

The Obama administration's immediate response was to back the president, Hosni Mubarak, to the dismay of the protesters. Joe Biden, the vice-president, insisted on 27 January that Mubarak was not a dictator.

By last Tuesday that position was reversed. Obama abandoned Mubarak an hour after the Egyptian president said he would remain in office until September, saying it would be better if the transition process began "now". That was the message on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday, the US envoy to Egypt, Frank Wisner, told a defence conference in Munich that Mubarak should be allowed to stay in office during the transition process: "I believe that President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical." The US state department distanced itself from this, saying Wisner was speaking on his own behalf.

Today, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said America would adopt a wait-and-see approach to the involvement in talks of the Muslim Brotherhood, despite harbouring deep suspicions about the opposition movement. She was speaking a day after she aligned the US with the Egyptian vice-president, Omar Suleiman, whom she backs to lead the transition from dictatorship to free and fair elections – in an apparent move to sideline Mubarak.

Obama suporters, in a series of interviews today, said the seemingly abrupt policy changes were needed to allow Mubarak to exit with dignity. Opponents argued they reflect uncertainty at the heart of an Obama administration.