First the farce and then the tragedy

In the Guardian a couple of days ago it was reported that "President Hosni Mubarak's family fortune could be as much as $70bn (£43.5bn) according to analysis by Middle East experts, with much of his wealth in British and Swiss banks or tied up in real estate in London, New York, Los Angeles and along expensive tracts of the Red Sea coast."

There is no indication of who these "experts" might be. However, we might believe that with wealth in British and Swiss banks or tied up in real estate here, there and everywhere, that this man has not only been denying his countrymen their basic rights for decades but has indeed been robbing them blind. Nevertheless, there we have Hillary Clinton saying earlier today,that "Mubarak's departure could affect "significant actions" he has himself taken to get the reform process started."

Now, while this might be some sort of wishful thinking "Realpolitik" on Hillary's part and indicative of an indulgence that the rest of the administration appears to share, the reality is very different and the nonsense which is being spouted forth by Washington is a product of a power which is in rapid decline. Unfortunately, while the farce that has long since taken hold entitles us to a giggle or two, we should be wary of the tragedy to follow for the fact is, no matter who comes to power in Egypt, they will find it very difficult to cooperate in anyway with Uncle Sam and his Zionist chums and should they do so their fate will not be too different from the one faced by the $70 billion dollar man on the Nile.