http://rt.com/news/egypt-milllions-protest-morsi-458/
Scores are dead as Egypt descends into chaos following a brutal crackdown on massive sit-ins in support of deposed President Mohamed Morsi. Morsi supporters have been rallying since July 3 demanding his reinstatement.
22:28 GMT: The Muslim Brotherhood has called for "a Friday of Anger" in towns and villages across Egypt, after the deadly crackdown on pro-Morsi sit-ins on Wednesday.
"After the blows and arrests and killings that we are facing, emotions are too high to be guided by anyone," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad.
"After the blows and arrests and killings that we are facing, emotions are too high to be guided by anyone," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad.
Activists opposing the pro-Morsi camp, the National Salvation Front (NSF) also called on Egyptians to protest on Friday against what it said was "obvious terrorism actions."
22:12 GMT: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says cancelling the joint military exercise with Egypt is not enough, as federal law requires suspending military aid when there has been a military coup.
“While President Obama ‘condemns the violence in Egypt’, his administration continues to send billions of taxpayer dollars to help pay for it,” Paul said in a statement.
“The law is very clear when a coup d’état takes place, foreign aid must stop, regardless of the circumstances,” the senator said.
“While President Obama ‘condemns the violence in Egypt’, his administration continues to send billions of taxpayer dollars to help pay for it,” Paul said in a statement.
“The law is very clear when a coup d’état takes place, foreign aid must stop, regardless of the circumstances,” the senator said.
On Thursday, President Obama cancelled plans for joint American-Egyptian military exercises but stopped short of cutting Washington’s $1.3 billion in annual military aid.
21:28 GMT: Security forces are firing tear gas at protestors at al Iman mosque in Nasr city, Al Jazeera reports. Shots have also been heard.
The bodies of more than 600 people who have been killed are being held at Mosques in and around Cairo. Rows of corpses are laid out on the floor in white shrouds and piled with blocks of ice at the al Iman mosque, where relatives have flocked to grieve over the dead.
The bodies of more than 600 people who have been killed are being held at Mosques in and around Cairo. Rows of corpses are laid out on the floor in white shrouds and piled with blocks of ice at the al Iman mosque, where relatives have flocked to grieve over the dead.
21:00 GMT: Egypt decided to recall its ambassador from Turkey for consultations, the state news agency reported on Thursday, after Ankara announced the same move.
"Nabil Fahmy, the foreign minister, decided to recall Egypt's ambassador in Ankara, Abdel Rahman Salah, for consultations," the state news agency reported, giving no further details.
20:48 GMT: As unrest in Egypt continues a number of foreign companies have temporarily closed their operations in the country.
Toyota Motor and Suzuki Motor halted production on Thursday out of safety concerns, Nikkei reports. Sumitomo Electric Industries of Japan evacuated expatriates from the country.
Sweden’s Electrolux home appliances manufacturer that employees 7,000 people in Egypt, has reportedly also stopped production processes at several factories, International Business Times reports.
General Motors closed its assembly plant outside Cairo while Royal Dutch Shell shut its offices for the next few days and restricted business travel. In the meantime the country’s stock exchange and banks remain closed.
20:29 GMT: The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors at 23:30 Egypt Time (21:30 GMT) to discuss the situation in Egypt. The meeting was jointly requested by France, the UK and Australia.
20:18 GMT: Following strong criticism of the Egyptian authorities over Wednesday’s clashes by Anakara, Turkey’s ambassador, Hüseyin Avni Botsali, to Egypt has been recalled for consultations, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday.
20:14 GMT: Egypt's ambassador in the UK has told reporters at a news conference that many pro-Morsi protesters were armed during Wednesday’s clashes, therefore authorities had the right to respond with deadly force. He also suggested that in some cases protesters had shot one another to make their point.
"They (protesters) got what they wanted, they showed they were the victims," Ambassador Ashraf ElKholy said.
"They (protesters) got what they wanted, they showed they were the victims," Ambassador Ashraf ElKholy said.
19:40 GMT: Egypt's Christian minority faces reprisal attacks after the army's crackdown on supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, Senior UN human rights officials say.
“A number of Christian churches and institutions have been targeted, including in the provinces of Assiut, Fayoum, Minya and Sohag, reportedly in retaliation to the incidents in Cairo," UN special advisors Adama Dieng and Jennifer Welsh said in statement, condemning the violence by the military and urging the sides to “take all possible steps to facilitate peaceful resolution of disputes in the country."
