Shorter Mubarak: "I know I've robbed and oppressed you for thirty years now ..."

"I know I've robbed and oppressed you for thirty years now, and I'm s... I understand. Now, go home, and I promise that I'll voluntarily leave power in nine months. Dictator's honour!"

The Egyptian protesters would not only be naive to accept this insult, they'd be suicidal.

• Police and torture apparatus still intact and under Mubarak's rule? CHECK
• All state communication (tv, radio, newspapers, etc.) loyal to Mubarak? CHECK
• Mubarak able to loot public resources at will? CHECK
• Mubarak able to position his own hand-picked successor? CHECK
  

What nine months of unimpeded dictatorship will do is give Mubarak a chance to punish the protest leaders (and thousands of participants), brutalizing them and terrifying them so that they will be less likely to revolt against whatever scum-bag he appoints as his replacement. This will be hailed in the sycophantic Western media as an "orderly transition of power." Of course, an "orderly transition of power" is precisely what monsters like Obama and Clinton want. They want for the next leader of Egypt to continue to act as the prison-guard of the west-wing of the Gaza prison complex. They want a dependable partner to torture their enemies for them. They want a military entirely beholden to them. (If they lack for pride having betrayed their own people, so much the better. Armies exist to oppress their nations' populations, not to allow dictators to attack and plunder other countries, ... the USA and Israel excluded. A well-trained, disciplined, army of self-hating, bitter stooges and chumps is the perfect tool for a regional role in the US world system.)

Again. Not only would it be naive to trust Mubarak, it would be suicidal.