It is getting worse every day in Egypt, ever since the military ousted President Mursi – a democratically elected President after all.
If such a thing happens in any other country, it would be called a coup. Not so in this case. Admitted, Mursi’s government made some mistakes. By serving only for the Muslim brotherhood and not for all Egyptians, he alienated a lot of people, if not the majority.
However, the military does not seem to get it either. The crackdown on the demonstrators caused the death of over 500 people – and that is the official number.
Despite all protests and the cancellation of some joint military exercises the Obama administration still refuses the word “coup”. Why is that?
Some people are arguing that the U.S. wants to keep leverage by keeping military aid to the Egyptians, which is around $ 1.3 billion annually.
The truth is closer to home. You see, probably half of the money doesn’t even go to Egypt, but rather through a special account with the U.S. Treasury into the coffers of the American defense companies. Lockheed Martin, for instance, delivered military equipment worth $ 3.8 billion to the Egyptian military in the past ten years.
General Dynamics delivered about 1000 American M1A1 tanks to Egypt’s military – without having a strategic need for it. “There is no apparent challenge by an external enemy to justify so many tanks,” said Egypt expert Shana Marshall from the Middle East Institute at the George Washington University.
And you know what happens if an attempt is made to cancel those contracts. The industry reminds the Congress men and women once in a while.
So, it is not just aid for the Egyptian military. Half of it is really aid for the U.S. defense industry.
That’s why this coup is not called a coup.