Senators Rebel Against Obama on Egypt Coup

State Dept: No Plan to Ever Notice Coup

Three weeks into the military junta in Egypt, the Obama Administration still hasn’t officially recognized the coup that took place. This isn’t accidental, but rather an attempt to defy US law which explicitly forbids aid to nations after a military coup.

That’s the policy they’re sticking to as well, with State Department officials today informing Congress that they have no plans to “ever” notice the coup in Egypt, and even though the law is clear in banning aid to juntas, the law doesn’t explicitly require them to notice coups.

For a growing number of Senators, this attempt to redefine the law as simply being whatever the president wants it to be isn’t sitting well, and a large number are calling on the Obama Administration to at least sort of follow the law.

Not that this means the aid will ever actually be cut. Several of the senators say that they would be able to easily pass a waiver making Egypt’s coup a special case that the US supports, which of course is in keeping with the fact that the US actively bankrolled the coup.

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.