President Obama said in a televised interview on Wednesday that the US does not consider Egypt’s Islamist-led government an ally or an enemy, even as Washington continues to flood the post-revolution country with billions in military and financial aid.
“I don’t think that we would consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy,” Obama said following masses of protesters who stormed the US Embassy in Cairo and tore up the American flag, sparked by offense over an anti-Muslim film made in the US.
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi was slow to react to the issue of angry mobs outside the US Embassy, and administration officials were apparently waiting for him to condemn the protests and reaffirm his support for America and the defense of its Embassy.
Obama said the newly formed, democratically elected Egyptian government is trying “to find its way.” In other words, they haven’t yet been strong enough in their subservience to Washington, who propped up the former dictator Hosni Mubarak for decades.
If Egyptian officials show “they’re not taking responsibility,” Obama warned, then it would “be a real big problem.”
The White House cautiously stepped back from the comments on Thursday, saying “folks are reading way too much into this,” and that “‘Ally’ is a legal term of art” and that Egypt is a “close partner of the United States.”
Despite the transfer of power in Egypt and the unsettling hand it dealt to Washington’s foreign policy elite, the US has continued to send about $1.5 billion to Egypt every year, mostly in security assistance, and offering even more in debt relief, apparently as a bribe to keep “American interests” a priority.
Since the Egyptian revolution, Washington has been scrambling for leverage in Cairo, playing both sides in being supportive of both the military leadership and the Muslim Brotherhood and asking for “a managed transition” to democratic rule as long as the leadership defers to US power on central issues, like adhering to treaties with Israel and favoring American presence as opposed to Chinese or Russian.
US support for the democratic victors will turn on a dime if these demands are not respected, and this is presumably what President Obama meant when he expressed trepidation about Egypt being an American ally or not.
Obomber is correct on that assertion. Egypt is neither an enemy or an ally, they're simply of the possession of the US Empire, a puppet regime.
Not really, they paid off the Egyptian elite not to cause problems for Israel who also got a cut, now they'll have to pay off the military elite, the isrealis AND the muslim brotherhood WHO will cause problems if they see an advantage in doing so. All it would take is Al queda to become an ally of the DC in some way and the farce would be complete……..oh wait.
Not ally. Not enemy. Bribe recipient perhaps?
The term Ally generally includes a mutual defense agreement. The US thankfully does not have such an agreement with Egypt. The Romneybots will be all over this.
OT Remember when McCain wanted to save Georgia from the big, bad Russians? Obama did too; until the bs story blew up. Obama walked it back. McCain kept at it for awhile. Does Georgia have a chance to still get into NATO?
Thankfully there is also no such written agreement between the US and Israel.
The thought that since the Egyptians willingly take the billions of dollars thrown their way they should be compliant with US wishes may have held sway in the past. Now the idea that those who receive US largess may not bend the knee is becoming more prevalent. The only solution is to end the gravy train, especially as there is no guaranteed result.. In fact, the US should end ALL foreign "aid" and allow the former recipients to find their own way. Mayhaps they'll go to the Chinese…that's cool…let the Chinese fund them for a change – they'll have no more guarantees of subservience than the US did. – and we can use the billions of $$$ here in our own country with better and more evident results.
Time to keep the taxpayers $$$ in-country and use them to fix our own country. When we get our own stuff fixed then maybe we could consider charity. I give to charity, but not before my other necessities and obligations are fulfilled.
Maybe Egypt can be a real ally and insult the President and diplomatic representatives of the United States, boss the United States around, dictate American policy in the Middle East, veto any and all UN Resolutions critical of the regime, ethnically cleanse and steal the land of the Copts, take all the American money they can get their greedy hands on, etc. A similar formula has been used by Israel to merit the distinction of being America's "strongest ally" in the region and being a democracy (for the correct religion) and all that other poppycock .
Obomba: neither an ally nor an enemy, merely a pawn in my continent-busting schemes.
When was the last time the Egyptians bombed an American ship?
Remember the USS Liberty!