Following the unprecedented crackdown that left more than 500 protesters dead at the hands of the U.S.-funded Egyptian military on Wednesday, President Obama made an official statement condemning the interim government’s actions but made no mention of cutting U.S. military aid to the increasingly violent security forces in the country.
Obama’s single concession was to cancel an upcoming joint military exercise with Egypt—a move critics are calling superficial and inconsequential in light of the significant financial backing the U.S. government continues to give the Egyptian military.
Obama stated:
The U.S. provides roughly 1.6 billion dollars, including 1.3 billion dollars in sophisticated weaponry, in annual aid to Egypt, an agreement backed with powerful lobbying by the Israeli government and U.S. weapons manufacturers.
“Presidents in Cairo and Washington may come and go, but both the Egyptian military and the contractors that supply them, know that their bond is stronger than democracy.”
The flow of money, weapons, and political capital will go unaffected, according to Obama’s omission, despite the climbing death toll—525 at last count, with thousands more injured.
Preempting Obama’s statement, Pratap Chatterjee wrote Wednesday at CorpWatch Blog that the Obama administration’s continued support for the Egyptian military should come as no surprise, considering the decades of military support and the billions of dollars in military contracts involved.
Chatterjee writes:
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On that same note, NPR reported last week:
After Obama’s comments on Thursday, journalist Spencer Ackerman tweeted:
And with a similar sentiment:
Following Obama’s statement, the Egyptian government announced that the Egyptian police are authorized to use live ammunition on protesters going forward.
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