Mubarak:  Egypt's Biggest Grave Robber

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright February 8, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                               

            Looting Egypt’s riches like no grave robber in history, 82-year-old Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak accomplished a feat so unimaginable, so unthinkable, even giving Microsoft’s Bill Gates morning sickness.  Estimated now at between $40-70 billion, Mubarak’s wealth makes him the richest man in the world, all the more sickening when you consider he holds a cup in hand begging the United States for a paltry $1.5 billion in foreign aid.  It’s no wonder that pro-reform protesters aren’t yet satisfied with Mubarak’s proposed changes, settling for nothing short of his immediate resignation. Excuses about Egypt falling into radical’s hands, like the Muslim Brotherhood, are grossly exaggerated since his designated successor, 74-year-old Vice President Omar Suleiman, provides a seamless transition to Egypt’s military coming as Director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate.

            Revelations about Mubark’s obscene wealth after fleecing Egypt for more than 30 years give some keen insights into why the literati won’t compromise by leaving him in power.  “The business ventures from his military and government service accumulated to his personal wealth,” said Princeton political science professor and Egypt expert Amaney Jamal.  “There was a lot of corruption in this regime and shifting of public resources for personal gain,” signaling to the U.S. State Department. that they’re nuanced position about Mubarak could get President Barack Obama into hot water.  Recent statements by former Vice President Dick Cheney about how Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton betrayed a trusted ally show precisely Cheney’s own self-serving motives.  Recent reports about Mubarak’s pilfered wealth should sicken anyone with a working conscience.

            Fleecing the nation he “loves” and “wishes to die in,” Mubarak breaks new ground for modern dictators exploiting a nation’s wealth for personal gain.  Egyptians have every right and intent to reclaim Egypt’s lost wealth, as they’ve spent years trying to reclaim stolen treasures from Egpyt’s Pharoahs.  “This is a pattern of other Middle Eastern dictators so their wealth will not be taken during a transition,” said Prof. Jamal, referring to complicity with the Swiss banking system, rumored to hold part of Mubarak’s cash.  More news of Mubarak’s illicit fortune at the expense of struggling Egyptians doesn’t’ bode well for the current outcome.  Refusing to relinquish power to Suleiman, Mubarak opens up the very real possibility of a violent revolution.  Protestors led by 30-year-old Google Inc. marketing executive Wael Ghonim—recently released from 12 days of house arrest—won’t compromise.

            Ghonim presided at a demonstration of over 250,000 today in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, signaling the impending confrontation with the Mubarak government.  News of Mubarak’s unspeakable wealth confirms 30 years of highway robbery, leaving the octogenerian perhaps the richest man on the planet.  “I’m not a hero but those who were martyred are the heroes,” said Ghonim, expressing sympathies to the scores of young protesters that lost their lives.  Mubarak’s intolerable wealth changes the protest movement, confirming the worst nightmare that he’s the biggest grave robber in Egyptian history.  “We call on the military, which we love and respect, to refrain from these malicious acts," said the Muslim Brotherhood, rejecting the makeshift reforms designed to placate protesters.  Mubarak currently plays on fears of Islamic extremism to discourage political reform and hang on to power.

            U.S. and European officials must catch up with the biggest grand larceny in world history.  It’s no excuse that other Middle East, Latin American or Asian dictators did the same thing:  Looting their countries for personal gain.  King Louis XVI wasn’t spared the guillotine in 1792, following the French Revolution.  Mubark’s unparalleled audacity won’t pass without consequences now that the Egyptian public sees firsthand the dirtiest secret in Egyptian history:  That their humble leader is the richest man in the world.  “He had a very lavish lifestyle with many homes around the country,” said Aladdin Elaaasar author of “The last Pharaoh:  Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the Obama Age,” estimating Mubarak’s wealth at $50-70 billion.  With poverty rampant and gross national incomes in Egypt of around $2,070, Mubarak’s piracy offends anyone not yet brain dead.

            Opposition officials led by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mohammed ElBaradei and Google’s Wael Ghonim must transmit unequivocally to Vice President Omar Suleiman that there will be no compromise when it comes to Mubarak’s immediate resignation.  Mubarak’s refusal to step down causes catastrophic damage to Egypt’s tourism-based economy.  Revelations about Mubarak’s wealth confirm the worst grand larceny of any leader in world history.  Egyptian officials, including the military, must no longer provide Mubarak cover and begin the complicated legal process of returning his illicit wealth back to the Egyptian people.  “There’s not much of a cover-up,” said Prof. Jamal.  “The people have already outed him as a corrupt leader,” in one of the great understatements.  Protestors fighting for Egypt’s future in Cairo’s Tahrir Square must hold Mubarak accountable.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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