Stop the tank sale to Egypt
The Obama administration notified Congress on Friday that it intends to sell 125 M1A1 Abrams tanks to Egypt. Yes, Egypt, where no one quite knows who will be in charge next week.Jonathan Tobin thinks it's a bad idea.
In the wake of Mubarak’s fall from power, the Egyptian military seems to have retained a firm grip on power. But the army seems intent on sharing power with a resurgent Muslim Brotherhood movement that threatens the foundation of the relationship between the United States and Egypt. Since the 1979 Camp David Accords, the Egyptian military has gotten all the high-tech and expensive equipment it wanted so long as it was clear their new toys would not be used to threaten or attack Israel. But as Egypt lurches toward the election of a new government that will probably be made up of Islamist elements, that peace is in jeopardy.Indeed.
This means this is not the moment to be strengthening the offensive capabilities of an Egypt that has opened its border with Hamas-run Gaza and is distancing itself from an already cold peace with the Jewish state. Egypt may not yet be ready to repudiate the peace treaty or engage in military adventures, but it must be reminded there is a price for the open-ended U.S. support it has received for decades. While the despotic Mubarak could be trusted to keep the peace in exchange for $2 billion a year in American baksheesh, there is no way of knowing whether the new masters of Cairo will be so reliable.
Labels: Egyptian regime change, Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, M1A1 Abrams tanks
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:21 PM
2 Comments:
So what is the price for the open-ended US support Israel has received for decades?
Israel paid the price by withdrawing from Sinai and handing it over to the agressor, along with the billions annualy of oil and tourism revenues it developed and then forfeited just to please "big Brother America". Hence the meager annual US financial compensation for Isrel's lost revenue.
And what about Israels' loss of security, and US dependence?
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