Egypt is in a state of unrest, with crowds of tens of thousands of people gathering in Tahrir Square calling for the removal of Field Marshal Tantawi. Clashes with the peaceful crowds and the Egyptian army have resulted in numerous arrests and dozens of deaths among the protesters.
Some wish to bring in the subject of the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as a sort of threat, that the military is the lesser of two evils. Until last January, the West was content to have a dictator as a friend who, along with Israel, made up one third of all United States foreign aid, with Israel receiving $3,175,000,000US and Egypt coming in second, receiving in 2010 from the United States taxpayers just over $1,550,000,000US. (1)
A full $1,300,000,000US US of this money goes towards buying military supplies and weapons from the United States for Egypt to keep peace with Israel. Unfortunately, those military gifts to Egypt are being used against the people's democratic revolution going on in Egypt. Please contact your congressman or tell President Obama to stop military aid to Egypt and to put pressure on Egypt's military, and particularly Field Marshal Tantawi, to step aside for free party elections.
(1). Vaughns
(2). ProPublica
Photo: Al Ahram
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