Article

2020-05-10 Africa North

Washington approves $2.3 billion attack helicopter deal with Egypt

[IsraelTimes] Move meant to support campaign against Islamist murderous Moslems in Sinai, ensure interoperability with Israel’s military; US says still pressing Cairo on human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
concerns.

The United States has approved a $2.3 billion deal on attack helicopters for Egypt, but an official insisted Friday that Washington was still pressing on human rights concerns.

US President Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
’s administration informed Congress on Thursday that it has given the green light to the package to refurbish 43 Apache helicopters.

R. Clarke Cooper, the State Department official in charge of military sales, said the deal was intended to support Egypt’s campaign against Islamist murderous Moslems in the Sinai peninsula and to ensure its interoperability with Israel’s military.

The deal came despite appeals to cut off US military sales from April Corley, an American tourist visiting Egypt’s Western Desert who was maimed and whose boyfriend was killed in an Apache attack on their tour group in 2015.

She said Egyptian authorities admitted a mistake but have refused compensation.

Another US citizen, Mustafa Kassem, died in Egyptian custody in January from a hunger strike. He was rounded up on a visit to Cairo in 2013 as part of a sweeping crackdown.

"We have been very clear with our Egyptian counterparts and interlocutors about the death of Mustafa Kassem and about the case with April Corley and that settlement," Cooper told news hounds.

"Those have not gone away and they have not gone off the table," he said.

"But they do remain an important partner on the global counterterrorism campaign and they certainly remain a partner not only with us but also with our Israeli ally," he said.

Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, becoming one of the biggest recipients of US aid, with the defense assistance largely going back to US arms manufacturers.

Trump has cultivated a close relationship with Egypt’s general turned president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has highlighted his fight against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group and recently shipped coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
aid to the United States.

Representative Tom Malinowski, who served as the top State Department human rights official under president Barack Obama
teachable moment...
, told a forum last year that Egypt’s military was "utterly, disastrously incompetent in addition to being cruel" and said its Apaches often fired at any spotted target without intelligence.

"The only thing they know how to do well with these F-16s and Apaches is to show them off in parades and air shows that are designed to make the regime look good," he said.

Posted by trailing wife 2020-05-10 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11 views ] Top
File under: Islamic State

#1 For more than twenty years following the 1978 Camp David Accords to keep peace between antagonists the aid to Israel totalled $3 billion per year ($1.8 billion for military, $1.2 billion for economic), and to Egypt, $2.1 billion per year ($1.3 billion for military, $815 million for economic). If these payments have ceased it has never been publicized.

Posted by b 2020-05-10 10:51|| 2020-05-10 10:51|| Front Page Top

#2 Would this be the state department under the Obama regime which helped stage the coup in Egypt and use NGOs to install a dedicated member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who immediately went about saber rattling?

But not so incompetent to say enough of this, kick out the MoBro, and successfully install Sissi for how many years now of relative stability?

State Department Human Rights under Obama, gettautahere with that.

Posted by swksvolFF 2020-05-10 12:47|| 2020-05-10 12:47|| Front Page Top

#3 swksvolFF: I don't know what in Hell you are trying to say. Take a deep breath. Gather your thoughts (if you have any), and then respond.

Posted by b 2020-05-10 14:02|| 2020-05-10 14:02|| Front Page Top

#4 Wiki is your friend b. In addition to those cliff notes:

US involvement in campaigning for Morsi is well documented, to the point US NGOs were arrested for campaign meddling.

Morsi started shaking chains at Israel, as well as backing Paleo causes and rhetoric.

Morsi threatened to attack Ethiopia.

Morsi, Egypt, was the keystone to a pan-regional uprising from Syria to Morocco, south to at least Sudan but I include what would be al-shabob. The movement received support in Syria as McCain's Friends. It received support in Libya with NATO attacks against Quadaffy forces after the insurrection started getting its ass kicked. Never really took Algeria west on account of that. South, it faltered so now we have North Sudan and South Sudan. Syria, Assad was down for the count before Iran/Russia stepped in.

The idea being Egypt and Syria and Paleo, add a like minded Erdogon, putting pressure on Jordan to at least be neutral in pressuring Israel into a two state solution, with heavy election influencing in Israel - even bragging about sending the Obama Election A-Team to help out.

So all that is going on, Morsi is trying to purge the military and generally pissing the establishment off, when shortly after War with Ethiopia! enough had had enough.

Enter Sissi. Stabilized Egypt society (remember the riots?), co-op with Israel to stop gun running in from Sinai into Paleo - how many Egyptian Army Units were killed in ambushes doing so? To the point Sissi was like, Time for a Wall.

So when some Obama era state department knob warmer criticizes the Egyptian Armed Forces, I laugh.

Posted by swksvolFF 2020-05-10 14:44|| 2020-05-10 14:44|| Front Page Top

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