CNN: For the first time, we see people make a revolution and then clean the streets afterwards.

Prime Minister of Italy: There is nothing new in Egypt. Egyptians are making history as usual.

Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway: Today we are all Egyptians.

Austrian President Heinz Fischer: The people of Egypt, are the greatest people of earth; and they deserve a Nobel Prize for Peace.

Egypt asks the UK freeze assets of former officials amid allegations that deposed leader Hosni Mubarak amassed $70 billion.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is likely the world's richest man, with an estimated fortune of $US70 billion ($70.07 billion).

Mubarak's family fortune could be as high as $US70 billion, much of it in Swiss banks or tied up in real estate in New York, Los Angeles and London, media reported.

The $US70 billion would put the 82-year-old comfortably ahead of Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim Helu, worth about $US53.5 billion, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the richest American with $US53 billion.

According to Princeton political science professor Amaney Jamal, quoted by the ABC network in the US, Mubarak's three-decade rule in Egypt had kept him in a perfect spot to get a piece of any government action.

Mubarak, his wife and two sons were able to also accumulate wealth through a number of business partnerships with foreigners, Christopher Davidson, professor of Middle East Politics at Durham University in England, told ABC. Egyptian law requires that foreigners give a local business partner a 51 per cent stake in most ventures.

Meanwhile, Egyptian press reported that investigators were looking into the hidden wealth of Mubarak's allies, which ranged from the $US3 billion of party insider Ahmed Ezz to the $US1.2 billion of former interior minister Habib Ibrahim El-Adly.

Five hated cronies of Mubarak each amassed fortunes topping $US1 billion, according to military prosecutors preparing criminal cases against them in the latest government concession meant to defuse the two-week-old Egyptian crisis.

Three of them, former Cabinet ministers, tried to flee the country over the weekend but were denied permission, Cairo airport sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt's largest independent newspaper.

"There was a lot of corruption in this regime and stifling of public resources for personal gain. This is the pattern of other Middle Eastern dictators," Princeton's Jamal told ABC News.

Protesters have cited government corruption as a reason they are demanding Mubarak's ouster.

Mubarak's family wealth reportedly dates back to when Mubarak was an air force officer and in a position to benefit from corporate corruption on military contracts, mainly through business partnerships with foreign investors.

Jamal told ABC that Mubarak's assets are most likely in banks outside of Egypt, possibly in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

"This is the pattern of other Middle Eastern dictators so their wealth will not be taken during a transition, she said. "These leaders plan on this."

Meanwhile, Cairo tried to shore up one of its biggest sources of support - Egypt's civil service - on Monday, by announcing a 15 per cent pay hike for six million government workers.

Four Catholic men and One Catholic woman were having coffee.

The first Catholic man tells his friends,

"My son is a priest, when he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'."

"My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call hi 'Your Grace'."

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends". (John: 15:13)

Crystal clear patriotic stances are extremely hazardous and challenging when against all odds an individual dearly and stubbornly embraces them and holds on to the triangle code of faith, self respect and gratitude. The Holy Bible stressed the crucial importance of stances in many verses: "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:16). "The person who isn't with me is against me, and the person who isn't gathering with me is scattering." (Matthew 12:30).

Colonel Charbel R. Barakat deeply loves his mother country, Lebanon, and her people. He sturdily honors the sacrifices of its martyrs throughout their land�s tumultuous history and genuinely endeavors to show his overt gratitude to their heroism. He also respects himself and never compromises on his faith or patriotic stance. He is a benevolent Lebanese Christian intellectual who has willingly devoted all his life to loudly and staunchly advocating for and defending the cause of freedom of our beloved Lebanon.

Colonel Barakat's main focus since he was a teenager living in his ancestors' ancient Christian village "Ain Eibel", (South Lebanon), was and still is the dignity, culture, education, prosperity, safety, history, traditions and faith of his people. As an officer in the Lebanese army, leader of the South Lebanese Army (SLA), teacher, human rights advocate, writer, and specialist on terrorism he never deviated from these moral paths.

In spite of all the hardships, actual threats from and wars with terrorists, and all kinds of losses and sacrifices, Barakat has never allowed fear, the temptation of earthly riches or authority and positions to stand in his way. He deeply trusted in Almighty God and decided to "strive to enter by the narrow door" (Luke 13:24), unlike so many others.

The salvation of his country and people was and remains his prime goal regardless what sacrifices he had to tangibly pay: �I tell you, my friends, don�t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him, who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him." (Luke12:4-5).

