Slate's Fred Kaplan: Stop Paying the Generals

[flpoljunkie]

Stop Paying the Generals
President Obama must cut off aid to Egypt’s military—now.
By Fred Kaplan
Posted Friday, Aug. 16, 2013, at 3:48 PM


President Obama makes a statement about the violence in Egypt while at his rental vacation home at Martha's Vineyard on Aug. 15, 2013. The time for talk is over, though, and the time for ending military aid to Egypt is now. Photo by Larry Downing/Reuters

The United States should cut off all military aid to Egypt.

There! That was quick, easy, morally satisfying. It might even be strategically smart. Or it might not be. Would cutting off aid have any effect on the Egyptian military’s actions, or on America’s reputation among the Egyptian people, or on the contours of Middle Eastern politics? Would continuing aid have any such effect? What kind of effect would we like our policies to have on the country and the region? And even if we figured that one out, how much leverage can we—or any outside power—exert to make it so?

In its latest “IntelBrief,” the Soufan Group defines geopolitical policymaking in a complex environment as “the cognitive equivalent of juggling knives of different sizes while riding a unicycle on an uneven surface,” adding, “Few can do this at all, and fewer still are able to do it well.”

No wonder, then, that President Obama seemed rather feckless on Thursday, as he took a break from golfing on Martha’s Vineyard to declare that, in response to Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Cairo (the death toll had already exceeded 500), the United States was canceling next month’s joint military exercise. Obama said nothing about the annual $1.5 billion in U.S. military aid , nor did he come any closer to characterizing the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi as a “coup”—a statement that, by U.S. law, would have required a suspension of aid.

more...

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2013/08/president_obama_should_end_aid_to_egypt_the_country_s_generals_act_on_their.html

[hlthe2b]

1. Slate's Fred Kaplan is clueless...

Our $$ are not what is funding the Generals--it is the Saudis and the Emiratis... See JMach1's post on the issue.

Given the massive amounts of money being poured in from the regions' big players to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood, our role and our money has become comparatively inconsequential...But, to cut it off would be a symbolic play that would surely have major future consequences. We are truly boxed in with respect to Egypt, as much as none of us likes it.

[flpoljunkie]

3. I do believe he's fully aware of the Saudis' and Emirates' contributions to Egypt.

Last edited Sun Aug 18, 2013, 07:22 AM - Edit history (1)

[hlthe2b]

4. You know Fred personally?

[flpoljunkie]

5. You read the article?

[LiberalFighter]

2. Best approach imo would be to wean them off of it.