Bloomberg View: A Tipping Point for Egypt; In Defense of the GAO

Cracking the heads of peaceful demonstrators in a square that has come to signify legitimate protest in the Arab world seems a clear indication that the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces is not much better than the government it replaced. The authoritarian behavior of the council has realigned politics in Egypt, putting large numbers of Islamist forces in the streets alongside secularists against now united, formerly rivalrous military and police forces.

In a speech on Nov. 7, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned of future unrest if “the most powerful political force in Egypt remains a roomful of unelected officials.” The U.S. and other Western powers should make a strong case to the generals that their best interest lies in avoiding that scenario. The unrest next time will be aimed, after all, at them.