US Won’t Call Egypt’s Military Takeover a ‘Coup,’ Urges Transition

State Dept 'Disappointed' in Ousted President

US law is very clear on military coups – they’re against it.

Which is why the Egyptian military’s overt takeover of the government there is so inconvenient, and why the Obama Administration is desperate to avoid using the word “coup” to describe what happened.

The US response to the coup has beyond that been extremely tepid, citing Egyptian military promises to “quickly” transition to another elected government, and urging them to do that.

The State Department’s response suggests they are entirely fine with the regime change, ignoring the military and instead expressing their “disappointment” with the ousted President Morsi for not giving in to opposition demands.

The Obama Administration is said to be planning to launch a “review” of the massive annual US military aid to Egypt, but this doesn’t seem likely to lead to any real action, as the administration confirmed talks with the military before the coup, and obviously would’ve warned them if they were really opposed to it.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.