Egypt: Obama sends Muslim Brotherhood rulers more tanks and fighter jets

[Holly3278]

For the new Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood dominated government, the Obama Administration is ensuring another $1.3 billion annual shipment of state-of-the-art weaponry.
As reported by The Washington Times, despite Egypt's new president Mohammed Morsi being a member of the terrorist related Muslim Brotherhood, the money and arms pipeline from Washington to Cairo will remain open and flowing.

http://www.examiner.com/article/egyp...d-fighter-jets

Why is Obama giving such help to Morsi when he is a member of the terrorist related Muslim Brotherhood? Aren't we supposed to be fighting against the terrorists?

[oldcatholicguy]

Originally Posted by Holly3278

http://www.examiner.com/article/egyp...d-fighter-jets

Why is Obama giving such help to Morsi when he is a member of the terrorist related Muslim Brotherhood? Aren't we supposed to be fighting against the terrorists?

Because the Egyptian military really runs Egypt, has done so for several decades, and it really isn't interested in giving up any real power to the MB.

[Holly3278]

Originally Posted by oldcatholicguy

Because the Egyptian military really runs Egypt, has done so for several decades, and it really isn't interested in giving up any real power to the MB.

Well, I must say OldCatholicGuy, this still concerns me considering Muhammad Morsi's recent power grab and such. He is acting like a dictator and with him having such a powerful military it does concern me. I mean, the Muslim Brotherhood is somewhat anti-Semitic or anti-Israel is it not? What if they were to attack Israel?

[oldcatholicguy]

Originally Posted by Holly3278

Well, I must say OldCatholicGuy, this still concerns me considering Muhammad Morsi's recent power grab and such. He is acting like a dictator and with him having such a powerful military it does concern me. I mean, the Muslim Brotherhood is somewhat anti-Semitic or anti-Israel is it not? What if they were to attack Israel?

-I would be more concerned if the military was full of radicals or had a better working history with the MB

-Yes the MB is those things

-If Egypt had attacked Israel in 2007 (before the current administration), the attack would be carried out by a military that had received training by our military with equipment and weapons that were either from the US or bought with US supplied money. What Obama's admin is doing is no different than what past admins have done, namely buying off the people (the Egyptian military) who are really in charge.

-If the goal of the US is to keep Egypt from becoming a radical Islamist state run by the MB we need to keep the guys who have the power to stop them (the Egyptian military) happy and in power.

[Dale_M]

Originally Posted by Holly3278

Well, I must say OldCatholicGuy, this still concerns me considering Muhammad Morsi's recent power grab and such. He is acting like a dictator and with him having such a powerful military it does concern me. I mean, the Muslim Brotherhood is somewhat anti-Semitic or anti-Israel is it not? What if they were to attack Israel?

Israel trusts Egypt, Morsi or not, enough to settle the cease-fire with Gaza by working through Egyptian military intelligence intermediaries. Israel trusts Egypt enough to authorize the deployment of tanks and other heavy weapons into the Sinai last year to combat arms smugglers.

Egypt has been a US ally for 30 years. We have been supplying military aid for that entire time, but a large part of Egyptian hardware is still of 1970s Soviet vintage. Even with the new addition of M1A1 tanks, Egypt will only have 1000 of them. The other 3000 tanks are vintage pieces which would not stand up to modern warfare. Egypt is not a military threat to Israel.

Morsi's power grab is of concern. But even if he were to refuse to relinquish power, I am not sure he would be worse than Mubarak, who the US tolerated for many years. Morsi's leadership role in the Muslim Brotherhood is also of concern. However, he has a country to run and that brings responsibilities that a mere activist does not have.

I would be careful about taking that blog post you cited too seriously. The author is a political activist and the slant in his article is obvious. For example, he makes a big deal of M1A1 tanks, but the US switched to M1A2 tanks 15 years ago. No wonder the US Marine Corps has so few of the older model!

[Semper Zelare]

Originally Posted by Holly3278

Well, I must say OldCatholicGuy, this still concerns me considering Muhammad Morsi's recent power grab and such. He is acting like a dictator and with him having such a powerful military it does concern me. I mean, the Muslim Brotherhood is somewhat anti-Semitic or anti-Israel is it not? What if they were to attack Israel?