19:35 GMT: Egypt’s foreign ministry held a meeting with foreign reporters, explaining Wednesday’s dispersal of two large camps of pro-Morsi supporters, local Ahram paper reports.
Egyptian officials stressed that the decision to end the sit-ins came after a failure of negotiations and efforts by all sides, including the international community, to peacefully end the sit-ins.
Aerial footage of the dispersals was also shown, including a video of protesters using live ammunition against the security forces.
19:33 GMT: The death toll in Wednesday’s violence in Egypt has risen to 638 people, with 3,994 injured, AP reports citing the country’s Health Ministry.
19:00 GMT: The US State Department has warned the American citizens not to travel to Egypt and called on those already there to leave the country where at least 578 people were killed in clashes between the army and pro-Morsi protesters, AFP reports.
18:37 GMT: Senior European Union diplomats will meet in Brussels on Monday to assess the situation in Egypt and possible EU action, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. The diplomats will discuss convening EU foreign ministers, but no decision on when the FMs would meet has been taken.
18:31 GMT: Australia, the UK and France have requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in order to discuss the deteriorating situation in Egypt. According to sources, the meeting may be held in the coming hours.
18:22 GMT: 578 people were killed in an Egyptian military crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday, Reuters reports citing the country’s Health Ministry.
17:50 GMT: Egypt's Interior Ministry has authorised the use of live ammunition by police against protesters attacking government buildings, according to a statement on Thursday.
"The interior ministry has instructed all forces to use live ammunition to counter any attacks on government buildings or forces," it said.
17:48 GMT: The cabinet cancels shortening curfew hours. The curfew imposed in Cairo and 13 other major cities will still begin at 7pm local time (1700 GMT) and last till 6am, Egypt's interim authorities said in a statement.
17:47 GMT: The US is outraged by attacks on Coptic Churches in Egypt, said US state Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, who added that the US also condemns the attack on a government building in Giza. The country will continue reviewing its aid policy to Egypt.
17:25 GMT: US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Egypt on Thursday that the US remains ready to work with all parties to ensure a peaceful way forward is achieved in the country. In a call to Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, he said that the Pentagon would maintain military ties with the country.
"But I made it clear that the violence and inadequate steps towards reconciliation are putting important elements of our longstanding defense cooperation at risk," Hagel said in a statement to Reuters.
16:21 GMT: Curfew in Cairo and 13 other cities is to be shortened, the government said in a statement. It will start at 9pm local time, instead of 7pm, and will be lifted at 6am.
16:20 GMT: EU ministers are to meet next week to discuss the situation in Egypt, said Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino.
“A number of Christian churches and institutions have been targeted, including in the provinces of Assiut, Fayoum, Minya and Sohag, reportedly in retaliation to the incidents in Cairo," UN special advisors Adama Dieng and Jennifer Welsh said in statement, condemning the violence by the military and urging the sides to “take all possible steps to facilitate peaceful resolution of disputes in the country."
19:35 GMT: Egypt’s foreign ministry held a meeting with foreign reporters, explaining Wednesday’s dispersal of two large camps of pro-Morsi supporters, local Ahram paper reports.
Egyptian officials stressed that the decision to end the sit-ins came after a failure of negotiations and efforts by all sides, including the international community, to peacefully end the sit-ins.
Aerial footage of the dispersals was also shown, including a video of protesters using live ammunition against the security forces.
19:33 GMT: The death toll in Wednesday’s violence in Egypt has risen to 638 people, with 3,994 injured, AP reports citing the country’s Health Ministry.
19:00 GMT: The US State Department has warned the American citizens not to travel to Egypt and called on those already there to leave the country where at least 578 people were killed in clashes between the army and pro-Morsi protesters, AFP reports.
18:37 GMT: Senior European Union diplomats will meet in Brussels on Monday to assess the situation in Egypt and possible EU action, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. The diplomats will discuss convening EU foreign ministers, but no decision on when the FMs would meet has been taken.
18:31 GMT: Australia, the UK and France have requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in order to discuss the deteriorating situation in Egypt. According to sources, the meeting may be held in the coming hours.
18:22 GMT: 578 people were killed in an Egyptian military crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday, Reuters reports citing the country’s Health Ministry.
17:50 GMT: Egypt's Interior Ministry has authorised the use of live ammunition by police against protesters attacking government buildings, according to a statement on Thursday.
