Tony Karon- Time Magazine
Only a madman would have predicted, even nine months ago, that Egyptian TV's ramadan special, this year, would be the trial of Hosni Mubarak. It's a compelling spectacle, to be sure, the erstwhile epitome of the Arab "strongman" now laid low on his sickbed inside a courtroom cage, forced to answer for the violence unleashed by his regime on peaceful protestors last winter, and for the years of corruption and abuse that preceded it. If Egypt's revolution were a Hollywood movie, this might be a fitting moment to fade to black and roll the credits. But Egypt's revolution is not a movie -- nor even a completed revolution, as yet. And despite the symbolic power in the image of a once-unassailable dictator being clapped irons to face justice, Mubarak's ritual humiliation doesn't necessarily reflect the end of the regime atop which he sat.
On the contrary, as things stand, Mubarak may simply be -- albeit unwillingly -- taking one for the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment