Rising tensions with Egypt

Tensions between Egypt’s military rulers and the U.S. government erupted into the open this week, as three Americans, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to avoid arrest. Egypt’s generals, who have accused “foreign hands” of fomenting protests against their rule, have launched a criminal investigation into U.S.-backed pro-democracy organizations, and barred Sam LaHood and five other Americans from leaving the country. In response, U.S. officials told a high-level delegation of Egyptian military officers visiting Washington this week that the country’s $1.3 billion in annual military aid could be suspended. The Muslim Brotherhood, whose political allies dominate the new parliament, have backed the military and clashed this week with protesters demanding an end to military rule.

Targeting Americans is an “extraordinary provocation,” said The Washington Post in an editorial. Egypt’s generals seem to believe U.S. military aid is an entitlement and that “Washington will not dare cut them off.” Preserving the alliance with Egypt may be a key U.S. interest, but when our citizens are subjected to “xenophobic slanders” and threatened with imprisonment, it’s time to take an “uncompromising stand.”

What did we expect? asked Daniel Williams in the Los Angeles Times. In the year since Hosni Mubarak was forced from power, much of his “repressive legacy has been preserved and even strengthened.” The euphoria of the revolution has faded in the face of widespread repression. It’s now the job of the newly seated parliament to take the lead in ending the military’s rule.

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But it may not be ready to do that, said Steven A. Cook in Foreign​Affairs.com. “Cairo is rife with rumors” of a deal between the Brotherhood and the generals. But while the two groups have nationalism in common, an alliance “would not last.” The military will not relinquish power without a fight, and as a new constitution is drafted in the coming months, the parliament will have to face down the generals. The current conflict points to a year “of dispute and struggle.”