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
This is going to be interesting, especially since the Saudis are supporting the Egyptian military against the MB. Prince Alaweed Bin Talal, the man who probably funded the Mahdi’s stint at Harvard Law, is also supporting the Egyptian military. Pray that, if push comes to shove, the Saudis might do a records dump on the Mahdi.
That was a real shocker. Steve Hayes, the alleged "conservative" from the Weekly Standard, took the other side and argued for supporting the MB plague rats.
Hussein be down wit da Brotherhood.
Of course they now suspend aid. Obama’s Brotherhood was tossed out.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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That just doesn't sound like him.
Good catch!
The “paid for” part is a little more complex. The Egypts don’t have cash to pay for anything. The Apaches would have already been credited to their account-—their account being funded by the 1.6 billion that we give them in aid. The 1.6 B is not cash mostly, but credit they can use to buy US made weapons. Right or wrong cutting back on that aid knocks Americans out of work.
And then there is the “witholding” part: it’s been done before. Remember when we held the F-14s from Iran when the Mullahs took over.? The Shah had actually paid cash for the F-14s and we still kept them-—I don’t know if they ever got them.
Please Get a newer map Nappy-—Israel is Zero miles from Egypt.
No biggie. Saudi Arabia and Russia will aid the Egyptians in their purging of the Islamofascist serial killers, the Muslim Brotherhood.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3056525/posts
Saudi Arabia Promises to Aid Egypt’s Regime
nytimes ^ | Aug 19, 2013 | Rod Nordland
Posted on Monday, August 19, 2013 9:07:49 PM by Innovative
Saudi Arabia has emerged as the foremost supporter of Egypt’s military rulers, explicitly backing the violent crackdown on Islamists and using its oil wealth and diplomatic muscle to help defy growing pressure from the West to end the bloodshed in search of a political solution.
As Europeans and the United States considered cutting cash aid to Egypt, Saudi Arabia said Monday that it and its allies would make up any reduction — effectively neutralizing the West’s main leverage over Cairo.
Excellent info: “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.”
We need a country singer to sing, “Take your measily #1.3 billion and shove it, Barry, and you know where to shove it Barry!”
The American Constitution provides a very effective way of dealing with a defiant president. Use it or lose it.
He loves the brothers so much.........
Rand, what’s the problem. We now 600 less MB protesters to worry about.
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