Let Egypt Decide

It’s tempting, in light of Egypt’s military and economic dependence on American aid, to believe that the U.S. can control the crisis provoked by mass protests against President Hosni Mubarak. Advocating democracy is different from stage-managing it. …The revolt in Egypt is an indigenous and broad-based movement galvanized by decades of corruption and poverty (as well as by the example of the revolt in Tunisia). The U.S., which can’t know what’s going to happen next, should let events play out, reaffirming this country’s devotion to democracy while recognizing that Egyptians must determine their own destiny.