Bright Star cancelled
The Washington Times reports that the Obama Administration has cancelled our joint training exercise with the Egyptian Army for this year, based on the current situation there;
“While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual,” the president said.
Mr. Obama insisted that the U.S. is not taking sides in the dispute but that the violent clashes cannot go without an American response.
The interim Egyptian government later rebuffed Mr. Obama, warning that his statement, “while it’s not based on facts … can empower the violent militant groups and encourage them in their destabilizing discourse.”
Canceling the military exercises will be seen as a blow to a military that values its close relationship with U.S. forces and gets an annual subsidy of more than $1 billion from Washington. Mr. Obama also said he has asked his advisers to look at other avenues of action.
I can’t imagine this administration taking the same course of action if the Morsi government was still in power there, so yeah, he is taking sides, and dragging us along with him. I mean it’s great that our troops aren’t going to be exposed to the current danger in Egypt, but the President isn’t telling us the whole truth. Not that it’s new or anything.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues
It is worth noting that the previous instance of Bright Star was canceled as well, due to instability at that time.
The tin-foil-hatter in me can’t help but wonder about the timing of this unrest….
In the 1990s we were using Bright Star as one of those lovely regional show of force demonstrations, making eye contact with Saddam Hussein and Iran as we showed how slick we could shoot move and communicate with other regional players.
As much as I think this administration needs to start developing some kind of sensible foreign policy in that region that doesn’t lean on Israel to make the hard moves, I found this move bad. Outside force protection considerations, that is.
It just shows that they are in no way serious about dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions, or are at least not thinking strategically about much of anything.
The Morsi government reportedly killed thousands and tried to impose Sharia. Burned down churches, killed Coptic Christians and worked hard to allow the Muslim Brotherhood version of radical islam to take over the country. Our so called leader has supported Al Quaeda in Syria, Libya and Iraq. So it’s no wonder he has come out supporting the “dissidents”. Must be another phony scandal brewing.
the egyptian military, not their president or dictators have been our ally. the egyptian military is the true power in that country. now they are fighting the same people we claim as our enemies, we arent going to take sides. the muslim brotherhood is synonymous with al qaida, and if a diference must be drawn between the two, is the group that al qaida came from. these people are terrorists that want to destroy their country and ours, but we cant stand by our allies and defy them? hell no, we will embrace them, call them moderates, and support their rise to power. when the military steps up to protect the citizens that are being oppressed even more than under mubarik, we turn our backs on them and act as if they are the bad guys? i used to think that obama was just an idealist, and didnt realize the practical application of his policies. now i am thoroughly convinced he is a moron with an IQ lower than the media could have ever accused bush of having.
Israel and Egypt are keeping the Sinai under control as the Camp David accords require. In the past few days there was involvement from both to suppress the “dissidents”. I’d say keep an eye on that area for the Brotherhood to try and disrupt the Suez Canal.
@4, Smitty I could not have said it any better.
@4 I wish he were a moron — that would give him an excuse. What he is, is complicit.
I was supposed to be going as a part of the CMO portion of the exercise, and we got the cancellation word Friday morning. It’s a dumb thing to do. It would have been seriously hard for the Brotherhood to get to ANYONE involved, and it would have shown support for the Military, the one stable organization in their government. But, as with Administrations such as this one, they have a tendency of picking the wrong ( in this case morally) side.
This is Honduras, take 2. Early in Obama’s regime, the President of Honduras was caught preparing to defraud the country by stealing the election, and then hosting a coup against the institutions of freedom. Just like Obama and the Prognazis have done in America.
Now Egyptians wish to live free, with capitalism, and instead Obama is imposing his standard playbook. Honduras, Venezuela, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia.
Obama only seems to support those who are America’s sworn enemies, and those who essentially fascist in their politics.
Wonder who the next hoodie-wearing kid is who has to die to take America’s attention away from Obama.
#2 BK
This Obaomao administration? A foreign policy? Hell, they don’t even have a domestic policy except the usual Big Gubbment Tax And Spend.
BK, this sentence is — well, think about it for a moment: this administration needs to start developing some kind of sensible foreign policy.
One cannot use ‘this administration’ and ‘sensible foreign policy’ in the same sentence.
It’s not just an oxymoron. It’s like a woolly bear caterpillar: it moves, but it doesn’t make any sense.