OBAMA TO SEND MCCAIN AND GRAHAM TO CAIRO
“The President asked Senator (John) McCain and myself to go to Egypt next week, so we try to find a way to get there,” said Lindsey Graham, the Times of Israel reported as monitored by MINA (Mi’raj News Agency).
“The place is in turmoil, obviously,” said McCain, who lost to Obama in the 2008 election. The Republican senator, in early July, has called on the US government to suspend financial aid to the Egyptian army, which violate US’ law to stop funding coup government.
The US provides $1.5bn a year to Egypt in military and economic assistance and around $1.3bn of this amount goes the the Egyptian army.
Related the details of the trip, the White House declined to comment on it.
Graham gave its questionable statements by saying “If Egypt goes and Israel is surrounded by more and more ‘radical regimes’ … we’ll regret not doing everything possible to keep Egypt on track as a stable society,” he told reporters.
Graham said the idea of “maybe us going if things deteriorate” in Egypt was first discussed at a July 17 meeting at the White House. McCain and Graham sat down for nearly two hours for a wide ranging national security discussion with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and National Security Adviser Susan Rice.
U.S. Double Standards Policy
As many stakeholders speculated of US double standards, Graham also said equal statement. In an interview with CNN, he said democratic Egypt should not stand under military dictatorships, but he also stated his support for Kerry’s statement that supported the overthrow of Morsi by its military.
Last week, the Obama administration told lawmakers that it won’t declare Egypt’s government overthrow a coup, which would prompt the automatic suspension of assistance programs under US law. The administration fears that stopping such funding could hurt programs that help to secure Israel’s border and their fight against Hamas in Gaza Strip.
Middle East observers believe the U.S. has intervened in Egypt before the coup, as General Abdul Fatah As-Sided had called Susan Rice and the Israeli side. (T/P03/P04)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
