thursday night, it seemed he was digging in, and then later they explain that he gave to the vice psident. there was a terrible, angry reacon in the streets on friday. the army had to make a choice, either to fire on the people and defend the the king, or that and go. -- or let him go. i think what happened is that the army had a quiet coup. the to -- they told market is over, we are in charge. it is now in the hands of the army, as if we are in 1952, when the army deposed the king. >> exceptasser is not a round. >> no obvious strongman. >> no. this is a one time when the united states and foreign military aid is in thi best interest of the united states. 500 egyptians come here every year and train at war college at the national defense university, where they learn about american society, where relationships has be forged. bob gates to his counterpart, mike mullen to his, constant communication. the military was the best hope for transition in egypt and we will find out if it is not up to the task. >> although -- if it is up to the task. >> all those weapons say "made in the united state

they recognized that even many of their own supporters were unhappy with the psident showing no interest in the pro democratic rhetoric and bravery of the iranian demonstrators. interestingly enough, at the very beginning of this egyptian political turmoil- once again, the administration indulging a predisposition to reemphasized democracy and announced the words from the secretary of state and the vice president that the egyptian government was stable. then they quickly had to maneuver to try to get on the right side of history and say that they do have some sympathy with the complaints of the demonstrators against the mubarak regime. what we saw was this flipping and flopping and they have done some more flipping and flopping since then. that really reflects that there is no broader conceptual context. there's no strategy that what the administration is doing fits into. officials interested in developing a strategy would have to start by clarifying some points, i believe, about democracy promotion o the promotion of liberal democratic ideas and u.s. national security policy. i will off