Now the hard work begins in Egypt

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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"Egypt is free.”

It was just after 10 a.m. Iowa time Friday when that deafening, jubilant chant exploded in the streets of Cairo and across Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak finally, after 30 years in power, released his grip.

For 18 days, pro-democracy demonstrators filled Cairo's Tahrir Square and took to the streets in other Egyptian cities to demand an end to decades of dictatorship and repression and the beginning of a new era. It was a drama, televised and tweeted, that gripped the world. And its last hairpin plot twist turned despair into joy.

Now, unforgettable scenes of tenacious Egyptian protesters can take a historic place alongside the images of falling walls, cheering crowds, tumbling statues and our own Declaration of Independence. Dictators and despots, for all their might, can still be broken by the will of the people.

But what those past drives for freedom teach us is that celebrations are only the beginning of a very long and difficult path. The hard work is still to come. Behind the cheers and chants remains the reality that the Egyptian military is now in charge of the country. Despite promises from military leaders that the people's call for change will be fulfilled, the future of Egypt and hopes for true, democratic reforms remain fragile. The world must keep watching even after the telegenic celebration ends.

The United States should be a helpful partner and a steadfast advocate for democracy. We can offer advice and do whatever we can to nudge reform forward. It's also critical that President Obama continues to make it clear that the United States opposes the use of violence by any faction, and that Egypt must not hand its fledgling democracy over to extreme, radical elements.

But the United States can only do so much. And although Egypt is an important ally in a troubled and strategic part of the world, this saga is not about us.

It's about the people of Egypt and their aspirations for a better life. It's about the brave, young and defiant demonstrators who wouldn't give up and wouldn't go home. It's about oppressed people in other nations who find hope in what happened during the past 18 days. And after decades of oppression, it's about time that Egypt is free.

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