Clinton Waives Democracy Clause, Egypt Aid to Resume

State Dept: Decision to Maintain 'Strategic Partnership' With Egypt

Following through on reported plans from last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today waived the “democracy” and “reform” criteria imposed on military aid to Egypt by Congress, and some $1.3 billion in funds will soon flow.

State Dept. spokeswoman Victoria Nuland announced the decision, saying it “reflects America’s over-arching goal: to maintain our strategic partnership.” She went on to say that the junta had “made progress” and that “more work remains to protect universal rights.”

The criteria were imposed primarily as a result of Egypt’s decision to prosecute US NGO workers for their role in preparing pro-US parties for the parliamentary elections. Egypt let all the NGO workers leave the country earlier this month.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D – VT) slammed the decision, saying in particular that the decision to send the entire $1.3 billion at once prevented the US from using the aid as “future leverage.” He also warned that sending the aid to the junta was a “contradictory message” at a time when the US is also giving public support to the idea of democracy in the nation.

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.