The Obama Administration’s decision to ignore last week’s Egyptian coup seems to be a lot harder to swallow for Congressmen as the new junta moves to escalate its arrest of political rivals.
Senator John McCain (R – AZ) was among the first to criticize continuing the aid, but has now been joined by Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D – MI), who urged the administration to suspend aid until the junta schedules its promised elections.
The White House has ruled out doing that, insisting that American “interests” are served best by keeping the aid flowing to the military irrespective of America’s own laws, which oblige the US to suspend aid in the event of a coup.
Instead, the administration says there are “no plans” to alter any of its substantial aid packages to Egypt’s military, and still intends to deliver four new F-16 fighter jets to the military in the next few weeks.
