"Après moi, le déluge"

Louis XV, king of France, said that. Charles de Gaulle isn't known to have said it, but must surely have thought it. Both of them believed that after they were gone, all hell would break loose.

That is what the West fears will happen when Egypt's dictator, Hosni Mubarak, is deposed, as he will be within the week. (Remember that Walt told you so. Lifetime average: .973.) Even the Jews fear that he will be replaced by someone or something even worse, perhaps another ayatollah.

Today nearly a quarter of a million angry people thronged the downtown streets of Cairo in a demonstration the likes of which have never been seen in Egypt before. Some had signs reading "Your plane is waiting!"

It will not be enough for Mubarak to resign. He will have to leave the country, like his Tunisian counterpart. Canadian embassy officials are doubtless waiting at the airport to process his refugee application.

Who will replace him? Who will be in charge? There's one phrase on everyone's lips now: "the Muslim Brotherhood".

Reports are that in Muslim Brotherhood -- Islamic fundamentalists who constitute Egypt's only real opposition -- did not foment the demonstrations. But they know a good thing when they see it. In the fashion of good politicians, having determined which way the people are going, they are quickly running around to get at the head of the parade.

To have a large country run by Muslim extremists -- another Iran -- in charge of the Suez Canal is causing Western leaders to wet their pants with worry. That's why nobody, right up to President Al O'Bama, has mentioned Mubarak by name, let alone suggest that he ought to go while the going is good.

As for the Israelis, the prospect of having a militant Arab state right next door scares them spitless. If there's a rematch of the 1967 war, it won't be a six-day affair this time. And the result could well be the erasure of Israel from the map.

Or it could be the Armageddon, the final battle predicted in the Apocalypse. Better start reading your Bible, friends. And saying your prayers. This could be the start of the big one. You laugh? It's got to happen sometime. God told us it will, and God will not be mocked.

Footnote: If you choose not to believe the Christian prophecies, how about the suddenly famous Mayan calendar? December 12, 2012 could be D-day, as in Doomsday.