As a Brit I've never before been a revolutionary. Revolution just isn't in our vocabulary. Our American friends, as we might expect, were all gung ho on it from the start. My sympathies were entirely with Mr. Mubārak, who had served his country well in the Air Force, then as Vice-President under President Sadāt, and then as President for 30 years, a total of 60 years. Because President Sadāt had been assassinated I thought the emergency laws were a necessary part of Egyptian politics. The country would be ungovernable without them. So when the Egyptian young people started to rally in Tahrīr Square on January 25th, to demand the overthrow of the government I thought they were an infernal nuisance. How could they disrupt the traffic through the square and restrict people from getting to their work down town, and not expect the government to dislodge them? I had very little sympathy for them, even after live rounds had been used. I was sorry that some had to be killed, but thought that if they had stayed home they wouldn't have got shot.