Alarms over frozen U.S. funds to Egyptian military

Gen. Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi

By F. Michael Maloof

WASHINGTON – Prominent national security experts, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and retired Pacific Command Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, have called on Congress to urgently release more than a half billion dollars now being blocked to the Egyptian military.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, the experts said the congressional block is jeopardizing the existing relationship with Egypt which they called "vital to U.S. national interests in the Middle East and has been essential to maintaining security and stability in the region."

In addition to Rumsfeld and Vallely, those who signed the letter were former Reagan administration National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, retired Adm. James A. Lyons, retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles Jones.

The letter to Leahy comes following a fact-finding visit in April by members of the Council on Global Security and the London Center for Policy Research.

As WND recently reported, the group raised concern at the time that the United States stood to lose its alliance with Egypt as Cairo showed signs of turning to Russia for support, a development the delegation said would have major geo-political and strategic consequences.

Congress imposed a block on aid after the military ousted democratically-elected, Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Muhammad Morsi.

In their letter, they argued there has been a misunderstanding over events that led to Morsi's ouster.

In conceding the Muslim Brotherhood had been freely elected the experts said Morsi as president had made it clear he did not represent the people of Egypt but, instead, the "religiously fundamentalist and undemocratic objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood."

"Morsi issued presidential decrees in November of 2012, granting himself and his office unlimited powers, unreviewable by any judiciary and destroying any hope of democracy in Egypt under Brotherhood rule," the letter said.

"In the absence of a formal means by which to impeach Morsi, Tamarod, a new civil movement, called the people to the streets, and Egyptians responded by the millions," they said.

They said that by April 2013, some 22 million signatures had been collected calling for Morsi to resign and hold new elections, but he refused to recognize "his loss of legitimacy."

Then in June 2013, Egyptians hit the streets again. The military, fearing the outbreak of a civil war, asked Morsi to call for a new election.

However, he refused, leading Gen. Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi to call on Egyptians to come out and demonstrate as a sign of whether or not Morsi's government should go.

Some 33 million reportedly responded to the streets, constituting more than a third of the entire population.

The overwhelming turnout sent a message that the Morsi government no longer was legitimate. Consequently, he was arrested, removed from office and replaced by a civilian interim government of technocrats.

The response from the Brotherhood was to launch a campaign of incitement to violence to destabilize the government, the letter said. The Brotherhood then launched a rampage in which they burned over 80 churches, including several orphanages and schools.

Following several deaths, some 683 Brotherhood members were sentenced to death, raising international outrage.

"The American-Egyptian relationship has been strong since 1973," the letter said. "It is a mutual relationship that benefits both countries. It is a relationship that goes beyond military and economic aid ... The United States has a genuine stake in supporting this relationship."

The group also noted Egypt has maintained its commitment to the Egypt-Israel peace treaty and would continue to do so under an el-Sisi presidency.

Presidential elections are to be held on May 26 and 27, with el-Sisi expected to win handily.

Full content and complete list of those who signed the letter follows:

Senator Patrick Leahy
437 Russell Senate Bldg
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Leahy,

We, the undersigned, are writing to express our concern with your recent decision to block the $650 million in military aid to Egypt that the Administration has agreed to release. Egypt is and continues to be America's strongest ally in the Arab world and has been a key partner in the war on terrorism. The Egyptian military spent 12 years serving side-by-side with American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, giving medical aid to over 1 million Afghans after America was attacked on 9/11. Egypt now is facing a war with an al-Qaida affiliate in their very back yard and they need America's full political and military support as they face the same enemy that declared war against the United States so many years ago.

The U.S.-Egyptian relationship is vital to U.S. national interests in the Middle East and has been essential to maintaining security and stability in the region. Egypt's military has been trained by our military for decades and our two nations have worked hand-in-hand in securing and maintaining the Camp David Accords, leading to a military and economic relationship that has lasted nearly four decades, bolstering hope of an Arab-Israeli peace.

We believe there has been a misunderstanding of the events that took place on June 30th, leading up to the removal of Muhammad Morsi from power on July 3rd. While it is true that the Muslim Brotherhood had been freely elected after Mubarak left office, in the twelve months that Morsi was president it became clear that his administration did not represent the people of Egypt but instead represented the religiously fundamentalist and undemocratic objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi issued presidential decrees in November of 2012 granting himself and his office unlimited powers, unreviewable by any judiciary and destroying any hope of democracy in Egypt under Brotherhood rule. In the absence of a formal means by which to impeach Morsi, Tamarod, a new civil movement, called the people to the streets, and Egyptians responded by the millions.

By April 2013, 22 million signatures had been collected calling for Morsi's resignation and new elections, but the Islamist president refused to recognize his loss of legitimacy. By the end of June, millions of Egyptians were on the streets again, this time in greater numbers than those that removed Mubarak in 2011. The military, fearing the outbreak of a civil war not unlike that in Syria, asked Morsi to call for a new election, but again Morsi refused. As a result, General Sisi publicly asked the people of Egypt to come out once more as a sign of whether the government should go.

Eventually 33 million citizens took to the street, more than one third of the population, with a clear message: Morsi and his administration were no longer the legitimate representatives for the people of Egypt. Morsi was removed and his government replaced by a civilian interim government of technocrats, which is today in power and which invited representatives from across society - including the Brotherhood - to participate in drafting a new constitution. The Muslim Brotherhood boycotted this effort, forsaking participation in any democracy that does not further their ideological goals.

