The military coup that removed Mohammed Morsi from office is the second coup d'état since 2011. Egyptian presidents serve at the discretion of the Egyptian military. This should surprise no one. The military has no reason to support democracy in Egypt either.
I find it very disappointing that the Obama administration has supported the Egyptian military with billions of dollars in aid. Less than two months ago, Secretary of State John Kerry "quietly" approved $1.3 billion of military aid to Egypt.
All such aid is “carefully considered,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, but it was felt the funding was necessary to help “preserve important regional interests.”
[...]
Psaki defended Kerry’s approval of aid for the fiscal year 2013 saying it was in US national security interests and helped such things as “maintaining access to the Suez Canal and the interdiction of weapons smuggling.”
The miliary aid was given "
despite rights concerns".
Under U.S. law, for the $1.3 billion to flow the secretary of state must certify that the Egyptian government "is supporting the transition to civilian government, including holding free and fair elections, implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association and religion, and due process of law."
In 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton waved a Congressional requirement that linked military aid to Egypt to the protection of basic freedoms, because of "national security". Her decision allowed up to $1.3 billion in military aid to be given to the Egyptian military in 2012. At the time, the NY Times reported:
The outcome is not likely to please either human rights advocates concerned about abuses by Egypt’s security forces or many Egyptians, who have grown disillusioned with the military council and hostile toward American interference in Egyptian affairs. At a time of rising anti-American sentiment, the waiver may also alienate the revolutionaries and political reformers struggling to push the country toward civilian rule.
The ouster of Morsi is the second coup since 2011. During the 2011 events in Egypt that removed Hosni Mubarak from power, I commented that what was happening was a
military coup using a popular uprising as cover. The military used ouster of Mubarak as their
justification for a
violent campaign to subvert the revolution. The Army joined with armed thugs to force people from Tahrir Square.
...the very institution in charge of transitioning to a more democratic Egypt – the Army – has been acting quite unrevolutionary itself. Replicating Mubarak-era policies, the Army has severely beaten protesters on at least two occasions in the past week, and since Jan. 28 has been trying civilian protesters in military courts, denying them basic rights.
The U.S. made
disapproving noises to Egypt after a bloody crackdown in 2011 that forcibly removed people demanding their democratic rights.
"We condemn the excessive force used by the police," said spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. "We strongly urge the Egyptian government to exercise maximum restraint, to discipline its forces and to protect the universal rights of all Egyptians to peacefully express themselves."
Still,
The Guardian reported at the time:
The Obama administration has regarded the Egyptian military as the cornerstone of a controlled transition to civilian rule since Mubarak was forced out after 30 years in power. The US was not unsympathetic to the Egyptian military's attempts to ensure it maintains a degree of control long after the transition to civilian rule, not least because the army's manoeuvres were principally at the expense of the Islamist political parties.
While some members of Congress,
questioned the wisdom of sending military aid to Egypt, Bloomberg News reported that "cuts or conditions that may weaken relations, jeopardize Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel, and hurt U.S. defense companies."
Egypt this year receives $250 million in economic assistance and $1.3 billion in military aid.
America's priorities are clearly out-of-whack.