Neil Cavuto: Mr. Secretary, you're the expert, but I read into that: "it's over." Lawrence Eagleburger: Ahh, I have to tell you in the eye, that I hope you're wrong, but I think you're right. And, ah, it's not the first time the United States has walked away from somebody they pledged support for when things got hot. And I've seen it happen before, Neil, and I suspected it, and I now very much suspect it. I suspect also that Mr. Mubarak must probably feel the same way. Now, my point here, is would seem to me that it would be nice if once, although every liberal in the country will scream bloody murder, it would be nice if once we carried forward with our promises, particularly since the region is so important to us. And I must add my friend that I think this whole issue is far more significant even than just Egypt because now you have to ask yourself the question, in future cases like this, and with our budget in the condition it's in, are we going to have any money to do anything with these people, are we going to have any money to intervene... when we...
NC: You know Larry, that's a brilliant point. I never thought of that; I mean, the basic "hey, we don't got no money" issue, you know? We were talking today that if he didn't clean up his act... in other words, if Mubarak, you know, didn't chill on the violence stuff, the one-and-one-half billion that was on the docket, you know, we could pull that from him. But I don't even know if we have that...
LE: No. I don't either. And by the way, whatever else you say about Mubarak, and 30 years of governing Egypt "the wrong way," the fact of the matter is, a great many lives were probably saved over that thirty years, because he did make a difference, particularly with regard to Israel, and I... and I'm not going to back away from saying there will be times, it seems to me, when the United States has to take a partnership with somebody who would otherwise be called an S.O.B., and I'm not going to apologize for it, but Hanging on to this thing, that every intervention... possible intervention in the future, must face this question of whether we can afford it, and I will tell you I don't think we're going to be able to.
NC: Well, can we afford to stay loyal when his own people are saying "you gotta go" ?
LE: Well, the answer to that is probably no, but I'm going to stick with it anyway, at least until we see whether it is possible to get him to do those reforms; that is assuming, by the way, that he can hang on, on his own...
NC: Yeah, what did you make... Larry, what did you make of that... is it a "buy time" maneuver, in other words, "I'm kicking my government out, I'm going to stay the air..." The rap against Tunesia imploding was that, you know, the guy's wife was outta there, he was outta there, and they had taken the crystal and the china and... and everything else. And they didn't have enough time... to say...
LE: I think that it's more than buying... well, it's certainly buying time, but...
NC: Yeah...
LE: But, I think, I think he means it, now; he has to. The question is going to be whether he's going to be able to stay in power, hang on, and do some very brutal things in the process, for a few weeks, at least, if he can do it, and if in fact he wins out and is still President, say a month from now... Again, every liberal in the country is going to be arguing that we should leave him, anyway, and I think that probably, given the President's penchant for these sorts of things he will decide that's what we have to do as well. I doubt that he'll be returning to give Egypt any aid for a while, and (unintelligable) to money. I'm very pessimistic about the whole process. Mubarak may be able to hang on, and if he does he's doing it on his own, and if he doesn't I think we're in for a very, very, very unpleasant time in the Middle East, at least in the Middle East... and, as I say, it's likely to lead to the need for a real need for some U.S. help financially and in terms of perhaps some military intervention. You tell me if you think we can afford it, and if we do spend the money on it, ah... I think that our committment to cutting the budget back substantially...
NC: Well, forget it. All that's all there, if that ever comes to pass. Well, Larry Eagleburger, thank you very very much. I think you hit on it, be careful what you wish for...
LE: Ha ha... Thank you Mr. Secretary.
