Is it too much to ask for consistency in U.S. policy on Egypt? There are at least two choices. The Obama administration could acknowledge that, after a brief experiment with democracy that brought the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood to power, another dictatorship in Egypt is consistent with U.S. security interests, which includes honoring Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel. If the U.S. is releasing the aid because doing so is required by the peace treaty, Kerry should just say so. Or the administration could say that the primary U.S. interest in the Middle East is combating the rise and spread of anti-Western Islamist terrorist organizations, and that El-Sisi isn’t helping. His repressive tactics are inflaming sentiment that is leading to the rise of more dangerous Islamist terrorist groups. The facts suggest that El-Sisi is intent on building a state at least as repressive as that of former dictator Hosni Mubarak, who enjoyed decades of U.S. support until he was toppled by pro-democracy protests in 2011. The U.S. supported the aims of those protests. Now it is supporting a man who is brutally turning back the clock.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 17:59:18 +0000
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