US Cuts Aid To Egypt As Violence Continues

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Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post

In the wake of tensions that rose up all across Egypt in the days before the 40th Anniversary of the war with Israel on Sunday October 6 and culminating in a day of intense violence that pitted fanatical Muslim Brotherhood fighters against the Egyptian military government, the United States has announced the suspension of significant amounts of military aid to the government of Egypt.

Early on Tuesday, it was reported by a number of mainstream outlets that an unnamed U.S. official stated that “the United States was leaning toward withholding most military aid to Egypt except to promote counterterrorism, security in the Sinai Peninsula and other such priorities.”

The Jerusalem Post reported that “The official said US President Barack Obama had not made a final decision on the issue, which has vexed US officials as they balance a desire to be seen promoting democracy and rights with a desire to keep up cooperation with Egypt’s military.”

Although the White House denied any change in its policy of aid to Egypt, announcements have now officially been made confirming that the United States is suspending a large portion of its military and other aid to the Middle Eastern nation. As it stands at the time of the writing of this article, the United States is halting a $260 million cash transfer as well as a $300 million loan guarantee that had been scheduled to take place. The U.S. has also halted the delivery of “large scale military systems such as tanks, F-16 jets and Apache helicopters.”

For some time, the United States has provided Egypt with approximately $1.55 billion in aid annually as well as $1.3 billion in direct military aid. The West has shipped this money to Egypt conscience-free for many years while the country was under the rule of the dictator Mubarak and subsequently under the incompetent Islamist Morsi. Indeed, the money has been flowing to Egypt ever since 1979 when a peace treaty was signed between Egypt and Israel with the help of the United States who agreed to make the annual payments as an incentive for Egypt to make the pact.

After Morsi was deposed by the Egyptian military, the violence spawned by Morsi supporters and Muslim Brotherhood fighters prompted the United States government to begin hinting around that military and other aid might be ended in the future openly implying that, like the Western position on Syria, the Egyptian government was responsible for instigating and had been the sole purveyor of violence in Egypt. The U.S. also made clear that it was “reviewing” the remaining “unspent funds” and the pending delivery of apache helicopters scheduled to take place. Still, the U.S. actually did suspend the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Egypt and cancelled joint military exercises that were scheduled at that time.

The continuation of military aid to Egypt has thus confounded the understanding of many observers, especially when one can clearly see the anti-imperialist stance developing on the part of the Egyptian government and the emerging intention of the West to undermine Gen. Sisi and secular nationalistic Egypt.

For many, this money represents the bankrolling of the Egyptian government by the West. In reality, however, it is both a contractual obligation and orchestrated bribery designed to steer Egypt in a direction more favorable to the Anglo-American networks that has convinced the Anglo-Americans to move as slow as they have.

As mentioned above, much of the direct financial and military aid provided to Egypt by the United States comes as a result of the 1979 peace treaty and thus, a contractual obligation which could, if ended abruptly, affect a very strenuous peace agreement.

Second, regardless of the hatred held by the Anglo-Americans against the increasingly nationalistic government of General Sisi, the fact is that a large amount of the money in question simply could not have been suspended or stopped any sooner than the current announcement due to the fact that a significant portion of the money allocated for Fiscal Year 2013 has already been delivered. The current suspension of aid would then apply to direct weapons shipments and financial transfers that have yet to occur as well as those set for FY2014 and the future.

In addition, it is important to note that, even after its puppet Morsi was deposed, apparently held out hopes for an opportunity to wield influence and control over Egypt through the military as it had done via Mubarak for many years. Such, unfortunately for the imperialists, was not the case. This is the reason that very real discussions of aid withdrawal are now being considered within the administration.

Another notable aspect to the consideration of aid to Egypt which is not being discussed as much in the Western press is the fact that, in the event of the suspension of economic aid sent directly to the Egyptian government, money transfers are set to be diverted to Non-Governmental Organizations rather than being made to the Egyptian government and/or military. This would, undoubtedly, only serve to further destabilize the nation, emboldening the Muslim Brotherhood fanatics, and eventually weaken the national government.

Considering the possibility that much of this diverted money may go to Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) operations in Egypt such as the National Democratic Insitute (NDI), International Republican Institute (IRI), International Foundation For Electoral Systems (IFES), or any of the many other organizations currently operating on the ground inside Egypt as part of the Anglo-American destabilization network.

While the fact that the United States did not immediately cut off military or financial aid to Egypt as the result of the violence currently taking place or as a result of the military countercoup might seem confusing to some, the fact is that the Egyptian government appears to be in the process of establishing a system of rule that stands in direct opposition to the Anglo-American powers. The establishment of such a national posture does not come overnight nor does the reaction to it on the part of the Western imperialists.

At this point, as the violence spawned by Muslim Brotherhood (meaning, Western intelligence) continues, one can only hope that Egypt is able to restore order and peace and subsequently begin a process of economic and civil liberties reforms that simultaneously put the imperialist West to shame and serve as a positive example of modern progress, development, and civility to the rest of the Middle East. However, before this hope can even become the slightest possibility, it is imperative that the Anglo-Americans cease all interference in Egyptian affairs.

Read other articles by Brandon Turbeville here.

Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, and The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria. Turbeville has published over 275 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV.  He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.