by John Amaruso
Despite the political upheaval in a post-Morsi Egypt, U.S. officials are trying to figure out a legislative framework that would allow aid to continue flowing to the country. According to the Obama administration, instability in the country’s government shouldn’t prevent continued assistance for the sake of U.S. interests in the region.
The move comes after a provision in U.S. law bans Washington from supplying funds and equipment to governments that came to power through force. According to congressional staffers, a ‘legislative waiver’ will be needed to keep military aid and civilian assistance programs for Egypt moving forward. Most lawmakers say continued assistance to Cairo is necessary and insisted that cutting military aid would be just as bad for the civilians as it would be for the army.
Rep. Eliot L. Engel said the regime change “replaced one autocratic government with another.” but suspending military aid would be devastating for the progress of democratic reforms in Cairo. “In fact, I think it’s more than likely to have the opposite effect,” Rep. Engel said. “That military cooperation is important. We’ve spent billions of dollars. We’ve cemented relationships. Let’s use them. Let’s not destroy them. Let’s use them.”
Meanwhile State Department officials are asking for pliable legislation that would allow for the continuation of programs that are essential for the development of civil society in Egypt. Beth Jones, the top State Department official on Middle Eastern policy asked for “legislative flexibility so that we can continue the programs that we think are terribly important.” The Egyptian military which regularly receives shipments of various warcraft like F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters and Harpoon missiles will see their shipment temporarily halted until Egypt’s military installed government follows through with their promise to hold elections and rule democratically.
For observers in the region, the prospect of the Egyptian military ruling democratically is slowly fading after continued clamp down on the press and public protests. As of now there is an agreement arranged pre-coup that states that the U.S. would provide funding- upwards of several hundred million dollars- to Egypt’s military. U.S. officials say once that money runs out, Washington will have to forego sending more aid in the face of violating U.S. law. The nearly $1.3 billion in aid that is sent to Egypt’s military annually has been in place for more than half a century and has solidified a strong military-to-military relationship between the Pentagon and the Egyptian army.
The Pentagon is pushing for the aid to continue flowing to the Egyptian army to continue serving the friendly relations. The friendly relations between the United States and Egypt’s military stems further than just military aid- intelligence sharing as well as trade passages are among the unspoken but practically expected arrangement between the two nations.
The US Paying Egyptian Military
“The U.S. military is able to respond to contingencies and conduct operations throughout the region because of expeditious overflight rights and Suez Canal transit,” said Derok Chollet, the assistant secretary of defense for international affairs. “This can be critical to mission success.” Tensions between Coptic Christians and fundamentalist Muslims have also exacerbated the situation, making the political landscape in Egypt ever more hostile to western influence in the region. A perceived lack of support for the military and the country could put the nail in the coffin for friendly relations between the two countries.
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