The American Love Affair With Military Coups
Al Jazeera English / By Belén Fernández
The American Love Affair With Military Coups
The overthrow of elected governments in Honduras and Egypt was supported by the U.S. government.
August 9, 2013 |
Some readers may not be acquainted with an alternative source of entertainment known as the US State Department Daily Press Briefings.
These sessions - videos and transcripts of which appear on the department's website - consist of large quantities of words emitted by departmental spokespersons whose principle objective often appears to be to not actually say anything.
Consider, for example, the July 3 briefing on the subject of the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in a military coup, an event the US prefers to see as categorically undefinable.
A journalist in the audience attempts to force acknowledgement of the obvious: "In the diplomatic parlance, whenever the military takes the president, the democratically elected president, and places him under house arrest, is that considered a coup d'etat?"
In response, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki reiterates that "I'm not going to speak to reports that we don't have confirmation of" and that "we're monitoring (events) closely, and as situations warrant a statement, we certainly always consider that".
More:
http://www.alternet.org/world/america-supports-honduras-and-egypt-coups