On July 26th, 2013 General Sisi asked the people of Egypt to go to the streets in a nationwide rally to show solidarity with the Interim government and give the Army a mandate to fight "violence and terrorism". It is reported that over 30 million Egyptian people went to the streets once again to show support for the Egyptian military and security forces to use the necessary means to fight the wave of terrorism washing over the country in the wake of the Islamist autocrat's removal.

After the removal of Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies launched a campaign of incitement to violence and propaganda to destabilize Egypt. After the dispersal of the sit-in in Rabaa Square, the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies waged a war of retaliation against the Christian community. They attacked, looted and burned over 80 churches, including several orphanages and schools, targeting the most defenseless minorities in Egyptian society. There were direct threats and incitement of violence used against the Christian community for their involvement in the June 30 protest. The Brotherhood's oppressive stance is evident in an official statement from Safwat Hegaazy, an Islamist cleric with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, who said, "… We know that 60 percent of those who are at the Ittihadiya palace are Christians. I am telling the Church you are our brothers in the nation, but there are red lines. The red line that we have is the legitimacy of Mohamed Morsi. If someone spills it with water, we will spill it with blood."

The Muslim Brotherhood and their allies have killed over 50 civilians, 190 members of the military and over 250 Egyptian police. On December 24, 2013, 15 people were killed and 130 more injured during a bombing carried out by militant extremists at the Dakahliya Security Directorate; on January 24, 2014 a bombing by militant extremists killed 6 people and injured almost 100; on February 16, 2014 a suicide bomber targeted a tourist bus at the Taba border crossing killing 4 Christian tourists and injuring 17; in March, gunmen stormed a security checkpoint and attacked a military bus traveling in Cairo killing 7 people. There have been repeated assassination attempts, against senior ranking officials of the Egyptian military and police. In September there was an assassination attempt against the minister of Interior, killing one person and wounding 22. Last week, another high-ranking Egyptian police officer was killed while he was leaving his home for work.

We understand your concerns regarding the mass sentencing of the 683 Muslim Brotherhood members in Minya. We are not defending this sentence by any means, but one must understand that this case was issued by the Minya Criminal Court and is eligible for appeal. The court case has been referred to the Grand Mufti and is not the final sentence. The previous Minya Criminal Court sentencing of 528 Muslim Brotherhood members was changed to 38 members sentenced to death and the 490 others to 25 years in prison. There is a separation of powers in Egypt between the Judiciary and the government, and with the political upheaval of the nation over the past three years, the Egyptian government is not yet a wholly cohesive entity. We strongly contend that the Egyptian government and military should not be tied into the decisions of the Judiciary. U.S. military assistance for the Egyptian military and for counter-terrorism operations is likely to diminish rather than bolster heavy-handedness on the part of the Judiciary, such as is at hand in Minya.

The American-Egyptian relationship has been strong since 1973. It is a mutual relationship that benefits both countries. It is a relationship that goes beyond military and economic aid; to quote Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, "It is like a marriage ... not a fling". The United States has a genuine stake in supporting this relationship. Egypt has proven to maintain the terms of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, and Field Marshal Sisi recently confirmed that he would continue to do so if elected President. Egypt has proven to be following the democratic roadmap that they established last July by passing a Constitution with 95% approval rating with far greater turnout than Egypt's initial constitutional referendum. Egypt will be holding presidential elections on May 26th and 27th, followed by parliamentary elections, with a constitution in place and not subject to the whims of an executive already in power. Egypt is still very early on in its march towards democracy, and we should not expect them to act as though they have the same institutions that it took the West nearly 800 years to refine. It took America over 200 years to build an inclusive democracy, and we are still working on it. We should not expect Egypt to become a democratic nation overnight, it takes time. We believe America should support the "new Egypt" as they aspire in building a more democratic nation and a better country that represents all Egyptians and aligns with values that America embodies. The U.S. has the ability to help an ally in its war against a common enemy and the chance to establish stability in the region. It would be a shame if we missed this opportunity.

We sincerely ask that you would reconsider your position and support our ally Egypt during this critical time when they need their friends.

Sincerely,

Robert C. McFarlane
Honorable Donald Rumsfeld
Dr. Walid Phares
Adm. James A. Lyons, Jr., USN (Retired)
Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, USA (Retired)
Brig. Gen. Charles Jones, USAF (Retired)
Gen. Paul Vallely (Retired)
Lt. Col. Bill Cowan, USMC (Retired)
Lt. Col. Rick Francona, USAF (Retired)
Ibrahim Ahmad, President, East Sudan Beja Community in America
Eli M. Gold, Vice-President, London Center of Policy Research
Peter Huessy, President, GeoStrategic Analysis
Katharine Gorka, President, Council on Global Security
John Hajjar, U.S. Director, World Council of the Cedars Revolution
Tom Harb, Co-chairman, Middle East American Coalition for Democracy
Khalid Jerais, Nubian Community in America
Sheikh Sami Khoury, President, World Maronite Union
Herb London, President, London Center for Policy Research
Maged Riad
Sarah N. Stern, President, Endowment for Middle East Truth