Mubarak to step down, Suleiman to take over (not really)

"NBC News is reporting that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will step down tonight and that VP Omar Suleiman will take over."

Isn't Suleiman also a tool?

Nicholas Kristof: "America seems to favor reforms under Mr. Mubarak’s vice president, Omar Suleiman, while perhaps throwing Mr. Mubarak himself overboard. But Mr. Suleiman is every bit as much an autocrat as Mr. Mubarak himself, and our emphasis on stability, order and gradualism suggests a profound allergy to popular will.

That raises a basic question: Why does our national policy seem to be that democracy is good for Americans and Israelis, yet dangerous for Egyptians?

One answer is simple. American officials worry that Mr. Mubarak has for decades stifled any secular democratic opposition, so the only organized dissent comes from the Muslim Brotherhood. The fear is that if elections come too soon, before secular groups can organize, the Brotherhood will do well."

Update: "Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak said in a national address Tuesday evening that he will not step down until a new president is selected in elections scheduled for September."