“Given the depths of our partnership with Egypt, our national security interests in this pivotal part of the world and our belief that engagement can support a transition back to a democratically elected civilian government, we’ve sustained our commitment to Egypt and it’s people,” said Obama, whose policy in Egypt has sometimes seemed as incoherent as that country’s internal politics.
It was a declaration of independence. It was a declaration that the American British had the right to be free from the "influence," the control, of Great Britain. It was a foreign policy document above all. The right to be left alone, to be free from others was the foundational right to secure the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
This foundational concept of foreign policy restrained the United States sometimes. She was wary of "entangling alliances," of involvement in "foreign wars." The echo of this foundational concept of American foreign policy is found in the statute of the moment: America, in pursuit of its national interest, may dispense aid to a foreign country unless the government of that country was a democracy that was replaced in a coup d'etat. The American pursuit of happiness in foreign affairs gives way to the locals pursuit of happiness in that circumstance; America recognizes in the foreign country its own declaration to be left alone.
I wish the United States conducted its foreign policy more in keeping with the foundational right to be left alone. I wish the United States pursued its happiness abroad less aggressively. I wish the United States would call a coup a coup, suspend aid to Egypt and leave the Egyptian people alone.
In other words, he has chosen America’s interests over its values
...
[Senator Rand] Paul and some lawmakers in both parties have tried in vain to get Obama to call the recent ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi a “coup,” a designation that would trigger an automatic suspension of aid. But Obama, for the reasons he detailed on Thursday, has declined to make a determination on whether a coup occurred.
“It’s this kind of split-the-middle approach where Obama constantly hedges: ‘We made a determination not to make a determination,’” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center. “That kind of thing belongs in an Onion article, not in a statement from a senior U.S. official.”
...
“What does it really matter what Obama says at a recorded presser that announces no new shift in policy?” Hamid said. “We’re in a post-rhetoric era. People are looking for action and a real shift in policy and not seeing that.”
I agree with everything said above and wish I had said what Shadi Hamid said and would add: We, the American people, have chosen interests over values. I am confident that most Americans--Not this one in this instance, but most other Americans--agree that we should choose interests over values. And what are those interests? We don't need to ask:
Another dimension of the U.S.-Egypt relationship is geopolitical and based on access to the Suez Canal. The Egyptian government allows the U.S. Navy to use the canal on an expedited basis.
...
Of course, oil tankers also transit the Suez Canal. In 2012, more than 3,600 tankers passed through the waterway. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, last year nearly 3 million barrels per day of total oil transported in both directions. “This is the highest amount ever shipped through the Suez Canal"...the EIA said.
...
Egypt expert Jason Brownlee at the University of Texas noted last month after President Mohammed Morsi was toppled that “unlike the American public, the Egyptian military knows that the U.S. gets far more out of the relationship than it puts in: over-flight rights, prepositioning at Cairo West Air Base, intelligence on al Qaida.”
...
Then there is the U.S. money that goes to Egypt. Between 1948 and 2011, the United States provided Egypt with a total of $71.6 billion in aid. Egypt is the fifth-biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, after Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
...
[Senator Rand] Paul and some lawmakers in both parties have tried in vain to get Obama to call the recent ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi a “coup,” a designation that would trigger an automatic suspension of aid. But Obama, for the reasons he detailed on Thursday, has declined to make a determination on whether a coup occurred.
“It’s this kind of split-the-middle approach where Obama constantly hedges: ‘We made a determination not to make a determination,’” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center. “That kind of thing belongs in an Onion article, not in a statement from a senior U.S. official.”
...
“What does it really matter what Obama says at a recorded presser that announces no new shift in policy?” Hamid said. “We’re in a post-rhetoric era. People are looking for action and a real shift in policy and not seeing that.”
I agree with everything said above and wish I had said what Shadi Hamid said and would add: We, the American people, have chosen interests over values. I am confident that most Americans--Not this one in this instance, but most other Americans--agree that we should choose interests over values. And what are those interests? We don't need to ask:
"'Traditional Cooperation' Between U.S. and Egypt Based on Geopolitics and Money."-NBC News.
[T]he current dimensions of the U.S. relationship with Egypt were set by the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, which President Jimmy Carter helped negotiate...[T]he continuation of the Egypt-Israel peace accord is an anchor of stability in that volatile region.Another dimension of the U.S.-Egypt relationship is geopolitical and based on access to the Suez Canal. The Egyptian government allows the U.S. Navy to use the canal on an expedited basis.
...
Of course, oil tankers also transit the Suez Canal. In 2012, more than 3,600 tankers passed through the waterway. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, last year nearly 3 million barrels per day of total oil transported in both directions. “This is the highest amount ever shipped through the Suez Canal"...the EIA said.
...
Egypt expert Jason Brownlee at the University of Texas noted last month after President Mohammed Morsi was toppled that “unlike the American public, the Egyptian military knows that the U.S. gets far more out of the relationship than it puts in: over-flight rights, prepositioning at Cairo West Air Base, intelligence on al Qaida.”
...
Then there is the U.S. money that goes to Egypt. Between 1948 and 2011, the United States provided Egypt with a total of $71.6 billion in aid. Egypt is the fifth-biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, after Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
For the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, Obama has requested $1.55 billion in aid to Egypt, $1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in economic aid.
...
General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's de facto leader and defense minister, graduated from the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania. U.S. military schools train between 500 and 1,000 Egyptian officers every year.
...
General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's de facto leader and defense minister, graduated from the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania. U.S. military schools train between 500 and 1,000 Egyptian officers every year.
(It would have to be Pennsylvania.) That's who we are. The soul of America is the pursuit of happiness and overwhelmingly that means the pursuit of money. "To get rich is glorious!," as that great American Deng Xiaoping said. Or,"America should use its aid and influence with the army to get the most out of this crisis," as that other great American Thomas L. Friedman said.
"Seeking the Soul of America."-Public Occurrences, July 14, 2013.
The United States seeks influence in other countries to pursue greater happiness for the United States and, if possible, happier local conditions. When those happinesses are in conflict, usually the United States will try "to get the most out of" the local situation for America. Thomas L. Friedman, Eric Cantor and others who urge continued aid to the Egyptian military apply the right to the pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of Independence to America's foreign policy.It was a declaration of independence. It was a declaration that the American British had the right to be free from the "influence," the control, of Great Britain. It was a foreign policy document above all. The right to be left alone, to be free from others was the foundational right to secure the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
This foundational concept of foreign policy restrained the United States sometimes. She was wary of "entangling alliances," of involvement in "foreign wars." The echo of this foundational concept of American foreign policy is found in the statute of the moment: America, in pursuit of its national interest, may dispense aid to a foreign country unless the government of that country was a democracy that was replaced in a coup d'etat. The American pursuit of happiness in foreign affairs gives way to the locals pursuit of happiness in that circumstance; America recognizes in the foreign country its own declaration to be left alone.
I wish the United States conducted its foreign policy more in keeping with the foundational right to be left alone. I wish the United States pursued its happiness abroad less aggressively. I wish the United States would call a coup a coup, suspend aid to Egypt and leave the Egyptian people alone.
