t hear that line much these days. Why?"

MOBY DICK NUGGET!!
Divers Find Shipwreck of Doomed Sailor who Inspired Classic Tale of Moby Dick Off Coast of Hawaii from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"When, in 1820, a fierce sperm whale sank George Pollard's first whaling ship — Essex — it captured the imagination of author Herman Melville, who published the book in 1851. And, just three years after his first ship sank, a second whaler captained by Pollard, 30, struck a coral reef during a night storm and sank in shallow water. Marine archaeologists scouring remote atolls 600 miles northwest of Honolulu have found the wreck site of Pollard's second vessel, the Two Brothers."

ICE AGE NUGGET!!
"Remarkable" Ice Age Fossil Cache Found from National Geographic News
""I'm trying to think of a cooler fossil that I've even seen in my life," dig team member Kirk Johnson, chief curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, said in a statement. The bison skull is part of a "bumper crop" of Ice Age animals recently discovered at the site, including American mastodons, Columbian mammoths, tiger salamanders, and a Jefferson's ground sloth—the first ever found in Colorado, according to the Denver museum."