U.S. foreign Aid to Egypt

Recently, the Arab press in particular and the western press in general have focused on President Barack Obama’s decision to stop U.S. aid to Egypt. The rationale he used is based on the Egyptian military coup that removed the freely and democratically elected ex-president Morsi.

President Obama’s rationale is totally wrong. Whoever briefed him was not in touch with reality. His foreign policies regarding the Middle East in general and the Arab world in particular has been wrong. The Arab population was optimistic after his 2008 election, but is now totally disappointed in the president.

First of all, ex-president Morsi was removed by the majority of the Egyptian people. The crowd that gathered on June 30, 2013, was estimated to be around 35 million people. This reflects more than two-third of the eligible Egyptian voters (54 million). Furthermore, the Tamaroud movement collected 22 million signatures calling on Morsi to resign.

Let me remind President Obama that less than 13 million people voted for Morsi in June 2012. Second, in any democracy, when any high-ranking political figure or head of state violates the constitution or the law of the state, that person will be removed.

Again, let me remind President Obama that when ex-president Nixon violated the law, he was removed. Ex-president Morsi violated Egyptian law from the first day he assumed his new position as president of Egypt.

Let me just mention a few examples to illustrate my point.

1.     Does ex-president Morsi have the right to grant himself a constitutional decree that gives him unlimited political power and immunity from future prosecution?

2.     According to Egyptian law, the president didn’t have total freedom to interfere in the Egyptian judicial system. Nevertheless, he made an effort to cancel the high constitutional court decision that dissolved the Egyptian parliament. He also tried to appoint a new prosecutor general. These decisions are the responsibility of the judicial council, not the president.

The list of legal violations that Morsi committed is a lengthy one. Furthermore, Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood looked the other way and permitted the illegal entry of Islamic terrorist groups in Egypt, which is enough to justify Morsi’s removal from power. This is an act of treason.

President Obama, your decision to stop U.S. military aid to Egypt will cause more harm to the U.S. than to Egypt. Through history, Egypt has played a dominant role in the Middle East and it was a disgraceful act for it to be put under the influence of the U.S. government.

The one billion dollars worth of arms given to Egypt did not help the country in the long run. Egypt will rely on itself to produce its own armament. The $250 million in economic aid should be rejected by Egypt, because it makes no difference in terms of its impact on the Egyptian economy.

Let me conclude by saying that President Obama’s decision enabled Egypt to restore its dignity and independence from the rotten American foreign policy. The Egyptian people who have been urging their government to reject U.S. foreign aid should now urge their own government to become more self-sufficient, which will be an advantage in the long run.