Yesterday I was sitting in the living room of some friends in Cairo, who were helping me translate interviews from last Friday’s protest in Tahrir Square, when we when we got the news that Ex President Mubarak released a pre-recorded phone message to the Egyptian people. It was the first message from Mubarak since his ouster in February. The message came via the pan-Arab news channel, Al Arabiya, which I am told is a Saudi Arabian channel.

My friends were outraged at Mubarak’s tone, as he expressed his deep sadness at the, “Campaigns of falsehood, slander and defamation and the continuous attempts to ruin me and my family’s reputation and integrity”.  See this article by the LA times for more details of the speech.

The conversation with my friends then turned to Mubarak’s history as a military man, and we started discussing the role of the military in the revolution and the next steps for the country.

People’s euphoria towards the military friendship with the people seems to be waning as they are starting to question whose side the military is really on.

Historically, there was a perception that the military was very different from the hated police and State Security forces. This perceived difference was highlighted during the uprising in late January when the police were beaten back by protesters and fled, only to be replaced by military soldiers, who were greeted with warmth and enthusiasm by the protesters.

For me, however, I had questioned from the beginning what it meant when the military took over, and how this could be considered true regime change, given that Mubarak has always been a military man, and as far as I had always understood, the military has been at the base of power in Egypt throughout Mubarak’s rule. A huge amount of the annual US foreign aid to Egypt over the decades has always gone to the Egyptian military, which maintains close and intimate links with the US military.

But my friends were shocked when I pointed this out to them. I then played the BBC audio documentary for them, Mubarak’s Egypt, which was aired about two years ago. It describes how pervasive is the military’s involvement in the economy and in running the country.

I have to say, it was somewhat disheartening to see their reaction to this BBC report, and to the notion that perhaps there has been no real regime change at all.

This lead to an intense discussion about what democracy really entails. They pointed out to me that American citizens don’t really know what is behind the scenes of their own military either, and I had to wholeheartedly agree that there are serious injustices on our side as well, and we have serious questions we should be asking about the role of defense spending in our own economy as well, but that this part of what citizens must do in a democracy; keep questioning and pushing all the time. The the work is never finished, and therefore the need for checks and balances and for people to be informed and constantly ask questions and hold their governments accountable.

I have no real conclusion for these thoughts, except to express the deep sense of confusion I am seeing here in Egypt as citizens are confronted with new types of questions, which are harder and more complex, as they face the monumental tasks for rebuilding their government.