US slam’s Egypt’s violence & mulls decision over aid
The Obama administration Wednesday slammed violence against peaceful protesters in Cairo, suggesting Egyptian leaders were using intimidation to blunt the people’s democratic aspirations.
Both the White House and the State Department condemned the violence after angry partisans of President Hosni Mubarak stormed a crowded anti-regime rally in a central Cairo square, sparking chaos in which at least 500 people were hurt and one person was killed.
The White House on Wednesday said that U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration is watching actions of Egyptian government to review its decisions over U.S. aid to Egypt.
The U.S. also said that Mubarak has a chance to show the world "exactly who he is" by bringing desperately needed change to his country now.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Egypt’s transition of power must start now, and asked the country’s vice president Omar Sulieman to start a probe over officials responsible for violence in Cairo.
US aid
Upheaval in Egypt has raised fresh questions about the role of U.S. military aid in promoting American interests, as Washington struggles to distance itself from Mubarak’s autocratic rule.
Press secretary Robert Gibbs decried the bloody violence in Cairo, where pro-government forces clashed with protesters a day after Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in September. Mubarak’s announcement wasn’t good enough for the protesters, who want him out now.
"If any of the violence is instigated by the government it should stop immediately," Gibbs said, while declining to speculate whether the government was in fact behind the violence. Protesters contend plainclothes police are among the pro-government attackers.
"The president found the images outrageous and deplorable," the press secretary said.
Gibbs said no decision had been made on cutting off the $1.5 billion in annual aid the U.S. provides Egypt but that it was still under review.
For Egyptian protesters, F-16 fighters buzzing overhead and Abrams tanks rumbling through the streets symbolize Washington’s long-running ties to the Egyptian regime, even as President Barack Obama presses Mubarak to relinquish power.
But for Washington, supplying weapons and training to Egypt and other countries is touted as a wise investment, extending American influence and safeguarding the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
U.S. military aid to Cairo, amounting to $1.5 billion a year, represents one of the most prominent and costly examples of how Washington conducts diplomacy through its vast military and defense industry.
But the approach carries risks, as the aid does not ensure Washington’s word will be followed while linking the United States to repressive regimes and human rights abuses.
"What you’re dealing with is a balance, the assistance you provide gives you some — but incomplete — influence over what they do," said Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"And the assistance implicates you to some degree but not completely in what they do," he said. "So there’s an upside and there’s a downside."
For more than three decades, U.S. fighter jets, tanks and helicopters for Cairo have underpinned the country’s peace deal with Washington’s ally, Israel, while delivering access to Egyptian air bases and safe passage for American warships moving through the Suez Canal.
U.S. officials believe years of American training programs for Egyptian officers may have even paid off in recent days and helped contribute to the army’s refusal so far to open fire on demonstrators demanding Mubarak step down.
Mullen praises Egypt’s army
Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised the Egyptian army this week for its "professionalism" after speaking by phone to his counterpart.
"Clearly it’s a very volatile, uncertain situation but the chairman would very much like the relationship we have with the Egyptian military to continue," his spokesman, Captain John Kirby, told AFP.
Senator Lindsey Graham makes no apologies for Washington’s support of Egypt’s army, saying it serves as insurance to prevent Islamist hardliners from gaining power.
"Every American should be very appreciative of the fact that for years we’ve been providing aid to the Egyptian army in terms of equipment and training, because that army is our ace in the hole, as a world, to make sure Egypt doesn’t go into a radical state," Graham said Tuesday.
Lawmakers, however, have voiced mounting frustration over the benefits of another military relationship — in Pakistan — where public hostility to U.S. policies runs deep.
Despite billions in military aid and weapons, Pakistan’s army has repeatedly put off cracking down on militants in North Waziristan that stage attacks on U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.
Mullen and others argue that cultivating military ties and providing hardware is vital as a way of defusing tensions and promoting long-term interests, even if it does not guarantee that U.S. advice and demands will be met.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called the severing of military ties with Pakistan in the 1990s a strategic blunder that meant a generation of Pakistani officers had no contact with the US armed forces.
"When we’ve cut our mil-to-mil ties, it’s really cost us," said Richard Fontaine, a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security.
Chaotic scenes on Cairo’s streets have prompted comparisons to the 1979 revolution in Iran, where an out-of-touch regime had strong ties to the US military.
The Pentagon’s investment in the former Shah’s army and air force became a liability, with Iranians viewing Washington as propping up a corrupt monarchy.
When it comes to U.S. military aid, Biddle said, Iran is an example of the "worst case scenario."
Muslim Brotherhood, not yet!
The U.S. embassy in Cairo has been in contact with a "large number" of Egyptian opposition members during the mass protests, but not the Muslim Brotherhood, a senior U.S. administration official told AFP.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say which opposition members had been contacted, but Margaret Scobey, the U.S. ambassador in Cairo, spoke Tuesday to top dissident Mohamed ElBaradei.
"Embassy has been in touch with a large number of people, but I don’t know all the names for sure. However, Muslim Brotherhood — no," the official said in email exchange when asked about U.S. contacts with the opposition.
The official did not make clear why Washington has not had contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood even though it is encouraging a democratic transition in Egypt amid Egyptian calls for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
But analyst Marina Ottaway said "there is a fear in the United States that the Muslim Brotherhood could gain power and that a change in leadership will impact Egypt’s relations with Israel."
"Both of these fears are greatly exaggerated," she said on the website of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she works.
The opposition to Mubarak’s embattled regime is a divided and diversified group of secular and Islamist parties, as well as civil society organizations.
Although the Mubarak government has formally banned it, the Muslim Brotherhood is considered the strongest grass roots movement and the most organized.
After a surprise win in 2005 elections, in which it secured 20 percent of seats (88 seats), its representation in the legislative was wiped out in the 2010 elections.
The most prominent opposition party is the New Wafd, founded in 1978 and inspired by the original Wafd party, the largest nationalist party since it was established at the start of the 20th century.
There is also al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, which was founded by Ayman Nur, an opposition figure who challenged Mubarak in the 2005 presidential elections.
In addition, there are several groups that left-leaning, socialists or Nasserists — inspired by the policies of the late popular President Gamal Abdel Nasser.