The Obama administration has refused to call the oust of Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically and fairly elected President of Egypt, by the head of military General Abdel Fatah Al-Sissi a coup. The U.S. government continues to supply the Egyptian military with billions of dollars in aid. President Obama, who four years ago gave a soaring speech in Cairo encouraging Egyptians to embrace freedom and democracy, was on vacation on Martha's Vineyard when the Egyptian forces conducted a bloody crackdown on supporters of Morsi on sit-in camps in Cairo.
According to the New York Times:
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Obama was briefed on the situation by his national security adviser, Susan E. Rice. But he appeared determined not to allow events in Egypt to interrupt a day that, in addition to golf, included cocktails at the home of a major political donor, Brian Roberts.
Secretary Kerry, on a recent trip to Pakistan, praised the Egyptian military:
But Kerry went a step further, speaking Thursday in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad with national media outlet Geo TV. “In effect, they were restoring democracy,” Kerry said, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Matt Bradley.
“The military was asked to intervene by millions and millions of people, all of whom were afraid of a descent into chaos,” Kerry said. That’s how many Egypt analysts see the events of early July, when millions of protesters clearly desired military intervention. But Kerry added, more controversially, “The military did not take over, to the best of our judgment … to run the country. There’s a civilian government.” By all appearances, Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, the defense minister who formally announced the military’s removal of Morsi, is the now country’s de facto head of state.
Meanwhile,
hundreds die as Egyptian forces attack Islamist protesters:
Egyptian security officers stormed two encampments packed with supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, on Wednesday in a scorched-earth assault that killed hundreds, set off a violent backlash across Egypt and underscored the new government’s determination to crush the Islamists who dominated two years of free elections.
The attack, the third mass killing of Islamist demonstrators since the military ousted Mr. Morsi six weeks ago, followed a series of government threats. But the scale — lasting more than 12 hours, with armored vehicles, bulldozers, tear gas, birdshot, live ammunition and snipers — and the ferocity far exceeded the Interior Ministry’s promises of a gradual and measured dispersal.
At least one protester was incinerated in his tent. Many others were shot in the head or chest, including some who appeared to be in their early teens, including the 17-year-old daughter of a prominent Islamist leader, Mohamed el-Beltagy. At a makeshift morgue in one field hospital on Wednesday morning, the number of bodies grew to 12 from 3 in the space of 15 minutes.