As Mubarek scrambles to hold on to power, protests continue to grow around Egypt. While internet and cell communications may have been necessary tools to help trigger the eruptions, they were shut down too late to stem the tide - a wave that reports indicate was generated with U.S. assistance.

The American Embassy in Cairo helped a young dissident attend a US-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.

He has already been arrested by Egyptian security in connection with the demonstrations and his identity is being protected by The Daily Telegraph.

Was the White House privvy to and supportive of the outbreak of revolution, or is the Obama administration planting stories designed to ally itself with a movement that it sees as the future?

The administration already missed a chance to show the Arab world that it can live up to its rhetoric. President Obama failed to speak out in support of Tunisia's popular uprising until it was too late - after Tunisian strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country.

Even the Huffington Post reports that the White House hasn't done a great job supporting dissidents in Egypt.

Though Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has championed human rights around the world and American diplomats have quietly encouraged political and legal reforms in Egypt, when it comes to promoting democracy in the riot-torn country, efforts have generally been less aggressive than the Bush administration's. On Friday, amidst violent protests, longtime leader Hosni Mubarak announced the resignation of Egypt's government.

Egypt is a very young country - only 4.3% of its population is over 65, but 32% are 14 or younger - indicating that 2/3 of its 80 million citizens may under 30 years old. Those young people have been moving out of rural areas and into regions that among the most densely populated in the world to find jobs. The official unemployment rate in Egypt is steadily near 10%, but official numbers from the Egyptian government aren't trusted much.