Obama's State Department fails Egypt's revolution

The New Republic writes: "Despite a long list of open abuses, the Obama administration recently decided to proceed with $1.3 billion in military aid to the Egyptian government. To release the aid, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to waive a legal requirement that Egypt had met basic U.S. standards for respect of human rights."

"TNR" continues: "Why would the State Department so brazenly turn a blind eye to human rights concerns in Egypt? Some of the reasons might be geopolitical: Our aid guarantees that Egypt's military will continue to maintain a peaceful border with Israel, and the military has generally been an ally in the fight against terrorism. But there appears to be another reason as well: One State Department official justified the decision to The New York Times in part by pointing out that American jobs are "reliant on the U.S.-Egypt strong military-to-military relationship." In other words, if the aid money had been withheld, defense companies like General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin would have seen a disruption in their production of tanks and F-16 fighter jets, thereby prompting layoffs in an economy still struggling to create jobs. According to both companies, close to 700 people could have been let go—many of whom live in states important to this fall's election.

"If this really was a key factor in the decision to release the aid to Egypt, then it is a rather crude example of the United States setting foreign policy based on the needs of defense companies and their employees here at home, rather than realities on the ground in other countries. And it should go without saying that U.S. defense companies and the Egyptian military are two constituencies that do not exactly need more support from the U.S. government."

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