"The interior ministry has instructed all forces to use live ammunition to counter any attacks on government buildings or forces," it said.
17:48 GMT: The cabinet cancels shortening curfew hours. The curfew imposed in Cairo and 13 other major cities will still begin at 7pm local time (1700 GMT) and last till 6am, Egypt's interim authorities said in a statement.
17:47 GMT: The US is outraged by attacks on Coptic Churches in Egypt, said US state Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, who added that the US also condemns the attack on a government building in Giza. The country will continue reviewing its aid policy to Egypt.
17:25 GMT: US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Egypt on Thursday that the US remains ready to work with all parties to ensure a peaceful way forward is achieved in the country. In a call to Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, he said that the Pentagon would maintain military ties with the country.
"But I made it clear that the violence and inadequate steps towards reconciliation are putting important elements of our longstanding defense cooperation at risk," Hagel said in a statement to Reuters.
16:21 GMT: Curfew in Cairo and 13 other cities is to be shortened, the government said in a statement. It will start at 9pm local time, instead of 7pm, and will be lifted at 6am.
16:20 GMT: EU ministers are to meet next week to discuss the situation in Egypt, said Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino.
“We tried to mediate together with the United States, but it failed because the military accepted no compromises,” Bonino commented to the website Affaritaliani.it. “A meeting of EU foreign ministers is foreseen for Monday or Tuesday.”
The gathering has not yet been finalized, but ministers are expected to say yes.
16:19 GMT: Seven Egyptian soldiers have been killed near the city of El-Arish, North Sinai, having been shot to death by gunmen according to medical sources quoted by Reuters. A further five were injured in a different occurrence of gunfire when an army tent was struck with bullets.
16:19 GMT: Seven Egyptian soldiers have been killed near the city of El-Arish, North Sinai, having been shot to death by gunmen according to medical sources quoted by Reuters. A further five were injured in a different occurrence of gunfire when an army tent was struck with bullets.
15:41 GMT: Live ammunition will be used to repulse any attack on public buildings or security forces, Egyptian state TV reports the Interior Ministry as saying.
15:20 GMT: The interim government said it is ready to combat "terrorist acts" by the Muslim Brotherhood. A government statement said it saw a "criminal plan to demolish the pillars of the Egyptian state." However, the government also said it was seeking an "inclusive political process" open to anyone who was not involved in violence.
15:20 GMT: The interim government said it is ready to combat "terrorist acts" by the Muslim Brotherhood. A government statement said it saw a "criminal plan to demolish the pillars of the Egyptian state." However, the government also said it was seeking an "inclusive political process" open to anyone who was not involved in violence.
14:40 GMT: US President Barack Obama has called off joint US-Egypt military drills which had been scheduled to take place next month. The biannual Bright Star exercise is central to US-Egyptian relations since it began some three decades ago. Obama condemned the “steps that have been taken by Egypt’s interim government and security forces” and said "the cycle of violence and escalation" needs to be stopped.
Turkey recalls ambassador in Cairo for consultations, Egypt reciprocates
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan waves as he gets off a plane in Ankara. Erdoğan performed a one-day visit to Turkmenistan on Aug. 15. AFP photo
Mirroring Ankara's step, Cairo reciprocated by recalling its own ambassador in Turkey for consultations, Egypt's State Agency reported a few hours later.
"Nabil Fahmy, the foreign minister, decided to recall Egypt's ambassador in Ankara, Abdel Rahman Salah, for consultations," the state news agency reported a few hours later, giving no further details.
Erdoğan, who was returning from Turkmenistan, told reporters on the plane that Ambassador Hüseyin Avni Botsalı would come to Ankara to discuss the latest developments in Egypt.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Botsalı was expected to return from Cairo on Aug. 16.
Hours earlier, Erdoğan had reiterated Ankara's earlier call for the U.N. Security Council to convene quickly as the official death toll from the Aug. 14 crackdown rose to over 600. Erdoğan had also criticized the interim rulers' decision to declare a state of emergency.
Turkey adopted a harsh position regarding the military takeover in Egypt July 3, calling repeatedly for the release of Morsi, who has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed location.
