To Mubarak with Love

"As for the administration’s handling of the Arab Spring, Mr. Todd reports that Mr. Gates, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Biden all believed — and were hoping — that Egypt’s longtime president, Hosni Mubarak, would survive the 2011 protests against him; they worried that without him the country could spiral “into the unknown.” But Mr. Obama, writes Mr. Todd, sided “with his younger staff” (including Mr. McDonough, Susan Rice, Samantha Power and Benjamin J. Rhodes) “over the more seasoned principals,” and told Mr. Mubarak that he needed to step down."