EGYPT: To Coup or not to coup?

In response to the military coup in Egypt or whatever it is…President Obama has chosen not to use the word “coup” in his public statements. So, for the last 48 hours, the mainstream media has treated the public to an endless parade of “experts” tying themselves in knots in an attempt to avoid the dreaded term. The dilemma is encapsulated by the following Reuters article:

“The Egyptian military’s overthrow of elected President Mohamed Mursi left President Barack Obama grappling with a difficult question of diplomacy and language in dealing with the Arab world’s most populous nation: was it a coup?

At stake as Obama and his aides wrestle with that question in the coming days is the $1.5 billion in aid the United States sends to Cairo each year – almost all of it for the military – as well as the president’s views on how best to promote Arab democracy.

If the United States formally declares Mursi’s ouster a coup, U.S. law mandates that most aid for its longtime ally must stop. And that could weaken the Egyptian military, one of the country’s most stable institutions with long-standing ties to U.S. authorities.”

Why don’t we just End Foreign Aid?

“The perversion of the city begins with the deceit of words.”
-Plato

Cartoon by Clarisse Bernheim, concept by Andrew Henry.