August/15/2013
http://www.debka.com/article/23197/US-Egyptian-relations-on-the-rocks-El-Sisi-wouldn%E2%80%99t-accept-Obama%E2%80%99s-phone-call
When the clashes between Egyptian security forces and pro-Morsi protesters were at their peak in Cairo Wednesday, Aug. 14 – 525 dead and 3,700 wounded to date - President Barack Obama put in a call to Egypt’s strongman, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report. The US president wanted to give the general a dressing-down much on the lines of the call he made to former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 at the high point of the Arab Spring Tahrir Sq demonstrations against his rule, namely: Stop repressing the protesters and firing live ammunition. Step down!
When Mubarak asked for a three or four days’ grace to break up the massed rally, Obama shot back that he has to quit NOW!
And indeed, on Feb. 11, the army announced the president’s resignation.
Realizing what was coming, Gen. El-Sissi decided not to accept President Obama’s call, our sources report. The Egyptian officials who received it informed the US president politely that the right person for him to address was Egypt’s interim president Adly Mansour and they would be glad to transfer the call to him. The White House callers declined.
This anecdote shows that the military strongman is not only determined to avoid the pitfalls which brought Mubarak down but is equally determined to keep the US administration from interfering in his plans for driving the Muslim Brotherhood out of Egyptian politics.
Diplomatic condemnation of those plans is building up inWestern capitals. Wednesday night, the Obama White House issued a statement strongly condemning “the use of violence against protesters in Egypt” and the state of emergency. Egyptian ambassadors in Paris, London and Berlin received denunciations and expressions of concern from their host governments, and Turkey demanded a UN Security Council emergency session on the situation in Egypt.
DEBKAfile’s sources report that harsh international condemnation of Gen. El-Sissi’s crackdown will do more harm than good. The backlash will come in three forms:
1. The Muslim Brotherhood will be encouraged to pursue increasingly extreme measures to fight the Egyptian army in the expectation of international applause.
2. The generals will be encouraged to escalate their steps for repressing the Brotherhood.
3. The Saudis and the Gulf Emirates will redouble their support for the Egyptian general and his campaign against the Brotherhood. This will widen the rift between those Arab rulers and the Obama administration.
DEBKAfile’s sources report that harsh international condemnation of Gen. El-Sissi’s crackdown will do more harm than good. The backlash will come in three forms:
1. The Muslim Brotherhood will be encouraged to pursue increasingly extreme measures to fight the Egyptian army in the expectation of international applause.
2. The generals will be encouraged to escalate their steps for repressing the Brotherhood.
3. The Saudis and the Gulf Emirates will redouble their support for the Egyptian general and his campaign against the Brotherhood. This will widen the rift between those Arab rulers and the Obama administration.
Our intelligence sources also disclose that, while President Obama was trying to get through to Gen. El-Sissi, the general was on the phone with Prince Bandar, Director of Saudi Intelligence.
On July 31, Bandar arrived in Moscow and was immediately received by President Vladimir Putin for a conversation that lasted four hours. The Saudi prince next received an invitation to visit Washington at his earliest convenience and meet with President Obama.
Bandar has still not responded to that invitation.
On July 31, Bandar arrived in Moscow and was immediately received by President Vladimir Putin for a conversation that lasted four hours. The Saudi prince next received an invitation to visit Washington at his earliest convenience and meet with President Obama.
Bandar has still not responded to that invitation.
Clearly, the US president’s problem with the Egyptian situation is a lot more complicated than pulling the army off the Muslim Brotherhood’s backs. He needs to somehow snap the strategic alliance unfolding between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and the rapport between the Egyptian general and the Saudi prince.
http://freebeacon.com/obama-policies-turning-egypt-against-u-s/
Obama Policies Turning Egypt Against U.S.
Pro-military Egyptians want to shift to Russian alliance
BY:
The Obama administration support for Muslim Brotherhood Islamists in Egypt is driving the powerful military there against the United States and toward Moscow, according to U.S. officials and reports from the region.
The pro-Muslim Brotherhood stance is undermining decades of U.S. policy toward the Middle East state and prompting concerns that the United States is about to “lose” Egypt as a strategic partner, said officials familiar with intelligence reports.
Disclosure of the concern over the administration’s policy failure in Egypt comes as a security crackdown on pro-Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Cairo resulted in scores killed.
“The Obama administration’s blatant Islamist support is risking the decades-long security arrangement with Egypt,” one U.S. official told the Washington Free Beacon.
“The Egyptians are so upset they might very well give up our support,” the official added, noting the military regime is currently leaning toward seeking backing from Russia, and possibly China in the future.
The United States has provided Egypt with more than $49 billion in both military and economic assistance since 1979. Cairo was viewed as a key strategic partner in the region.
