Sens. Paul and McCain Agree, We Should Cut Off Foreign Aid to Egypt
Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have both said that the U.S. should cut off aid to Egypt.
In tweets sent out this morning Paul said that American aid to Egypt is not affected by whoever is in charge, whether it be a dictator, an Islamist president, or a president appointed in the wake of a military coup. Were the White House to classify what happened last week in Egypt as a military coup aid would have to stop. However, the White House has been reluctant to call what happened in Egypt a coup. I don't know what else you can call the military forcing a democratically elected president from power.
While Paul and McCain may be in agreement on this issue there are senators who say that aid to Egypt should continue. From The Hill:
In appearances over the weekend, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) argued aid should continue to Egypt.
"What we should be doing right now is urging calmness, urging the military to move through this civilian process for as quickly as possible, to ask the Muslim Brotherhood to act with some degree of responsibility," Corker told Fox News. "Our role right now should be one of applying calm, trying to get our partners in the region to do the same thing."
Recent polling indicates that the majority of Americans do not want to get involved in the Egyptian crisis. Unfortunately, it is considered normal by many American legislators for the U.S. to be involved in situations that we would do well to steer clear of.
Since the coup there have been numerous incidents of violence in Egypt, some of which has been perpetrated by the military that recently seized power. Although the military has said that there will be elections it is important to remember that fair elections can only take place under certain conditions. At the moment Egyptian authorities are far from ready to host an election.
Given the situation in Egypt it would be worth at the very least suspending aid to Egypt. Continued involvement in Egypt could have disastrous consequences and increase anti-American sentiment in the region. If we stop sending aid to Egypt what's the worst that could realistically happen?