"Egyption President Hosni Mubarak may not heed the chanted demands from Egypt's masses that his time is up, but there's a deafening silence from U.S. President Barack Obama bearing the same blunt message," Globe Washington correspondent Paul Koring writes Monday in his analysis Obama's deafening silence on Mubarak speaks louder than words.
"Not a trace of support for Mr. Mubarak slipped from the lips of senior U.S. officials, even when asked bluntly if the United States backed its oldest and most reliable Arab ally," Mr. Koring added.
What side is the U.S on: Mubarak or the people in the streets?
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked repeatedly the basic question that everyone in the Arab world wants answered, from Saudi princes in their palaces to Yemeni peasants.
"There's another choice," Ms. Clinton hedged. "It's the Egyptian people. We are on the side, as we have been for more than 30 years, of a democratic Egypt that provides both political and economic rights to its people, that respects the universal human rights of all."
Mr. Koring opines: "Proving that policy is more than pious protestations is the credibility test facing Mr. Obama.
"Washington's nightmare scenario is that the Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt's outlawed Islamic party - might be the void-filler. Just as Hamas won democratic legitimacy in Gaza and Hezbollah holds sway in Lebanon, the reality is that free and fair elections in the Arab world rarely match America's interests.
"What was also clear was that after three decades of loyalty to successive American administrations - keeping a cold peace with Israel, brokering for the Palestinians, cracking down on al-Qaeda, torturing suspected terrorists and rallying to Washington's war cries - Mr. Mubarak is getting dumped.
"Not since the Shah of Iran was dumped in 1979 has Washington abandoned an ally so quickly," Mr. Koring concludes.
What do you think? Will the Obama administration continue to be able to walk this fine line? Or will U.S. policy have to change as events unfold.
Mr. Koring was online earlier today to answer that question and others you may have.
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