Obama´s Egypt envoy Wisner´s law firm works for dictator Mubarak

The Independent´s Robert Fisk tells the true story of Mubarak´s friend Frank Wisner, chosen by another Mubarak friend, Hillary Clinton:

Frank Wisner, President Barack Obama's envoy to Cairo who infuriated the White House this weekend by urging Hosni Mubarak to remain President of Egypt, works for a New York and Washington law firm which works for the dictator's own Egyptian government.

Mr Wisner's astonishing remarks – "President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical: it's his opportunity to write his own legacy" – shocked the democratic opposition in Egypt and called into question Mr Obama's judgement, as well as that of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The US State Department and Mr Wisner himself have now both claimed that his remarks were made in a "personal capacity". But there is nothing "personal" about Mr Wisner's connections with the litigation firm Patton Boggs, which openly boasts that it advises "the Egyptian military, the Egyptian Economic Development Agency, and has handled arbitrations and litigation on the [Mubarak] government's behalf in Europe and the US". Oddly, not a single journalist raised this extraordinary connection with US government officials – nor the blatant conflict of interest it appears to represent.

PS

White House officials seem to have said that they were astonished by Wisner´s  remarks. But Obama´s Fox interview shows that the administration in reality is doing exactly what Wisner told the audience in Munich. From the WH point of view the only problem with Wisner´s message was, that it was delivered a day too early and without the kind of obfuscated language that is the trademark of the present administration.