Per The London Times, during a heated telephone exchange on January 29th, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) not to humiliate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The King warned Obama that he would step in to bankroll Egypt if the US withdrew its foreign aid to the besieged Egyptian President.

Our country gives Mubarak $1.5 billion annually.

King Abdullah stated, in no uncertain terms, that Mubarak must be allowed to remain in power in order to oversee the transition towards peaceful democracy and then leave with dignity.

Per a senior source in the Saudi capital:

Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the King is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated.

Smart Power! is not working very well, is it?

Meanwhile, the White House has been putting on a show for the cameras, warning Egypt’s leaders that the protests that they’re experiencing in their country will not end until they start to show real reforms and a transition to a freer society, criticizing any concessions by the Mubarak government of not meeting even the minimum threshold of what the Egyptian people want.

However, Obama and his administration officials continue to hedge their bet, reminding anyone who will listen that the United States is not seeking to dictate events in Egypt, because it can’t.

White House spokesman Baghdad Bob Gibbs told reporters yesterday:

We’re not going to be able to force them do anything.

However, that hasn’t stopped them from putting on a show of authority, calling for the end of harassment of the protestors, for Mubarak’s government to add more opposition leaders to the negotiations, and calling for the end of the repressive emergency law that Mubarak has instituted.

Obama and his administration have issued other edicts four steps that they want the besieged Egyptian Government to take, but, so far, the response has been **crickets**.

As thousands of protesters packed into Cairo’s central Tahrir Square for a 17th day, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has said about 300 people have been killed since the protests began, with new fatalities still being reported.

But…but…I thought that President Obama was supposed to be a Foreign Policy suuuuper-genius?  I mean, just read his Foreign Policy Guiding Principles from whitehouse.gov:

President Obama has committed himself and his Administration from the beginning of his presidency to a foreign policy that ensures the safety of the American people. But he also refuses the false division between our values and our security; the United States can be true to our values and ideals while also protecting the American people. We will use all elements of American power to achieve objectives, and consult closely with the Congress so that our policies may have the broad and bipartisan support that makes them most effective. Finally, while there are instances and individuals who can be met only by force, the United States will be prepared to listen to and talk with our adversaries in order to advance our interests.

Our (average Americans’) values or his values?

And didn’t Hillary tell us that Smart Power! was the greatest thing since sliced bread?

What happened?  I thought that the president’s speech at the University of Cairo to the Muslim world at the University of Cairo on June 4, 2009 was supposed to heal all wounds, make the oceans rise and fall, etc.  I mean, he told them that he understands:

I’ve come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. I know there’s been a lot of publicity about this speech, but no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have this afternoon all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly to each other the things we hold in our hearts and that too often are said only behind closed doors. There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Koran tells us, “Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.”

That is what I will try to do today — to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Now part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. I’m a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and at the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

Evidently, the Muslim world was not impressed.

Do you get the feeling that they’ve figured out that Smart Power! consists of speaking loudly, but being reticent to back it up?