The United States should stop sending military aid to Egypt following the overthrow of its democratically elected president by the military, Senator John McCain said, as [Friday] overnight street battles left at least 36 dead across the divided country. Egypt's military insists that ousting Islamist Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday was the will of the people as expressed by mass demonstrations calling for him to go.Secretary of State John Kerry approved $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Egypt -- the second largest recipient of such help after Israel -- only two months ago. However, U.S. law prohibits financial assistance to any country whose elected head of state is deposed in a military coup.
The U.S. has avoided calling Morsi's ouster a coup, which would mean aid would have to be suspended. But, speaking in Prescott, Arizona, 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."
| Even if the "freely elected government" believes in ideas and ideologies that, taken to their logical conclusion, would destroy America. I'm beginning to think that as miserable as Obama has been, we dodged a bullet by not electing McCain... |