After nearly three weeks of protests that paralyzed his country, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak finally resigned today. The White House, which had been quietly pressuring Mubarak to concede to protesters, has faced wide criticism for its handling of the crisis, especially after Mubarak's defiant speech Thursday night, when he was still seemingly clinging to power. At the time, Mubarak explicitly rejected "foreign interventions or dictations" — leading one U.S. official to say that a sense of "disbelief" descended on the White House. Mubarak finally caved today — but critics of Obama have still attacked his "inept" leadership. Is that really fair? (See Egyptians celebrate after Mubarak's announcement)
Obama's bumbling response has been humiliating: It's difficult to see how Obama could have looked "more inept and less effective," says Jennifer Rubin at The Washington Post. At times, it has seemed like "high farce," with CIA chief Leon Panetta blithely indicating yesterday that Mubarak was on the way out while Obama beamed optimism from the White House. Obama's weakness only "emboldened Mubarak and confirmed that the U.S. lacks an understanding of, let alone the ability to, influence events."
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