Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state and presidential adviser, told Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop with Betty Liu” February 1, 2011, that Egyptian President Mubarak’s time is running out. “It’s only a question of months at most — that Mubarak will resign,” Kissinger said, describing Mubarak’s removal as “the first scene of the first act” in Egypt’s political transformation. “We are going to go through a period of great uncertainty and a lot of maneuvering once the lid is off.”
Kissinger may be right on this count. Mohamed El Baradei, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and UN atomic energy inspector whom the United States fashions as an opposition leader it can trust, is at best a transitional figure because he lacks a political base.
“I think almost certainly he will be a temporary figure,” Kissinger said. “In order to govern, you have to represent some sort of forces, and I don’t know what forces El Baradei represents.” He also said the US is in the dark regarding the evolving situation in Egypt.
“We don’t really know what’s going on,” he said. “We don’t know what is meant by the people of Egypt at this particular point. We know there are big demonstrations and they must represent various elements that exist in Egypt. So as I understand our position, it is that we hope it will be a peaceful transition.”
He added that he’d like to see “a pluralistic government that has re-elections” and which establishes a government that will “think about the economic recovery of Egypt.” “In my view, it’s going to be a long process until we get to that point.”
Kissinger did not mention how expected US military and financial aid to Egypt would prolong Mubarak’s departure and potentially lead to further bloodshed. Nor did Kissinger recognize other, and perhaps more legitimate opposition leaders that have emerged in the past few days, including Google Egypt Country Manager Wael Fakharany