In 1979 the Carter administration sent General Heiser to Iran telling the Shah it was time to pack up and leave Iran. That bad advice and the subsequent US support for Khomeini eventually brought US / Iran relations to a halt.

Today, the Obama administration has sent Frank Wisner to Egypt to send the same message to President Mubarak.

Can someone take out the US foreign policy play book of 1979 and flip through its pages. I did and I know the ending because I lived through it, and it aint pretty.

President Obama is sending the wrong message to Egyptians and to Mubarak, and with extremists waiting in the wings, it will only destabilize the country to the point of no return.

The encouraging message for President Mubarak on the part of the US administration would be to help him organize a transition government, lay the framework for political parties to emerge and institutionalize democratic rule.

What Egyptians want is political stability, the right to self-determination and ultimately to have a country that is economically vibrant. Egyptians no longer want to be at the mercy of US $1.5 billion dollars a year in financial assistance from the US. They want a different kind of relationship with the US that is amicable and mutually beneficial.

Furthermore, and sticking to US foreign policy, it is absolutely irresponsible to stand on the sidelines and watch Egypt go from one form of dictatorship to another and its certainly nothing for the US (an ally of Egypt) to be proud of, as was the case in Iran in 1979. The US administration should be wary not to repeat plays that lead to major historic fumbles.