Egypt’s military junta was loudly and openly courted by the US as a coalition partner for the new ISIS war, but the pledges of support appear to have been wildly exaggerated.
The junta today insisted Egypt has no plans to take any direct action in the ISIS war, with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb saying the country is focused on internal stability, not overseas operations.
Mehleb did raise the possibility that Egypt would join the ISIS war if ISIS started posing a direct threat to the GCC nations, including Saudi Arabia and its allies, but there is no sign that ISIS is anywhere near doing that.
Egypt’s massive military is heavily funded by both its dominance of the Egyptian economy and billions in US aid, and historically has been eager to intervene across the Arab world. The junta, however, is having a lot of internal stability problems since seizing power in a violent coup last year, and is likely reluctant to send troops abroad to fight when they may be needed at home for more massacres of protests to ensure their continued rule.
