'11 Mumla Abu-Jamal
[col. writ. 8/3/11]

The spectacle was so without precedent that it seemed surreal.

An Egyptian [ex-Presldent, in power for almost 3 decades, Is wheeled into court atop a gurney in a cage, and facing charges from the violent chaos that rocked Tahrir Square In the Spring (and also official corruptlon)--charges that could result In the death sentence!

Mohammad Husni Said Mubarak virtually inherited his office, as he was Vice President when Anwar el-Sadat was assassinated In 1981, following a peace deal with Israel. After his installation, he ran Egypt with an Iron fist, using ruthless repression, brutal secret police, torture, and the ever-present acquiescence and billions of bucks of U.S. largesse. Many forget that he was a high Egyptian general during the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel, where he led the air forces.

In the years since Sadat's assassination, Egyptian foreign aid from the U.S. was exceeded by only one nation: Israel.

It Is one of history's great ironies that his long and tumultuous reign as a modern-day Pharoah began when caged Islamicists were tried in Egyptian courts for Sadat's slaying.

Today, this Egyptian ex-President, America's tightest ally In the region, Husni Mubarak, 83 (!), Is in a cage In a courtroom, charged with ordering the killing of his people.

(c) '11 maj