Monday September 29, 2008

I've Been Thinking:

In Egypt an appeals court upheld the conviction, but reduced the sentence, of a news editor who wrote a news story about President Mubarak.
The incident took place last March.
The original 6 month sentence was reduced to 2 months, but the conviction was upheld.

The editor, Ibrahim Eissa, was found guilty of threatening national stability by questioning the health of the president.
Indeed, Mubarak's health was in question in March and I was able to bring that fact to the attention of the Western press precisely because Eissa covered the subject.

Egypt is one of the West's most significant allies and one of the chief issues on which that alliance balances is the issue of transition. So if the health of the president is in question, that certainly is a huge issue for the West and for Western decision makers.

Eissa provided a great service, not a disservice.
But I'm a Westerner and that's the way I think.
This entire incident should serve to remind us that Egypt is a not a democracy, Egypt is a dictatorship.

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