All Colonel Barakat's values, knowledge, honesty, experience, and love for Lebanon and her people are portrayed in his extremely informative book, "The Madameek"

With great interest and self gratification I read Barakat's original Arabic version of "The Madameek" in 2000 and was overwhelmed by the depth and richness of the information it contained about the Middle East, a region that was and remains a puzzle for many Western researchers, politicians, academics and think tanks. Based on his extensive firsthand experience, the author has genuinely portrayed the dire hardships of his people, the Southern Lebanese citizens, who despite their anguish, sacrifices and losses remained tall as the cedars of their country and held dearly to their land, identity, faith and history. They never gave up the hope and dream of freedom, democracy and peace.

I am extremely joyful because last month "The Madameek" appeared in its English translated version. I genuinely believe that this precious book will be extremely informative to all those interested in the Middle East's deeply rooted history of wars, conflicts, terrorism, and diverse cultures. Barakat approaches and addresses all these subjects in an unprecedented informative and unbiased way.

Dr. Walid Phares, the well known Lebanese American writer and scholar in global conflicts based in Washington DC, read the book and wrote: "The building blocks of a nation� I have read Charbel Barakat's powerful story, Madameek, in its original version in Arabic. It is a narrative expressing lived moments and historical stages by a brave population in the most dangerous places on the Planet. Barakat, a retired officer, a historian and a prolific writer, acts as a witness on behalf of a community thrown into the arena of violence and freedom deprivation. The story of the villages and towns of the southern border of Lebanon, of their ordinary people of those who suffered from terror and suppression, was still hidden under the rubbles of the exodus that dispersed thousands of them around the world. Barakat's book reassembles these building blocks and makes the case for them, particularly the suppression of their cause and their rights as citizens of a nation, bleeding and aching still. It is a must read for those who seek the truth, behind the smallest stone".

Much gratitude is due to Colonel Barakat, for his tireless efforts to accomplish this difficult work in making his valuable and informative book available in English. He also deserves our thanks, we the Lebanese activists, for being a role model and witness for the sake of truth that many other intellectuals, leaders and politicians in our Lebanese Christian communities in both Lebanon and the Diaspora did not have the faith, patriotism and courage to do.

It is true that our people in Lebanon are oppressed and persecuted by the Axis of Evil, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah, but what is true too is that they will never, ever under any circumstances accept the status of slavery, or forsake their freedom and faith. Khalil Gibran who was a Lebanese Christian intellectual knew this reality: "Not everyone in chains is subdued; at times, a chain is greater than a necklace."

Those interested in obtaining a copy of Madameek Courses, should click on this link and follow the instructions,

http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000368253 .

On January 31/2011, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei posted this statement on his website: "there is no doubt that based on realities envisioned by God, a new Middle East will be formed and this Middle East will be an Islamic Middle East."

Apparently, the western world and its US leadership are walking blindly through a field of explosive mines in the entire Middle East. This questionable and confusing path is seen by many Arab, Israeli and Lebanese analysts and politicians as a self destructive act due to the fact that all the pro-western regimes are falling one after the other, while the west it self is paving the way and preparing the milieus for Islamic fundamentalist groups to take over.

Sadly, it makes no difference if western policies are executed intentionally or unintentionally because they are advocating for the model of the two axis of evil regimes, Syria and Iran, which operate using Hezbollah and Hamas as their terrorist militias. The perplexing western acts of hostility toward their own allies by characterizing them as oppressive and not respecting the will of their own people, are portraying these two evil regimes as substitutes for all the pro-western ones.

It is strongly believed that the western cowboy-like policies are completely detached from the Middle East realities and alienated from all its social and religious norms. The policies of the west if not reassessed will definitely lead to more chaos, anarchy, disasters and loses in the whole Middle East.

The west, for reasons that are not understood yet, is abandoning all its Middle East allies under the pretext of the two false slogans of democracy and freedom. Western leaders ignore the deeply rooted fact that the majority of the Middle Eastern people comprehend these slogans in a very different way than to western societies. The criteria for norms in the Middle East and the western world are not only different, but at times completely contradict each other.