If Egypt were to attack Israel, then Obama would be culpable. It's just like Ronald Reagan was culpable for the Iran contra scandal. The U.S. has a long history of giving people weapons, only to watch those people bite the hand that feeds them (the U.S. and our interests).

[colmywaykurtz]

Originally Posted by Dale_M

Israel trusts Egypt, Morsi or not, enough to settle the cease-fire with Gaza by working through Egyptian military intelligence intermediaries. Israel trusts Egypt enough to authorize the deployment of tanks and other heavy weapons into the Sinai last year to combat arms smugglers.

Egypt has been a US ally for 30 years. We have been supplying military aid for that entire time, but a large part of Egyptian hardware is still of 1970s Soviet vintage. Even with the new addition of M1A1 tanks, Egypt will only have 1000 of them. The other 3000 tanks are vintage pieces which would not stand up to modern warfare. Egypt is not a military threat to Israel.

Morsi's power grab is of concern. But even if he were to refuse to relinquish power, I am not sure he would be worse than Mubarak, who the US tolerated for many years. Morsi's leadership role in the Muslim Brotherhood is also of concern. However, he has a country to run and that brings responsibilities that a mere activist does not have.

I would be careful about taking that blog post you cited too seriously. The author is a political activist and the slant in his article is obvious. For example, he makes a big deal of M1A1 tanks, but the US switched to M1A2 tanks 15 years ago. No wonder the US Marine Corps has so few of the older model!

I think whatever radicalism the MB has is going to be worn down by the friction they'll encounter running a country. The recent resistance to Morsi's attempted power-grab is probably the first example of this.

[gilliam]

I agree with those who are saying the army is the real power in Egypt. Also note that the money is part of the Camp David Accords, which we are not about to abandon unilaterally.

[Jessup]

What a waste, of American resources.
People in this country are doing with so little right now, and his interested are in these 3rd world desert countries. Let who ever has an army over there fight, die or win I don't care, keep our tax dollars out of the middle east.
How on earth did he get reelected?

[colmywaykurtz]

Originally Posted by Jessup

What a waste, of American resources.
People in this country are doing with so little right now, and his interested are in these 3rd world desert countries. Let who ever has an army over there fight, die or win I don't care, keep our tax dollars out of the middle east.
How on earth did he get reelected?

Every president back to Nixon has done the same. The lines of continuity between presidencies are really more significant than the divergences from one to another. Romney would have been no exception.

[SamH]

Originally Posted by colmywaykurtz

Every president back to Nixon has done the same. The lines of continuity between presidencies are really more significant than the divergences from one to another. Romney would have been no exception.

Not every president (in fact no president has ever done it) has run up trillion dollar deficits every year - that is the real exception.

[colmywaykurtz]

Originally Posted by SamH

Not every president (in fact no president has ever done it) has run up trillion dollar deficits every year - that is the real exception.

What does that have to do with American administrations' relations with Egypt, Sam?

[SamH]

Originally Posted by colmywaykurtz

What does that have to do with American administrations' relations with Egypt, Sam?

As a reminder:

Originally Posted by Jessup

What a waste, of American resources.
People in this country are doing with so little right now, and his interested are in these 3rd world desert countries. Let who ever has an army over there fight, die or win I don't care, keep our tax dollars out of the middle east.
How on earth did he get reelected?

[colmywaykurtz]

Originally Posted by SamH

As a reminder:

I see. Well, an identical statement could have been uttered immediately following Bush's invasion of Iraq, and would have been just as pertinent, wouldn't you say?

[doormouse73]

Originally Posted by oldcatholicguy

Because the Egyptian military really runs Egypt, has done so for several decades, and it really isn't interested in giving up any real power to the MB.

take a look at the news..................

http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-army-sta...122440522.html

a comment from the link..................

The Army wont suppress the people for Morsi, but in the end the Army does not love democracy. In the end it's up to Egyptian people to go to the streets to defend their revolution.

http://news.yahoo.com/muslim-brother...192900709.html


This is the motto of the brotherhood “Allah is our objective. Muhammad is our leader. Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” Is a highly organized political jihad whose goal is the implementation of Shariah, around the globe, by political, military or Islamic educational means.

so is the president of the U S A dealing with terrorists now?