Jimmy Carter: “The United States wants Mubarak to stay in power, but the people have decided."

John Nichols (The Nation):

The former president is warning US officials to get on the right side of those events. And even those who may not approve of all the former president's positions should pay heed to his counsel on what is emerging as a critic test of US foreign policy.

Carter, who in the late 1970s oversaw the negotiations that established a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, understands the political, social and religious dynamics of the Middle East better than any US president, former or current. So it is no small matter when he predicts that popular opposition to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has grown so intense that “he will have to leave.” MORE...