Why do we do it ?

[Regis]

When the Egytptian military ousted the democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, it was widely described as a coup. But not universally so.

The U.S., which has been a huge aid donor to Egypt for more than three decades, has so far declined to decide one way or the other.

Why? Because if the U.S. government calls it a military coup, U.S. law requires that assistance to the country be halted.

"We're just not taking a position," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

But Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., an influential voice in foreign policy, both have called for the suspension of aid to Egypt in the wake of Morsi's ouster.

"I don't believe it's in our security interests to go along with the overthrow of a democratically elected government," Levin told NPR's All Things Considered on Tuesday.

Here's a summary of the money [PDF] the U.S. gives to Egypt:

-- Egypt has been a leading recipient of U.S. aid ever since it signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Most of the money goes to the military, which has been receiving $1.3 billion annually since 1987. Egypt views that money as "untouchable compensation" for making peace with Israel. According to cables released by WikiLeaks, the money also gives the U.S. military priority access to the Suez Canal and Egyptian airspace.

-- Economic (nonmilitary) aid, meanwhile, has fallen from $815 million in 1998 to $250 million today.

-- The bedrock of U.S. military assistance to Egypt is co-production of the M1A1 Abrams battle tank. Some components are made outside Cairo; the rest are made in the U.S. and then shipped to Egypt, where the tank is assembled. Egypt also buys other U.S. military goods, including Apache helicopters and F-16 aircraft, as well as CH-47 Chinook transport and Black Hawk helicopters.

-- The U.S. Congress conditions the assistance on a certification that Egypt is transitioning to democracy, but it allows the administration to waive this requirement under certain conditions. The Obama administration has done so twice — most recently in May.

-- Many of Egypt's senior military officers have studied or trained in the United States. Egyptian Armed Forces Commander Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. [Copyright 2013 NPR]

[Regis]

We buy "allegiance " to keep peace ?

[3fan4life]

The US should have NEVER supported the ousting of Mubarak in the first place.

Ousting him and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood was a BIG mistake.

Egypt was thrown into instant turmoil by them and the country was on the verge of descending into a long and bloody civil war.

The ousting of Morsi was and is a good thing for defenders of freedom EVERYWHERE.

There will still be turmoil, but Egypt is on its way to becomming a TRUE democracy.


There is NO such thing as FREEDOM or DEMOCRACY under Muslim rule, Islamic Law does NOT allow it.


This is the time for our country to stand by Egypt and its citizens that wish to be free from Islamic rule.

Our government bares a large share of the blame for the mess that Egypt is in.  It has the opportunity to right a wrong, I sincerely hope that our leaders step up to the plate and do so.