McCain calls for suspension of U.S. military aid to Egypt

[fallstuff]

McCain calls for suspension of U.S. military aid to Egypt



Republican Senator John McCain called for a suspension of U.S. military aid to Egypt after the army ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Mursi, breaking with the official position in Washington.

“I’ve thought long and hard about this, but I believe that we have to suspend the aid to the Egyptian military, because the Egyptian military has overturned the vote of the people of Egypt,” McCain said Friday evening at a press conference in his home state of Arizona.

“We cannot repeat the same mistakes we made at other times in our history by supporting the removal of freely elected governments,” the 2008 presidential candidate said.

“So I believe that the aid has to be suspended, that the Egyptian military has to set a timetable for elections and new Constitution, and then we should evaluate whether to continue the aid or not.

“And I am aware that by suspending aid to the Egyptian military, which is the only stable institution in Egypt, we are risking further problems in the Sinai, and in other areas of cooperation with the Egyptian military,” McCain said.

“I say that with great reluctance, but the United States of America I think must learn the lessons of history and that is: we cannot stand by without acting in cases where freely elected governments are unseated by the military arm of those nations,” he concluded.

His position sets him apart from the views adopted by several other Congressmen and by President Barack Obama, who, in his sole statement on the situation, avoided using the word “coup.”

American law requires all military and economic aid be suspended when a government is overturned by the military.

Obama, so far, has simply said the US administration is “deeply concerned” by the turn of events, adding he has ordered a review of “the implications under U.S. law for our assistance to the government of Egypt.”

The U.S. gives some $1.3 billion in military aid each year to the Egyptian army.

McCain calls for U.S. to suspend Egyptian military aid - CBS News Video

McCain calls for suspension of U.S. military aid to Egypt - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

 

[Developereo]

I always liked John McCain.

I may not agree with all of his views, but he is a man of principles.

 

[fallstuff]

I always liked John McCain.

I may not agree with all of his views, but he is a man of principles.

I just don't like his going in Rambo style, other than that he is an alright politician.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

I just don't like his going in Rambo style, other than that he is an alright politician.

Yes, sometimes he takes it too far, but keep in mind that, he's a US Senator and that he acts for the best interests to his country, for what it could impact on both terms long, short.

 

[Developereo]

I just don't like his going in Rambo style, other than that he is an alright politician.

With Obama, Romney and the Clintons, you never know when to believe them and when they are bullsh!tting.

With straight shooters like McCain and Ron Paul, you may not agree with their views, but they say what they mean.

 

[Solomon2]

With Obama, Romney and the Clintons, you never know when to believe them and when they are bullsh!tting.
With straight shooters like McCain and Ron Paul, you may not agree with their views, but they say what they mean.

Which also means they are superficial rather than penetrating, unable to craft coalitions and averse to accepting the sort of deceptions that made the American operation to get OBL in Abbottabad possible.

McCain was the loudest advocate of cooperation with Pakistan as a prerequisite to military operations. Think of how many terrorists would still be alive today, how many more Pakistanis would have died in terror bomb attacks, had McCain achieved office. Would the P.A. yet have cleared S. Wazirstan? And, of course, OBL would still be alive, as whenever the CIA or military informs Pakistan of possible terrorists the targets always get promptly moved to new locations.

The M-B was both incompetent and intent on eviscerating democratic government. I'm not yet ready to apply the cudgel to the Egyptian military.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

McCain's concern is legitimate, the military should have taken a neutral stand for quite sometime, not for 2 days only. Clearly, the US Gov't didn't like the action being taken by the Egyptian armed forces. Let's suppose that the Egyptian people didn't like the up-coming democratically elected president, will they bang into the streets demanding his resignation or else?

Geopolitically, Egypt is considered to be an ally of the US, it is the heart of the Arab World - with a strong military - a country made peace with Israel will definitely raise some concerns among US politicians.

Which also means they are superficial rather than penetrating, unable to craft coalitions and averse to accepting the sort of deceptions that made the American operation to get OBL in Abbottabad possible.

McCain was the loudest advocate of cooperation with Pakistan as a prerequisite to military operations. Think of how many terrorists would still be alive today, how many more Pakistanis would have died in terror bomb attacks, had McCain achieved office. Would the P.A. yet have cleared S. Wazirstan? And, of course, OBL would still be alive, as whenever the CIA or military informs Pakistan of possible terrorists the targets always get promptly moved to new locations.

In a nutshell, Bind laden was a mass murderer, the US promptness, and shrewdness to root out Bin laden is one of the greatest achievement of all time for the international community. As a matter of fact, OBL didn't distinguish between Muslim and Westerners, and justice is achieved now.

The M-B was both incompetent and intent on eviscerating democratic government. I'm not yet ready to apply the cudgel to the Egyptian military

True, the MB never tried or at least showed interests in compromising with other political movements. The MB's failure to form a coalition Gov't was the main reason that had led to the overthrow of Morsi's regime, this what usually happens when a country with a strong military doesn't trust the civilian Gov't.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

Also

OBL would still be alive, as whenever the CIA or military informs Pakistan of possible terrorists the targets always get promptly moved to new locations.

We don't have any materialistic proof that could be used against Pakistan Army or the ISI assistance to OBL.

 

[Developereo]

Which also means they are superficial rather than penetrating, unable to craft coalitions and averse to accepting the sort of deceptions that made the American operation to get OBL in Abbottabad possible.

Deceptions can serve your goals in the short term, but the long term consequences are often counterproductive. Selfish leaders think of short term solutions, leaving their successors to worry about the fallout. Real leaders think of long term strategies.

McCain was the loudest advocate of cooperation with Pakistan as a prerequisite to military operations. Think of how many terrorists would still be alive today, how many more Pakistanis would have died in terror bomb attacks, had McCain achieved office. Would the P.A. yet have cleared S. Wazirstan? And, of course, OBL would still be alive, as whenever the CIA or military informs Pakistan of possible terrorists the targets always get promptly moved to new locations.

If you accept that the drone strikes are carried out with Pakistan's silent complicity, then Obama got played for a fool. America gets all the blame. With McCain's strategy, he wouldn't have gotten America into the good cop/bad cop routine with the Pak army.

As for the OBL raid, we don't know all the fact about who knew what. There are various anomalies about radar "malfunctions", power outages and such which coincided rather nicely with the raid. Once again, there's more than meets the eye.

The M-B was both incompetent and intent on eviscerating democratic government. I'm not yet ready to apply the cudgel to the Egyptian military.

Egyptian democracy is very new and both sides are learning the ropes. There is no doubt that the MB overstretched their mandate, but the solution still isn't a military coup.