According to the New York Times, the U.S. may support the creation of a transitional government headed by Oman Sulieman.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately and turn over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the Egyptian military, administration officials and Arab diplomats said Thursday.
Even though Mr. Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which Mr. Suleiman, backed by Lt. Gen. Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform.
This would be unacceptable to the pro-democracy protestors, and it should be unacceptable to Americans as well. Suleiman -- named Vice-President last week by Mubarak as he dissolved the cabinet -- doesn't have blood his hands. He has it all over his body. The head of Egyptian Intelligence for almost 20 years, he's overseen much of torture that has characterized the Mubarak dictatorship.
It's no surprise that the United States would feel comfortable with him in charge. According to Jane Mayer, he's a smooth operator who's served as the main conduit between the Mubarak regime and the U.S government. In that capacity, he's handled the business end of the extraordinary rendition program, by which the United States has outsourced torture to Egypt.
As laid out in greater detail by Stephen Grey, in his book “Ghost Plane,” beginning in the nineteen-nineties, Suleiman negotiated directly with top Agency officials. Every rendition was greenlighted at the highest levels of both the U.S. and Egyptian intelligence agencies. Edward S. Walker, Jr., a former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, described Suleiman as “very bright, very realistic,” adding that he was cognizant that there was a downside to “some of the negative things that the Egyptians engaged in, of torture and so on. But he was not squeamish, by the way.”
Not squeamish, eh? No, not at all.
Ron Suskind, author of the book The One Percent Doctrine, called Suleiman the "hit man" for the Mubarak regime. He told ABC News that when the CIA asked Suleiman for a DNA sample from a relative of Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Suleiman offered the man's whole arm instead.
Oh, by the way, this fine gentlemen has also worked closely with Israel to oppress Palestinians.
Perhaps we can all cease with this nonsense about the United States staying out of it? The United States is deeply entangled in Egypt, and has sway there. The only question, if it can be considered such, is whether it sides with the people or the ruling party. To support a deal that places Suleiman atop an interim government would be to side with the ruling party and defy the will of the people in especially disgusting fashion. I'm hoping this doesn't come to pass. I'm not confident.