What About Egypt?

Posted by Tina

Jack and I have both been pretty busy as the events in Egypt have taken place. It’s likely many of you are more up to date than I am but I will give it a shot so that those who wish to discuss the situation can weigh in. I’ll try to hit the highlights; if I miss something please hold forth.

Moderate Muslims in Egypt had high hopes that a new leader would bring greater freedom and tolerance and better serve them. Unfortunately, even with democratic elections, it didn’t turn out as they had hoped. The Muslim Brotherhood backed Mursi was put in office following elections and immediately began to take over private concerns, ruling as a dictator and imposing extremist positions. People began to protest in the streets and in the clashes that followed Morsi was removed from office by the military.

CS Monitor reports over 900 deaths have occurred in just the last few days causing the European Union to consider withholding aid:

The European Union has thrown delivery of billions of aid dollars into question as it meets “urgently” to coordinate a response to Egypt in the aftermath of a crackdown there that has killed almost 900 people in five days. Violence has skyrocketed since the military-backed interim government cleared two camps of supporters of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi in Cairo on Aug. 14.

Ahead of the meeting today, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, released a statement saying the EU is “firmly engaged in efforts to promote an end to violence, resumption of political dialogue, and return to a democratic process.”
“The EU has been at Egypt’s side in the last two years while it has moved towards democracy. We have met frequently and engaged actively Egypt’s leaders and the new political forces that have emerged. The calls for democracy and fundamental freedoms from the Egyptian population cannot be disregarded, much less washed away in blood,” it read.

I notice the language used by the EU expresses support for Egypt rather than any faction as well as support for freedom and democracy as called for by the Egyptian people. Diplomacy done well in my mind.

Coptic Christian Churches have been burned and desecrated…Coptic Christians terrorized and brutalized:

Sixteen Coptic churches had been torched by pro-Morsi mobs, including several ancient ones, the Egyptian blogger “Big Pharoah” wrote in a Twitter post.

Brotherhood supporters blame the Copts for toppling former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi because Coptic Pope Tawadros II backed the military’s July 3 move to oust him.

Coptic priests and laymen have been killed, churches have been burned or scrawled with anti-Christian graffiti by Islamic militants across Egypt in the past month.

Voices of moderation and reason occasionally emerge. A military chief has vowed to rebuild the Coptic Churches, referring to the minority Christians as brothers and recognizing their place in Egypt’s history:

The Egyptian defense minister has ordered the repair and reconstruction of all churches that suffered damage in the country’s violent demonstrations since the Egyptian military removed President Mohamed Morsi from power last month.

Defense minister Col. Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi intends to fix the damage to Coptic churches at Rabaa Adaweya and Nahda squares, according to a report by the Mid-East Christian News. …

… The Egyptian defense minister ordered the engineering department of the armed forces to swiftly repair all the affected churches, in recognition of the historical and national role played by our Coptic brothers,” read a statement that aired on Egyptian television.

Both President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton have been vocal in their support for the Muslim Brotherhood following Mursi’s victory which has now placed the President in an awkward position. Reports show that many Egyptians are very angry with President Obama for engaging with the Muslim Brotherhood:

In Cairo’s Tahrir Square, blood-red letters on a white banner read: “Obama Supports The Dictator Mursi.” A sign on the speakers’ platform adds: “Down with Mursi, America’s agent.” … “People are frustrated here, full of anger, especially youngsters,” said Anwar Sadat, the nephew of the Egyptian president assassinated in 1981 and the leader of a minor opposition party. “The truth is we are in trouble.” … A Gallup survey released March 13 showed Egyptians disapprove of U.S. leadership by a 62 percent to 17 percent margin.

While vacationing on Martha’s Vinyard the President cancelled scheduled joint military exercises with Egypt’s military”

President Obama on Thursday canceled joint military maneuvers between U.S. and Egyptian troops scheduled for next month as he seeks to find levers the U.S. can use to quell deadly clashes in the North African nation and force both sides back into negotiations.

The death toll in Egypt climbed past 600 as the military-appointed government continued its bloody attack on supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, which vowed to fight until it had defeated the generals. The Brotherhood implored its backers to take to the streets in defiance of a newly imposed state of emergency.

The government, which appears to have set its sights on destroying the political viability of the Brotherhood, said it would intensify its counterattacks and would use live-fire ammunition to fight the protesters.

Scores of Christian churches were attacked, police were gunned down and government buildings in Giza were set ablaze as the violence expanded.

The bloodshed drew condemnation from all sides, and Mr. Obama — taking a short break from his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard — said Egypt is now on “a more dangerous path.”

The Presidents position makes the question of American aid to Egypt difficult. But he has apparently chosen a typical path, according to a report in the Daily Beast:

The U.S. government has decided privately to act as if the military takeover of Egypt was a coup, temporarily suspending most forms of military aid, despite deciding not to announce publicly a coup determination one way or the other, according to a leading U.S. senator.

In the latest example of its poorly understood Egypt policy, the Obama administration has decided to temporarily suspend the disbursement of most direct military aid, the delivery of weapons to the Egyptian military, and some forms of economic aid to the Egyptian government while it conducts a broad review of the relationship. The administration won’t publicly acknowledge all aspects of the aid suspension and maintains its rhetorical line that no official coup determination has been made, but behind the scenes, extensive measures to treat the military takeover of Egypt last month as a coup are being implemented on a temporary basis.

The office of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the head of the Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, told The Daily Beast on Monday that military aid to Egypt has been temporarily cut off.
“[Senator Leahy’s] understanding is that aid to the Egyptian military has been halted, as required by law,” said David Carle, a spokesman for Leahy.

The administration’s public message is that $585 million of promised aid to the Egyptian military in fiscal 2013 is not officially on hold, as technically it is not due until Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, and no final decisions have been made.

“After sequestration withholding, approximately $585 million remains unobligated. So, that is the amount that is unobligated,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday. “But it would be inaccurate to say that a policy decision has been made with respect to the remaining assistance funding.”

Whatever!

If it’s possible to vote present on this issue I’m confident our president will find a way.

Any thoughts?