President Obama took a few minutes on Thursday from his vacation in Martha's Vineyard to give his first remarks on the violence in Egypt:
The United States strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by Egypt's interim government and security forces. We deplore violence against civilians. We support universal rights essential to human dignity, including the right to peaceful protest. We oppose the pursuit of martial law, which denies those rights to citizens under the principle that security trumps individual freedom or that might makes right. And today the United States extends its condolences to the families or those who were killed and those who were wounded.
President Obama further announced the cancellation of a joint military exercise with the Egyptian military and asserted that the U.S. did not take sides in this struggle.
However, even after the massacre of more than 600 protesters, the Obama administration still refuses to call the overthrow of Egypt's democratically elected government a coup and continues to ignore US laws that require the suspension of aid to the Egyptian military. In short, President Obama's message is this: We condemn the killings but we will continue to provide weapons to the killers.
After two mass killings of ousted President Morsi's supporters by the Egyptian security forces in late July, Secretary of State Kerry offered a strong endorsement of the Egyptian military during a recent visit to Pakistan:
“The military was asked to intervene by millions and millions of people” who feared the country would descend into chaos, Mr. Kerry said during a visit to Pakistan, a country that has seen four military coups since the 1950s. In Egypt, Mr. Kerry said, “The military did not take over, to the best of our judgment — so far.”
His comments echoed those of Egypt’s defense minister, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, who has said that he repeatedly warned Mr. Morsi to change course and that he was carrying out the people’s will by deposing him. Mr. Kerry’s blunt comments represented the strongest endorsement yet by the United States of the military intervention, which the Obama administration has refused to call a coup.
According to
Ahram Online, a state-owned newspaper in Egypt, Secretary of Defense Hagel has been having "close consultations on an almost daily basis" with General El-Sisi, the head of the armed forces who ousted Morsi and imprisoned him:
Sources told Ahram Online that the two recently discussed the determination of El-Sisi to “impose the rule of law, for fear of having things getting out of hand.” Hagel, according to the same sources, expressed understanding of the Egyptian point of view but was mindful of any “imprudent” action.
Whatever President Obama's rhetoric about supporting freedom and democracy in Egypt is, continued U.S. aid sends a signal to the Arab and Muslim world that the United States condones the Egyptian leadership’s actions and makes U.S. complicit in the massacre. As David Rohde wrote in the
Atlantic:
The message the White House sent to young Islamists in Egypt this week was clear: What jihadists have been telling you about American hypocrisy for years is true. Democratic norms apply to everyone but you. Participating in elections is pointless. Violence is the route to power. Wherever he is hiding in the mountains of Pakistan, Ayman al Zawahiri is likely pleased.