By Steve Clemons

OK. The comments are coming back — but they will be moderated.

Northwestern University’s Jeffrey Winters has just published at HuffPost a provocative, historically informed essay in which he outlines how those close to Suharto are now back in power in Indonesia; family members of Ferdinand Marcos are now back in government roles in the Philippines; and that most likely — at some point down the road…

Amjad Atallah above in this Bloggingheads exchange with Robert Wright suggests that if Arab states and Israel had been able to deliver on a two-state outcome hatching a State of Palestine the US would not have to be so fearful of falling afoul of Mubarak and siding with protesters.

Rules I have established for those commenting on this blog are being flagrantly violated. I am shutting down comments for a period of time. I am notifying a few commenters that they are banned. I will not tolerate ad hominem attacks on anyone and the regular escalations that take place here.

When big shifts occur in the world, like the successful revolution (thus far) in Egypt, Americans like to race toward ideological frames that fit the moment and which should be applied to every nation in a similar circumstance, perhaps to Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Yemen, even Saudi Arabia.

This “It’s Time” ad will be running on various CNN slots this week to push for reduction of forces in Afghanistan. The ad is more assertive and emotional than I am on these issues. I’m not a pacifist and there are times when war and the deployment of force are important, vital tools.

There are a number of tragedies here — but the biggest is that it is unlikely that a Palestinian government in the future will make the robust set of offers that Saeb Erekat put before the Israeli government.

The statement below was just released by Obama National Security Advisor Tom Donilon regarding Iran blocking coverage of Egypt’s protests and its statements that it will not allow opposition protests inside Iran.

David Wurmser, Vice President Cheney’s Middle East Adviser during the George W. Bush Administration, and I had an interesting discussion about developments in Egypt and implications for US foreign policy on BBC Radio 4. The five minute clip can be listened to here.

Mubarak has given up his powers to the military. In the eyes of the Egyptian public, this counts as resignation. Now the tough part really begins.