Suspend Military Aid to Egypt
This is an Exmaple of Wasteful and Unwise Spending
The time has come for the United States to suspend military aid to Egypt and halt all forms of military cooperation. Since the revolutionary uprising of January 2011, the Egyptian military has shown itself to be inept and unwilling to manage an orderly transfer of power within the framework of a constitutional democracy. Quite to the contrary, Egypt?s military leaders have committed egregious crimes against their own people. They have attempted and continue to systematically crush freedoms of speech, and freedoms of the press. In the process, it has become increasingly difficult to understand how these actions could possibly contribute to a stable and constructive security arrangement with the United States.
Following the uprising of January 2011, the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) have maintained an accelerated policy of political arrests, disappearances and torture. Critics are commonly accused of espionage or insulting the military. Speedy military trials targeting secular protestors and dissidents have become common. Brute force and other tactics of intimidation against journalists have coincided with a resurgence of state propaganda. The military has resorted to firing gas and bullets on peaceful demonstrators on several occasions, most notably in October of this year , when Christian protestors were massacred with live ammunition, military vehicles crushing skulls, and spilling bodies into the Nile River, then in November, with thousands more in casualties. In December of this year they continued to show their savagery by brutally attacking women in broad daylight, and later denying them proper medical treatment. This is in addition to the humiliating ?virginity tests? that female activists have been subjected to. It gets worse daily as more details come to light. More recently, Egyptian police launched attacks on a number of NGOs, claiming their operations to be illegally funded by foreign powers (notably the United States and Germany). Yet ironically, the Egyptian military continues to receive yearly stipends of US taxpayer money, no questions asked.
In the present circumstances, we believe that military aid to Egypt is of no value, and would only lead to further instability in the Middle East. This potentially catastrophic situation could be alleviated if the US government decides to disengage itself from the military regime in Egypt, and instead provide real support for the formation of a constitutional democracy. It would be a lot cheaper too.
Following the uprising of January 2011, the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) have maintained an accelerated policy of political arrests, disappearances and torture. Critics are commonly accused of espionage or insulting the military. Speedy military trials targeting secular protestors and dissidents have become common. Brute force and other tactics of intimidation against journalists have coincided with a resurgence of state propaganda. The military has resorted to firing gas and bullets on peaceful demonstrators on several occasions, most notably in October of this year , when Christian protestors were massacred with live ammunition, military vehicles crushing skulls, and spilling bodies into the Nile River, then in November, with thousands more in casualties. In December of this year they continued to show their savagery by brutally attacking women in broad daylight, and later denying them proper medical treatment. This is in addition to the humiliating ?virginity tests? that female activists have been subjected to. It gets worse daily as more details come to light. More recently, Egyptian police launched attacks on a number of NGOs, claiming their operations to be illegally funded by foreign powers (notably the United States and Germany). Yet ironically, the Egyptian military continues to receive yearly stipends of US taxpayer money, no questions asked.
In the present circumstances, we believe that military aid to Egypt is of no value, and would only lead to further instability in the Middle East. This potentially catastrophic situation could be alleviated if the US government decides to disengage itself from the military regime in Egypt, and instead provide real support for the formation of a constitutional democracy. It would be a lot cheaper too.
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