(From a friend.) Today the Times piece on the Obama administration planning to give military aid to Egypt -- despite its poor rights record -- has this second paragraph:
To restart the aid, which has been a cornerstone of American relations with Egypt for more than three decades, the administration plans on sidestepping a new Congressional requirement that for the first time directly links military assistance to the protection of basic freedoms.
Hmmm. What happened three decades ago with Egypt that cause America to lavish it with funds? Well it recognized Israel and made a peace treaty with its neighbor. But the Times article never says so...
This is the fiscal and strategic cost of the U.S. special relationship with Israel, and one that runs against the convergence of values and interests in having a rights-respecting ally in Egypt. Egypt is not protecting human rights, but we are overriding our own laws so as to ignore its rights abuses. As we did with Mubarak for decades.
This is the strategic cost to the U.S. that is not repaid in kind by the Israelis. They refuse to make peace with their other neighbors, the Palestinians. Which was a core requirement of the "cornerstone" treaty of 1978.
RE: “the Times piece on the Obama administration planning to give military aid to Egypt — despite its poor rights record” ~ Weiss
ALSO SEE: Halt Ships of Shame from the USA Carrying Weapons to Egypt ~ by Amnesty International, commondreams.org, 3/15/12
ENTIRE PRESS RELEASE – link to commondreams.org
If Egypt gets more democratic, they are likely to respect human rights even less. Think with the Muslim Brotherhood in charge that Christians are going to be more or less persecuted?
Freddy Defender of the Faith over here
Why are you changing the subject with your speculation? The point is simply to show that America will deny even its most cherished ideals of human rights to prop up the Zionist abomination. That is the issue.
But just giving to Fred some information :
Muslim Brotherhood Attends First Christmas Celebrations Following Toppling of Mubarak
This year’s Christmas celebrations, the first following the ousting of Mubarak and his regime, took on a new note with the meeting between Muslim Brotherhood (MB), leaders and Church representatives and leaders in Alexandria.
link to ikhwanweb.com
link to ikhwanweb.com
link to ikhwanweb.com
link to ikhwanweb.com
So meanwhile in real world Fred….
“America will deny its most cherished ideals of human rights.”
I’m sorry, but this is just not true. The United States has never cared about human rights. The US murdered millions of civilians in the Vietnam War, supported genocide in Indonesia in the 1960s and sponsored murderous dictators throughout Latin America in the 1970s and 80s. Those are just a few examples, and none of them has anything to do with Israel. Yes, Israel’s ethnic cleansing and apartheid policies towards the Palestinians are a horrible crime and we should all stand against them. But let’s not pretend that a just peace in this conflict will somehow make the American empire respect human rights. If its a question of human lives or material gain , the US has and will continue to choose the latter.
I wonder if the Egyptians would treat Christians worse than the Jews did. You know, the Jews that kicked out, sorry, transferred or massacred the majority of the Palestinian Christian population in 1947/48. Don’t you feel bad for those Christians? Or is the actions of the Jewish Brotherhood against Christians ok by you?
Memorization of Zionist slogans and talking points is not thinking, Fred.
Amnesty International has a petition to stop this aid. I found it farcical at first, as if military aid and weapons are used for anything besides abuse
When was supporting human rights ever a “strategic asset” or a real desire of the US? I guess that’s my question. Maybe we’re being a little too, I don’t know, naive/sentimental?
The military regime does not have a good record in respect to Coptic Christians. If anything, religious parties can be better in that respect. Seculars … Prophet (PBUH) did not say anything how to treat seculars, so this is an open question.
There was big condemnation in the Parliament that the government succumbed to American pressure and released from custory 49 NGO workers, 16 of them American accused of something that could be illegal foreign donations to political parties (presumably, secular). The Parliament also demands to stop accepting American military aid, expel Israeli envoy (or the envoy from Zionist entity), and somewhere I have seen a postulate to upgrade relationship with Iran. That was during the flareup over Gaza.
Entitians and seculars have some reasons to worry.
You are slipping back into bad habits, Phil. That wasn’t in the Times.
Not in the Times?
link to nytimes.com
No. It was in the New York Times, not The Times.
“US will trample human rights in Egypt for one reason”
Thereby inviting the next 9/11.
But surely the “ironclad” support for a racist semitheocracy with nukes is worth it, yes?
“…the administration plans on sidestepping a new Congressional requirement that for the first time directly links military assistance to the protection of basic freedoms.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to waive the requirement on national security grounds”
I thought national security was enhanced by protecting peoples basic freedoms….