Wow, it appears that Mubarak's regime is pulling every last dirty trick in the book in an attempt to hold on to power. The unfortunate thing is that he may still be able to hang on. I doubt it will happen, but at least this would provide at least one reason for the U.S. to strongly withdraw their support for Mubarak - to date their response has been very tepid.
I may be missing something here. We don't know who was driving the car. Yes, Mubarak is hanging on as long as he can. That's what dictators do.
Mubarak is a US ally. He is moderate, stable, at peace with Israel, and pro US. Mubarak is happy to torture US terrorist suspects for the US. The Islamic Brotherhood could take power in Egypt. Mubarak has been ruthless in keeping them out of power.
The US doesn't care about human rights or democracy in Egypt. They care about keeping Islamic parties out of power and keeping Israel's southern border safe and stable. They care about keeping Middle Eastern oil flowing. They will not withdraw support for Mubarak until it is clear that Mubarak can not hold onto power any longer. Then they will do whatever they can to keep the Islamic Brotherhood out of power.