Mubarak Gone; Egypt VP Announces Change; Washington Reacts (UPDATED)

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has announced that Hosni Mubarak has resigned the presidency. Mubarak has left Cairo, reportedly for Sharm el-Sheikh. Protesters in Tahrir Square erupted at the announcement by the Suleiman, who issued this statement:

“Hosni Mubarak has waived the office of presidency and told the army to run the affairs of the country. “

UPDATE: Not surprisingly, Washington is supportive of this move.

U.S. defense officials were not given any advanced warning of Mubarak’s resignation and were not sure it would happen.

As Obama administration officials began to react, Washington was using a variety of intelligence assets to see what is happening in Cairo and other Egyptian cities, CNN has learned.

The U.S. military and intelligence community are using “national technical means” in the skies over Egypt to gather information about the demonstrations and the deployment of Egyptian security forces.

The phrase “national technical means” is used by the U.S. government to generally refer to the use of reconnaissance satellites to gather imagery or signals intelligence.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.