Sunday, September 30, 2012

Obama Monopoly: Burn An American Embassy, Collect $450 Million!

 

I'm not kidding in the least.

Just days ago, our Cairo embassy was invaded and sacked by a mob while Egyptian security ttood by and watched. None of the perpetrators have been arrested and Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi took almost a week before issuing a pro forma grudging apology.

None of that matters.  President Obama wants to give his Muslim Brotherhood pals a special jirzyah of nearly half a billion dollars:

The Obama administration notified Congress on Friday that it would provide Egypt's new government an emergency cash infusion of $450 million, but the aid immediately encountered resistance from a prominent lawmaker wary of foreign aid and Egypt’s new course under the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

The United States Agency for International Development notified Congress of the cash infusion on Friday morning during the pre-election recess, promptly igniting a smoldering debate over foreign aid and the administration’s handling of crises in the Islamic world.

An influential Republican lawmaker, Representative Kay Granger of Texas, immediately announced that she would use her position as chairwoman of the House appropriations subcommittee overseeing foreign aid to block the distribution of the money. She said the American relationship with Egypt “has never been under more scrutiny” than it is in the wake of the election of President Mohamed Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.


Keep in mind that this is on top of all the aid we already give Egypt's Islamists.

This money is in addition to $1 billion worth of debt forgiveness, a $60 million 'investment fund' for Egyptian businesses that will mostly end up in the regime's pockets or go to well connected family with government granted monopolies, plus US intervention in getting Egypt a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, which is also primarily funded by the American taxpayer. Oh, and let's not forget an additional $1.3 billion in military aid, to help Egypt defend itself from all it's many enemies. Or more accurately, to build up its military for an attack on what Egypt considers its primary enemy, Israel.

Let's hope Rep. Granger sticks to her guns on this one., although the last time this happened President Obama used one of his famous executive orders to override a congressional hold on questionable aid to his Islamist friends.

Actually, we've been down this road before.


 


President Eisenhower tried it with Egypt's Gamal Abdul Nasser back in the 1950's,  when he likewise tried improving our relations with the Arab world by giving Egypt massive amounts of US economic and even military aid. You may remember, at that time the U.S. was not providing aid to Israel at all.

The idea President Eisenhower had was that he would bribe Egypt and other Middle East countries to keep the Soviets out, keep the Suez Canal open and the oil flowing. The Eisenhower Administration even gave  Nasser $3 million bribe to join a proposed Middle East Defense Organization along the lines of NATO; Nasser took the money, but then refused to join and the whole idea collapsed.

In the end,  Nasser simply played Eisenhower and his secretary of state John Foster Dulles against the Soviets as long as the money held out, and Egypt became a Soviet Client state when Eisenhower finally got tired of Nasser's lies and duplicity and refused to fund the Aswan Dam project.

For that matter, President Carter behaved similarly with Iran's Khomeini, figuring that his help in pressuring the Shah, getting Khomeini  permission to return to Iran with his followers and the promise of massive US aid  were going to buy America a friend. As you know, that did not end well.

Barack Obama isfollowng the same path, just to a more clueless degree. He idealizes Islamists like Mohammed Morsi and Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan and  imagines that by bribing the Islamists and distancing America from its ally Israel, the Islamists are going to turn into  America's friends and end their  idea of a new Caliphate.

As usual, the Islamists will take the infidel's money as long as he's stupid enough to keep handing it out, but in the end, Islam and hatred of the west trump everything else.

The appeasement mentality never really changes - just the names of the players do.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eisenhower ( we still called him ' The General ' in the 1960s, ) blundered even beyond what you've mentioned. In 1956, Egypt invaded the Suez Canal & annexed it. This was effected even though the Canal was to be given to Egypt gratis by Britain & France in 1968 as per the 1869 treaty which plainly set forth a 99-year limit. The Brits, French, & Israelis responded & liberated the canal militarily ; it was a fait accompli ; however, in a mind-boggling blunder, & in a complete betrayal to the 2 NATO allies, Eisenhower threatened to block all financial credit & aid to them ( nb : as a result of the destruction caused by the Germans during the 1939-1945 War, Britain was still rationing food. America was threatening the UK with hunger. ) The 2 allies were bullied into retreat.

They still recall this with genuine anger in the UK & France. Suez, Cuba, Vietnam ( cancelling the free elections ), Iran : Ike was a great general, but he blundered spectacularly & repeatedly as prez. In fact, he was opposed to the US' having used the 2 atomic bombs on Japan, even though that had saved an estimated half - a- million Allied casualties. ( The Purple Hearts manufactured for the anticipated campaign are still being awarded to this very day. ) Egypt, of course, became an overt Soviet ally.

--dragon/dinosaur

Anonymous said...

Your piece recalls something else to my memory. About 25 or 30 years ago, I read or possibly watched an investigative piece re the wonderful aid programme to Egypt, which was supposed to buy us all these wonderful friends in Egypt. The reporter interviewed a woman involved in textiles supported directly by a grant from this programme. The interviewer at 1 point enquired about her opinions re Americans & the US. ' Oh, I hate them & everything they stand for ! ' she replied bitterly through the translator. ' Did you know that you are being subsidised directly by the American development programme ? ' the interviewer asked. ' No, but I don't care, & I'll always hate the US & Americans ! ' she responded !

The French have an expression : en plein, foolishly placing all your money on 1 number. They also have the expression ' en prise ' , sitting like a sucker & ready to be taken. Total insanity, Bedlam.

--dragon/dinosaur

Unknown said...

Good morning Rob:

I got here from IOwnTheWorld. Great article!

Mike
The Political Commentator