Egypt Braces for a Showdown Between Mubarak and Protesters. President Hosni Mubarak has spoken, defiantly dashing the almost giddy expectations in Cairo and Washington that he was about to step aside, making clear that he and his regime have no intention of substantially heeding the demands of opponents.
On Friday, those who have been in the streets for 18 days demanding Mubarak's ouster began to deliver their response — in the form of escalated protest actions, having already moved into positions close to the presidential palace and state-TV headquarters (as of 5.00a.m. ET, several hundred people had gathered outside the palace and state television). And as the vision outlined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last weekend of an "orderly transition" under the guidance of Vice President Omar Suleiman threatens to devolve into a bloodbath, much may now depend on whether Egypt's increasingly assertive military brass shares its Commander in Chief's approach to resolving the crisis. Predictions for Egypt's political future.