Flashback at the bottom! So what message shall we take away from that!
President Obama on Thursday canceled a joint military exercise with Egypt while leaving more than a billion dollars in annual aid in place, in a measured response to the government’s violent repression of opposition demonstrations.Obama said American “national security interests in this part of the world and the belief that our engagement can support a transition back to democracy” has prompted him to maintain $1.3 billion in annual military to Egypt’s interim government.But after the violence Wednesday against opposition demonstrators, which has left hundreds dead in Cairo and sparked a broader backlash across the nation, Obama said, “Our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual.”
So, as usual Obama speaks from both sides of his mouth. If "our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual"..... Why is it? Why is Obama leaving the military aid in place? Why is Obama set to "maintain $1.3 billion in annual military to Egypt’s interim government?"Reads like approval to me! This flashback to a blog post from August 14/2012: Egypts Military adopts Turkish Model to retain power over Morsi . Shortly after the overthrow of Mubarek....
Field Marshal Tantawi asked for a translation of Turkey’s 1982 constitution, which both endows Turkish officers with wide-ranging powers to police the political arena and curtails the power of civilian leaders. In the June 17 decree, the military hedged against a Morsi victory by approximating the tutelary role
As a result, President Morsi does not control the budget; has no foreign policy, defense, or national security function; and has been stripped of the president’s duty as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, meaning he has no control over military personnel. In addition, having dissolved parliament in a move that has no legal basis, the SCAF now also functions as Egypt’s legislature. Finally, the military will be able to veto articles of a new constitution. So, for example, if the drafters of the new constitution include civilian control and parliamentary oversight of the armed forces, Field Marshal Tantawi can object, force the Constituent Assembly to review the article, and, if necessary, bring it to the Supreme Constitutional Court. Although in the abstract, the military has set out a clear procedure for adjudicating disputes over the draft constitution, the Officers clearly expect past patterns of civil-military relations to hold sway.The military’s June 17th constitutional declaration was predicated on a combination of the Officers’ historic role in the political system, implicit threats, and the assumption that many Egyptians who fear the Brotherhood will support the SCAF’s bid to reinforce its autonomy. It may not work out as planned, however. President-elect Morsi is pushing back already. While paying homage to the Egyptian armed forces, his camp has already declared that they do not recognize the dissolution of the parliament or the legality of the military’s decree. During the heady moments of Sunday’s celebrations in Tahrir Square, the Brotherhood vowed that Morsi would take the oath of office before the People’s Assembly. Morsi’s supporters, the revolutionaries of the April 6th Movement, and others have vowed not to leave Tahrir Square until the actual handover of power scheduled for July 1st, recognizing it as their only leverage to hold SCAF accountable. They are also gearing up for a battle to defeat the constitutional declaration.
Updated to add. The June 17th declaration would have provided the mechanism for the NED backed 'freedom' /democractic groups to ask for the military to intercede.Yesterday when I ended my post, Egypt: Creating a false paradigm to justify death and destruction making the contention that Morsi was but a figurehead, it was a correct assertion.