Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely says the United States is making a major mistake by cutting off military assistance to Egypt in the wake of the military’s removal of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power and the decision to reverse our policy is another devastating blow to America’s reputation in the region.
Vallely was a key participant in a Westminster Institute delegation that visited Egypt at the end of September and met with key officials ranging from the head of the new constitutional committee to the commander of the Egyptian military to the head of the Coptic Christian Church.
American military assistance to Egypt was at least temporarily cut off following the military’s removal of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in July. Vallely says the United States was wrong to back the Muslim Brotherhood in the first place and removing military aid is hurting our ally at a critical time.
“It’s a great impact. Number one, they’re very disgusted, very disturbed at being an ally with the United States over 40 years and basically have Ambassador Jane Patterson completely misread what was going on in Egypt and outright support the Muslim Brotherhood. She works for Obama and Obama ended up supporting the Muslim Brotherhood against the wishes and desires of the vast majority of the Egyptian people,” said Vallely.
“We held up aid in their modernization program and why that’s critical (is) they have to keep that Suez Canal open. They need spare parts for their aircraft. They need the new Apaches that were promised them in order to be able to take on any actions, the surveillance as well as direct actions against Al Qaeda that are building up in the Sinai Peninsula,” said Vallely. “So when you look at the Mediterranean, you look at southern Libya with training camps for Al Qaeda, shipping of arms and Al Qaeda up to Syria now, Egypt is not only faced with an external threat but internal threats as well. That’s why the military assistance program is very important to them.”
According to Vallely, the stopping of U.S. military assistance serves as another major blow to America’s reputation in the region.
“We need to work out a strategy to support this long-existing ally, but we seem to be so incompetent in Washington now. I’m not optimistic about this government doing anything right when it comes to international affairs,” said Vallely.
“I was over in Syria and Turkey six weeks ago. We have no respect anymore, no credibility. That is a tremendous setback for us throughout the world and particularly in the Middle East. We need new leadership in Washington across the board. There’s no doubt about that,” he said.
The United States has rarely been very popular in the Middle East, but Vallely says our reputation has diminished greatly there during the Obama presidency.
“Oh, a tremendous drop-off (in) the lack of leadership, the lack of a forward strategy of dealing with the countries over there. They see Putin in Russia and Iran completely out-maneuvering the United States diplomatically. We’re known as a declining superpower over there that can’t come to the aid or support of allies or future democratic processes. And they see Obama basically supporting terrorists in the Muslim Brotherhood. That’s through their eyes,” said Vallely.
One of the reasons for the suspension of U.S. military assistance to Egypt is because of a law that automatically stop funds to any nation that undergoes a coup. But the number one conclusion of the Westminster Institute delegation is that the military ouster of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood did not constitute a coup because the the military was clearly carrying out the will of the people.
“I think the Egyptian people got hoodwinked by the Muslim Brotherhood portraying themselves as just a political party, when in fact there are three legs to the Muslim Brotherhood and the population finally found that out, as Dr. Morsi tried to take away their civil rights, support Al Qaeda in the Sinai and support Al Qaeda and their military arm in Egypt. And the third was to very openly discuss the global caliphate ,” said Vallely.
The Egyptian people rejected the authoritarian tactics of the Muslim Brotherhood and passes a referendum ordering Morsi to rule under the existing constitution. When he refused to respond to those demands within the 30 days provided, the military asked the people what the next step should be. Tens of thousands took to the streets to demand the ouster of Morsi and the military complied in order to prevent a civil war. Vallely says the will of the people is critical in defining what the military did and he says the actions taken since then are also very telling.
“The military junta or military takeover would usually be in place as the leadership, but they didn’t. They stood back, put in an interim civilian leadership and continued to work out a road map for a new constitution. So it was not a military coup. It was a classic change of government because they didn’t have impeachment as part of their constitution so they had to use the military to prevent civil war and replace the government,” said Vallely.
