Feb. 8, 2011. Paul Amar at Jadaliyya:
"...as if America’s puny $1.5 billion in aid (which all must be recycled back as purchases from US military suppliers anyway) really dictates policy for a regime that makes multi-billion dollar deals with Russia, China and Brazil every month, and that has channeled an estimated $40-70 billion into Mubarak’s personal accounts".
Amar's Feb. 1 post is very informative on the emerging configurations of power in Egypt.