by Thomas Manning

On Wednesday, October 9th 2013, the United States government announced that it would curb and or stop completely the transfer of military aid to the current government of Egypt which is under the control of its military after a coup and the ouster of the democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

US Aid to Egypt Questioned

The concern about Egypt comes after weeks of violent clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and the Egyptian military who has been cracking down on the Muslim brotherhood, the party of the former president, Mohamed Morsi who was overthrown in July. The latest violent clashes occurred in the first week of 2013 throughout central and western Cairo according to Egyptian state media.

The clashes, according to State media reports, occurred in the Western part of Cairo, known as Zeiuton, where three people were killed and 23 were injured in clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and the military. Another incident was reported the same week, of October 4th, in Central Egypt, where pro- Morsi clashed with the military in Manial where one person was killed and another 17 people were injured. The slowdown in aid would include a large number of heavy weaponry and the important F-16.

The decision to withhold aid from Egypt, has brought criticism from political figures in Egypt, like, political analyst, Saad-El-Dine Ibrahim, who warned that, “ Egypt will be freer to manipulate its relations with Israel. It will not be as dutiful in observing the terms of the Egyptian/ Israel peace treaty as they have been in the last 40 years.”