Cut Mubarak Loose

Talk of rolling back the dictatorships of the Muslim world has so far focused on Iran, Iraq, and the West Bank and Gaza. These, along with Lebanon and perhaps Saudi Arabia, are the areas where the opportunities for progress toward freedom and democracy are most likely, and the need for such progress most urgent. But, according to a front-page report in yesterday’s Washington Post, the tyranny at Cairo is now finding its way onto the agenda of the Washington policymakers. The Post reports that the Bush administration will make any additional foreign aid to Egypt above its usual allocation of about $2 billion a year conditional on the country’s performance on human rights. The Post reports further that “As part of the administration’s efforts to expand free speech and democracy to Arab countries, the State Department has embarked on a study of U.S. aid efforts in Egypt.”