The Mubarak Resignation - a new 'Dewey Defeats Truman' moment

By Mladen Andrijasevic

It was almost comical. For 40 minutes I watched BBC World, SKY, Fox News and France24 "experts" discuss Mubarak's resignation while waiting for the speech the Egyptian president was to give at 8:00 pm GMT to commence. The reporters were literally in a trance repeating nonsense ad infinitum. But the minute he said

And I can affirm to you that I will not be easy in punishing the people who have caused you injuries

it was obvious then and there that he had no intention of resigning. I started laughing.

How could the media of the West have gotten it so wrong? What a disgrace!

This has become a new "Dewey Defeats Truman" moment. Today's printed global edition of the IHT has a banner headline

"Army moves to sideline Mubarak".

The article by Anthony Shadid and David D. Kirkpatrick starts with:

President Hosni Mubarak lost his grip on power Thursday, with government officials indicating that they expected him to step aside after Egypt's military announced that it was intervening in state affairs in an attempt to quell a three-week uprising.

Needles to say, the new online article now reads Mubarak Refuses to Step Down, Stoking Revolt's Fury and Resolve.

In contrast, the Israelis got it right:

Israeli lawmaker Benjamin Ben-Eliezer - who spoke with the Egyptian president by phone on Thursday before his speech - described Mubarak as "different from what I heard on the news."

"He sounded very strong and defiant," Ben-Eliezer said. "He analyzed the situation properly and tried to predict the future of the Middle East."