What the United States has at stake in Egypt

[ErnstBlofeld]

MSNBC/Tom Curry:

Though it may be weeks before the outcome of the protests in Egypt is clear, the turmoil that erupted there raises an obvious question: If the $68 billion in foreign aid the U.S. has sent to Egypt since 1948 is seen is an investment in political stability in the Middle East, has the investment benefited U.S. interests or is it failing or perhaps even backfiring?

Under both Democratic and Republican presidents for the past 60 years the United States has sent more than $68 billion in economic and military aid to Egyptian governments.

In fiscal 2009, the United States spent about $1.5 billion on aid to Egypt, 86 percent of it military aid. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday that the U.S. aid package would be reviewed in light of how Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's government responds to the unrest.

In a broadcast address to the nation on Friday night, Mubarak said he'd pursue reform of government and the economy, including replacing his entire Cabinet, but he portrayed the anti-government uprising as part of a plot to destabilize Egypt and topple his regime

[ErnstBlofeld]

“The nightmare for the United States is a kind of replication of Iran in 1979, where there are huge protests against the authoritarian ruler identified as being close to the United States, and that ruler falls, and then the U.S. is left with very few levers of influence in the new regime,”