It's Time for Washington to Shut Up about Promoting Democracy

Doug Bandow

The military regime in Cairo continues to kill supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi with Washington’s financial support. The Obama administration is turning hypocrisy into an art form. 
Washington labors under the delusion that it controls the world. The administration insists that it must preserve its influence by giving more money to the generals in Cairo. Yet when has the United States ever exercised influence in Egypt?
For four decades American taxpayers have subsidized dictatorial regimes. The administration tried to save former president Hosni Mubarak from revolution, before supporting his overthrow. Washington’s attempts to convince Morsi to rule more inclusively, and military commander Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi not to stage a coup, failed completely. Now the coup leader is ostentatiously ignoring the administration’s plea that he not force the Muslim Brotherhood underground. 
Yet President Obama refuses to acknowledge the military coup, which under U.S. law would require the cut-off of American aid to Egypt. If that happened, says the administration, Gen. al-Sisi might ignore American advice! 
As I point out in my latest Forbes column:
It would have been better years ago had American officials simply shut up and done nothing. No money would have been wasted.  Washington’s impotence would not have been demonstrated. The U.S. would not be complicit in decades of military r...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - August 2, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Doug Bandow Source Type: blogs