However, the 2011 ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a long-time U.S. ally, as part of the pro-democracy Arab Spring movement began a shift in U.S. policy. At that time, the Obama administration began covertly backing the Muslim Brotherhood, an anti-democratic Islamist group.
The policy shift was a marked change from past policy. During the 1970s, the United States successfully diverted Egypt’s alignment with Soviet Union under Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser by developing close ties to Nasser’s successor, Anwar Sadat, and later Mubarak.
“The administration, through a combination of ignorance, incompetence and support for the Islamists is reversing the strategy gains we made in Egypt,” the official said.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf rejected assertions that the United States is supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.
“We’ve been clear that we don’t support any one party or one group in Egypt, period,” Harf said.
“The future of the Egyptian government is up to the people of Egypt themselves to decide,” she said. “The notion that we are supporting one side over another in Egypt is a total falsehood. We will continue working with all parties and all groups—including the interim government—to help facilitate a move towards an inclusive, democratic process.”
According to the officials, the failed policy toward Egypt is bipartisan. The recent visit to Egypt by Republican Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) was widely viewed by Egyptian civilian and military leaders as tacit support for the Muslim Brotherhood. Graham and McCain said their visit was to support democracy in Egypt, but they criticized the military coup.
McCain was among the first lawmakers to call for a cutoff of support to the interim Egyptian government after the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that is seeking to impose Sharia law as a guiding ideology.
On Sunday, McCain said on “Fox News Sunday” that he was concerned about the outbreak of violence and he criticized the administration for refusing to call the military takeover a coup d’état.
“The fact is that it was a coup, and now they have jailed the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and the previous government, and that is not the way to bring about reconciliation,” McCain said.
Morsi, who was democratically elected, was thrown out of office by the military on June 30 following large-scale demonstrations by pro-democracy and anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters in Cairo. Other Brotherhood leaders also were arrested and placed under house arrest.
In response, Islamists have been staging large-scale protests in the streets of Cairo since then, culminating in the crackdown by security forces. News reports put the death toll as of Wednesday afternoon at 278, with more than a thousand injured by gunfire and tear gas.
Secretary of State John Kerry in a statement Wednesday condemned the violence in Egypt.
“The United States strongly supports the Egyptian people’s hope for a prompt and sustainable transition to an inclusive, tolerant, civilian-led democracy,” he said.
U.S. officials said there are signs Egypt’s military is taking steps to expand control over the political system.
Current Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is being touted by government controlled news media as a patriotic, Nasser-like figure who should run for president.
According to the officials, since the June 30 military takeover, pro-military groups and backers of the new regime are promoting anti-American policies in news outlets.
The campaign, which appears to have high-level Egyptian military support, also calls for shifting Egypt’s alliance from the United States to Russia.
Numerous photos promoting the theme have appeared at rallies and on social media in the past month and half.
The campaign also has included an effort to expel U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson, who the pro-militarists say was a backer of the Muslim Brotherhood.
A military source was quoted in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm al-Sabi as saying Patterson was responsible for the killing of Muslim Brotherhood protesters at Rab’a al Adawiya following a reported meeting between her and senior Muslim Brotherhood officials. The reported plot was discussed at a hotel that called for a plan to foment violence that would justify military intervention and sanctions against Egypt.
On Twitter, a pro-military politician, Mustafa Bakri, criticized President Barack Obama for delaying the sale of four F-16 jets to Egypt and called the president “an ally” of the Brotherhood.
In tandem with the anti-U.S. campaign, pro-military news outlets have been promoting a shift in policy toward Russia. The Al Watan newspaper on July 29 quoted several Egyptian foreign affairs experts as urging the government to replace the United States with Russia as a key ally, based on the failure of the U.S. government to support the military takeover.
A pro-military online forum called the “Arabic Military” on July 29 quoted “diplomatic sources” as saying Putin would soon visit Egypt in the aftermath of calls for a reevaluation of U.S.-Egypt ties.
Russia is known to be seeking a foothold in the Middle East following the turmoil in Syria that prompted a Russian pullout of from the port of Tartus.
Russia also is setting up a new naval headquarters in the Mediterranean.
Other pro-military Facebook pages have criticized Obama and praised Putin. One site called “Egypt will Not Fall” praised Putin as “great Caesar and leader” who is offering to sell Egypt 55 MiG fighter jets to replace the U.S. F-16s.
