Gotcha! Tariq Ali on the fall of Mubarak

'A joyous night in Cairo. What bliss to be alive, to be an Egyptian and an Arab. In Tahrir Square they're chanting, "Egypt is free" and "We won!"

The removal of Mubarak alone (and getting the bulk of his $40bn loot back for the national treasury), without any other reforms, would itself be experienced in the region and in Egypt as a huge political triumph. It will set new forces into motion.

A nation that has witnessed miracles of mass mobilisations and a huge rise in popular political consciousness will not be easy to crush, as Tunisia demonstrates...

The show of popular strength was enough to get rid of the current dictator. He'd only go if the US decided to take him away. After much wobbling, they did. They had no other serious option left. The victory, however, belongs to the Egyptian people whose unending courage and sacrifices made all this possible.

And so it ended badly for Mubarak and his old henchman. Having unleashed security thugs only a fortnight ago, Vice-President Suleiman's failure to dislodge the demonstrators from the square was one more nail in the coffin. The rising tide of the Egyptian masses with workers coming out on strike , judges demonstrating on the streets, and the threat of even larger crowds next week, made it impossible for Washington to hang on to Mubarak and his cronies. The man Hillary Clinton had referred to as a loyal friend, indeed "family", was dumped...The age of political reason is returning to the Arab world. The people are fed up of being colonised and bullied. Meanwhile, the political temperature is rising in Jordan, Algeria and Yemen.'

Full article here, while also see him speak on the Egyptian Revolution via this video here
Edited to add: Another solidarity T-shirt offer from Philosophy Football to raise funds for pro-democracy groups in Egypt.

"You are the generation that will overcome defeat" Arab poet Nizar Qabbani
Philosophy Football's T- shirt is produced in association with the publishers Verso. It will raise funds for Egypt's pro-democracy campaign groups. Groups already active in solidarity with Egypt, Stop the War and others, as well as Verso authors who know the protest movement very well, including Tariq Ali, will be asked to nominate recipients who will make the most effective use of the resources. And generosity is rewarded with the offer of The Verso Book of Dissent at half-price, usual price £12.99, when bought with the shirt.