One wonders why suddenly the west has decided to get rid of its number one ally in the Middle East, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak after toppling their other loyal ally, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia. There is no doubt Mubarak is a very bad ruler. But if he is compared to the Muslim Brotherhood organization's leadership, who might now get their hands on Egypt and turn it into another Iran, Mubarak looks like a guardian angel. It is worth mentioning that Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri, the number two man in Al Qaeda's hierarchy, is an Egyptian and not much different from his Muslim Brotherhood organization counterparts.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood organization is the oldest and largest radical Islamic group, the grandfather of Hezbollah, Hamas, and al-Qaeda. Its main objective is to erect a Muslim regime in Egypt and all other Muslim countries and impose Islamic Sharia law. Dr. Walid Phares, a well known terrorism analyst and writer, has studied the Muslim Brotherhood. Phares says its history shows that the group is not secular and not moderate. �The Muslim Brotherhood is the mothership for the jihadi ideologies and thinking. And therefore one can say today's Al Qaeda, and today many other jihadists, are off shoots of the Muslim Brotherhood.�

One also questions the western wisdom in keeping a blind eye on what is happening in Turkey whose current Islamic leadership is gradually changing their secular country into another fundamentalist Iran, while still receiving western aid worth billions of dollars. The same Turkish scenario is gradually unfolding in Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria, and Sudan.

The same question applies to the Baathist Syrian regime, the most notorious dictatorship in the world. The USA, and all the European countries are appeasing and cajoling this murderous regime and allowing its merciless leadership to sabotage its neighboring countries Iraq and Lebanon. Syria is given free reign to interfere in their internal affairs through terrorism and murder. Syria's President Bachar Assad was again last month given the West's blessings to abort Lebanon's Cedar Revolution, topple its unity government, and appoint a pro Syria-Iranian PM to form a new anti-Western government. It seems also that the pro-western Jordanian monarchy is on its way to face the same Mubarak fate.

Since the early seventies and up until today the bizarre and questionable policies of the USA and the majority of the European countries have been offering wrong predictions and calculations in regards to all the radical Islamic regimes in the Middle East. Looking thoroughly and objectively in some of the dramatic unfolding events since 1970 we learn with great disappointment that all the Islamic radical regimes were brought in power by the USA and Europe on the account of their pro western allies. The sequence of the following events show plainly this problematic trend:

In year 1975: Arab countries, Europe, and USA gave Syria's notorious butcher and dictator Late Hafez Al Assad the green light and full support to invade and occupy Lebanon, the only multi-cultural, democratic country in the Arab world. In 2005 the Lebanese Cedars Revolution forces Syrian troops to leave Lebanon. Last month Lebanon fell again a prey to Syria and Iran and again the with the blessing of western countries.

In 1979, the USA brought to Iran Ayatollah Khomeini and his Islamic revolution on the account of its strong and powerful ally Shah Reza Shah Pahlevi. The Iranian Islamic Revolution under the late Khomeini and his current his successor, Supreme Leader, Sayyid Ali Khamenei oppressed its people, murdered or muffled all opposition groups' and individuals. Iran is now working hard on owning an atomic bomb, destabilizing Arabian Gulf Emirates and kingdoms through terrorism, demonizing the USA as a satanic regime, and is terrorizing the Middle East through its armed militias Hezbollah and Hamas. Meanwhile, the west has turned a blind eye to Iran establishing a mini-state in Lebanon through its armed militia, the terrorist Hezbollah..

In 2003, the USA invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussien's regime and replaced it by a pro Iran-Syrian one that have massacred the Christians and forced most of them to leave Iraq in fear for their lives.

In Afghanistan the USA nurtured and created the monster Al-Qaida and its devil Ben Laden, who orchestrated and executed the 911 terrorist attacks that instigated the western invasion of Afghanistan. Meanwhile the USA and Europe support and finance the most notorious fanatic and oppressive regimes in the world including Pakistan, Syria and others.

Elections and democracy are not always the road for freedom and liberation. No one should forget that in 1932 Adolf Hitler through structural elections took over Germany and created the worst dictatorship in history.

In this same western kind of mentality and wrong calculations, Ehud Barak's Israeli government abandoned its Lebanese loyal allies in south Lebanon in the year 2000 and handed south Lebanon without any fight to Hezbollah. While in June 2007, Ehud Olmert's government watched silently as Hamas took over the Gaza strip without giving its Palestinian allies any help.

Iran's President Ahmadinejad, Syria's dictator Bashar Al Assad, Hezbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas' leadership, and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez among many leaders supporting terrorism allege that the West is a coward when it comes to confrontation, does not have the guts to fight, and always abandons its allies after using them. Well, the recent events unfolding in the Middle East make these allegations credible.

In conclusion, we believe that the western world has an obligation to help its Middle Eastern allies to gradually adopt a kind of democracy that is tailored to the culture, beliefs, traditions and history of their societies. They should not take any role in toppling them and help the Islamic fanatics to take over. Hopefully, the Western policy makers will wake up soon to the reality that they are playing with fire in the Middle East, because as we say back home in Lebanon, " He who plays with fire ultimately burns his fingers".