Obama cancels joint exercises with Egypt’s military, but not aid
POSTED AT 12:01 PM ON AUGUST 15, 2013 BY ED MORRISSEY
“The United States strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by Egypt’s interim government,” Barack Obama announced in a statement from his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard — but that’s about all the United States does. Obama announced that the US would cancel its joint exercises with Egypt’s army in September, but said nothing about the continuing US aid after the coup:
President Barack Obama has scrapped joint U.S.-Egypt military exercises scheduled for next month, saying American cooperation with the Egyptian government cannot continue when civilians are being killed in the streets. He directed his national security team to see what additional steps the U.S. might take going forward.
National Journal’s Brian Resnick is hardly impressed, noting that the White House reaction since the July 3 coup has been “more rhetorical than action-oriented”:
The president offers tough talk and a small, and perhaps symbolic, action to condemn yesterday’s bloodshed in the streets of Cairo—keeping strategic aid in place while canceling a long-standing military exercise with Egypt.“Our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual as civilians are being killed in the streets, rights are being rolled back,” the president said in a statement while on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. But don’t mistake these words for the president completely cutting off ties with the region. He made no mention of the contested $1.3 billion that the U.S. sends in aid to the Egyptian government, which includes things like jet fighters. Instead, the president announced he will cancel a joint military exercise between the U.S. and Egypt called “Bright Star,” a regular tradition stemming from the 1978 Camp David Accords. …Last month, when mass protest forces then-Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi out of office, the president said “I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsi and his supporters.”Clearly automatic rifle fire and tear gas were not what the president had in mind when he said “move quickly and responsibly.”
Actually, the editors at the Washington Post complain that Obama’s message wasn’t clear on that point at all. Continuing aid, they argue, sent a laissez-faire message to General Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, and that Obama bears at least indirect responsibility for the massacre that followed:
Because of those decisions, the Obama administration is complicit in the new and horrifyingly bloody crackdown launched Wednesday by the de facto regime against tens of thousands of protesters who had camped out in two Cairo squares. At least 278 people were reported killed, including many women and children. Chaos erupted around Egypt as angry mobs stormed Christian churches, which went largely unprotected by security forces. The military imposed a state of emergency, essentially returning Egypt to the autocratic status quo that existed before the 2011 revolution.The Obama administration duly protested the latest crackdown, just as it previously urged the miltary [sic] not to use force against the demonstrations and to release Mr. Morsi and other political prisoners. The military’s disregard for these appeals was logical and predictable: Washington had already demonstrated that its warnings were not credible. Indeed, even as police were still gunning down unarmed civilians in the streets of Cairo Wednesday, a White House spokesman was reiterating to reporters the administration’s determination not to make a judgement about whether the terms of the anti-coup legislation had been met. …It is difficult to imagine how the assault on the Brotherhood, which won multiple elections and is still supported by millions of Egyptians, can be followed by a credible transition to democracy. More likely, it will lead Egypt toward still greater violence. It may be that outside powers cannot now change this tragic course of events. But if the United States wishes to have some chance to influence a country that has been its close ally for four decades, it must immediately change its policy toward the armed forces. That means the complete suspension of all aid and cooperation, coupled with the message that relations will resume when — and if — the generals end their campaign of repression and take tangible steps to restore democracy.
Canceling the joint military exercise looks like just about the least the US can do — and almost the least significant way in which to announce it, too. Obama didn’t even bother to get in front of a camera to emphasize the point, or allow questions from the press, which at least John Kerry did at a State Department briefing yesterday. Given the scale of the deaths yesterday in Cairo, this hardly looks like a robust rebuke; it seems more like an expression of impotence.
CNBC’s broadcast of the audio-only statement had an unfortunate interruption in the beginning, which in context of the vapid handling of the crisis in Egypt over the last two years is unsettlingly relevant:
“Are you disabled?” Seems so. But meanwhile, back to important priorities:
President Obama played his fourth round of golf in five days on Thursday after breaking from his vacation to condemn the violence in Egypt.After wrapping up his public address — in which he announced the cancelation of joint military exercises with Egypt next month — Obama departed for the Mink Meadows Golf Club in Vineyard Haven.
Beats talking with reporters on foreign policy, I guess.
Egypt police seize mosque containing protesters bodies: Muslim Brotherhood
Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:6PM GMT
1
Breaking News
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood says the country’s police have taken over a mosque containing bodies of Mohamed Morsi’s supporters, who were killed in recent violence in the capital Cairo.
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