Posted on 08/19/2013 5:35:44 PM PDT by kristinn
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.”
But two administration officials told The Daily Beast that administration lawyers decided it was best to observe the law restricting military aid on a temporary basis, as if there had been a coup designation, while at the same time deciding that the law did not require a public announcement on whether a coup took place.
“The decision was we’re going to avoid saying it was a coup, but to stay on the safe side of the law, we are going to act as if the designation has been made for now,” said one administration official. “By not announcing the decision, it gives the administration the flexibility to reverse it.”
Several parts of the aid are now temporarily on hold, including the disbursement of the $585 million of $1.3 billion in fiscal 2013 foreign military financing still not delivered to the Egyptian military, the delivery of Apache helicopters that the Egyptian government has already paid for, and the depositing of economic support funds for programs that would directly benefit the Egyptian government, despite official administration denials, the administration officials said.
SNIP
I hope Ann Patterson the ambassador and her staff are not in Egypt still..
There are no Mohammedan good guys. We should not be sending foreign aid to any of them. We should not otherwise be supporting any of them. Let them massacre each other. God will sort it all out though I suspect there will only be one bin.
Sorry.... You are wrong.... It’s a bad thing, very bad to send a message to the MB we are defacto supporting them by cutting off aid to the Egyptian military ...let the MB back in power and you will have the next Iran....in five years....
... And for what it is worth the Egyptian people are supporting the military...we should too,,,,
It’s fairy dust thinking to believe a place like Egypt will not need to shed some blood to restore stability to the country....
$585 million???
Benghazi Barry wants the dough for his next vacation.
We were giving $1.3 bil to the Egyptian military...Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have committed $12 bil (per Bret Baier's Special Report tonight).
Somehow, I don't think the Egyptian military is worried about Obama's feelings about his beloved Muslim Brotherhood.
Boo frikken hoo, Barky!
Take your marbles and go HOME!
I don't agree with this statement. Obama has totally messed up Egypt but it is not because he doesn't understand it. He is carrying out his policy based on a very clear goal: Install the Muslim Brotherhood as rulers of Egypt (and, incidentally, Syria and probably Libya as well).
Understanding Egypt isn't part of his equation. Whether he understands Egypt or he doesn't understand Egypt matters not one whit. A goal is a goal.
Give Obama some credit. He has been instrumental in throwing out two major anti-MB players in the ME (Libya and Egypt). He managed to get the Muslim Brotherhood installed for a year in Egypt and he is working on Syria. Libya will take a little more work. But he is making steady progress toward his goal. Egypt is a setback of course but his actions demonstrate clearly that a Muslim Brotherhood dominated Egypt is still the goal. So he is not giving up on Egypt.
It should be noted that none of this is in the best interest of the U.S. But then again, serving the U.S. interest is also not part of the Obama - Middle East Equation.
And the MB is funded by Saudis. Guess who wins this one.
Why is this even a surprise? The only goal of 0’s foreign policy is the advancement of Islamism. Everything makes sense when you keep that in mind.
Lies, lies and more damn lies. I am on overload and can no longer tell what’s up or down with this administration.
Well, ole Patrick Leahy is at it again-leaking info to the press. They don’t call him “leaky Leahy” for nothing
I don't think so. Right now Saudi Arabia is funding General El-Siri in Egypt who is fighting the MB and wants to outlaw them. And the Saudis have stated that they will make up any shortfall that results from the withdrawal of U.S. or other foreign aid to Egypt.
I definitely need to figure out how to understand this whole Egypt thing. To be honest, I thought they were just killing each other and see what happens, but your post says that I need to be aware of what is going on and find out why it is important for America to get involved. The thing is I guess if McCain was in his second term, we would be in at least Syria and Egypt with our military?
Thanks for your posts!!!!!
Some wealthy individual Saudis might be funding the MB. But the Saudi government is funding the Egyptian military.
Your question still applies: Guess who wins this one.
Well, they don’t call him “Leaky Leahy” for nothing.
Too bad. Juan Williams (on Fox News) was right for the first time in history when he called for our support of the Egyptian Military.
Well, they don’t call him “Leaky Leahy” for nothing.
Too bad. Juan Williams (on Fox News) was right for the first time in history when he called for our support of the Egyptian Military.
Fox “News” Panel is so full of stupid liberals
from Hume on, that Juan Williams, amazingly,
is the MOST conservative on the panel.
And that has been week after week.
Good point.
I was specifically thinking of the Bin Ladens, who are billionaires.
Do Egyptians really need our help to kill other Egyptians?
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