Obama
approved F-16 fighter jets as gift to Egypt
Despite
instability due to the new Islamic government in Egypt, the US is
sending more than 20 F-16 fighter jets to Egypt as part of a $1
billion foreign aid package.
RT,
11
Dcember, 2012
The
first four Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets are set to arrive in
Egypt on Jan. 22, an unnamed source told Fox News. Although Egypt
already has more than 200 such planes and the latest delivery
fulfills an order placed two years ago when former President Hosni
Mubarak was still in power, the protests and widespread instability
in Egypt have caused some to wonder if providing jets at this time is
a bad idea.
The
new Islamic president, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, has
recently made political moves that have fueled anger and criticism
both in the West and among secular Egyptians. Mass demonstrations are
currently taking place in Cairo and several other Egyptian cities
against Morsi’s decision to hold a referendum on a pro-Islamist
constitution. Secular, liberal and Christian groups are demanding
that Morsi cancel this referendum.
Groups
in opposition to the referendum are due to converge on the
presidential palace. The opposition has already breached a barrier
outside the palace, but has been unable to pass the wall of concrete
blocks and tanks that guard its perimeter. Still, several thousand
are protesting in the presidential compound after being let in by the
Republican Guard.
In
the days leading up the referendum, Morsi authorized his military to
secure state buildings and arrest civilians. Six Egyptian Air Force
F-16 fighter jets also flew symbolically over Cairo on Monday,
military sources told DEBKAfile.
Providing
Egypt with more than 20 fighter jets at a time when tensions are so
high may not be the best timing. The move may also cause President
Obama to appear as if he is standing behind Morsi.
“Obama
is therefore using those warplanes as a signpost for the Muslim-Arab
Middle East – and the Israeli voter – to show them that he is
sticking unswervingly to his policy of support for the region’s
Muslim Brotherhood – and especially the Egyptian president – even
if Morsi did slip up by a grab for sweeping powers that alienated
most of the opposition,” according to DEBKAfile.
Even
if the US is simply fulfilling a deal it made two years ago with
Mubarak, providing the more than 20 fighter jets in 2013 does make
the Obama administration appear to be in support of the controversial
Egyptian regime that is now in power.
“The
Obama administration wants to simply throw money at an Egyptian
government that the president cannot even clearly state is an ally of
the United States,” said Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the
Republican chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Malou
Innocent, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, warned
reporters at Fox that providing Egypt with military resources could
haunt the US in the future if a conflict between Israel and Egypt
were to arise.
“Should
an overreaction [by Egypt] spiral into a broader conflict between
Egypt and Israel, such a scenario would put US officials in an
embarrassing position of having supplied massive amounts of military
hardware … to both belligerents,” she said. “Given Washington’s
fiscal woes, American taxpayers should no longer be Egypt’s major
arms supplier.”
The
$213 million order, paid for by US taxpayers, will provide the
Egyptian air force with newer and improved resources. Its fleet of
current fighter jets are older versions of the F-16s.
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