As Obama Egypt policy fails, gulf nations vow support for Egyptian military

Obama has screwed up again as, the West pressure’s Egypt’s new government to end its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood could be moot thanks to Saudi Arabia’s oil money – and whole-hearted backing of the military. While the West calls for peace in Cairo, the Saudis are supporting Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who led the ouster of Mohammed Morsi. The Kingdom has pledged to make up for any loss in foreign aid resulting from the military’s brutal crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

On Monday, the country’s foreign minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal issued a hard-hitting statement via the Saudi Press Agency pushing back on the West.

“To those who have announced they are cutting their aid to Egypt, or threatening to do that, (we say that) Arab and Muslim nations are rich and will not hesitate to help Egypt,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency. “Arab states will never accept manipulation of their fates or tampering with their security and stability by the international community.”

Fox News

The EU is also thinking of cutting off aid to Egypt’s new government, and in Washington, pressure continued to mount on the Obama administration to consider further steps. Several lawmakers said Obama’s decision last week to cancel planned joint military exercises with Egypt and to delay delivery of four F-16 fighter jets doesn’t go far enough.

And German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday suggested halting previously approved arms shipments to Egypt as part of a coordinated European response. Her development minister today told German radio that Berlin will make “no further pledges this year” of aid to Egypt, and that Germany “won’t negotiate this year” any debt relief for the country.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, along with its Gulf allies the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, has already pledged $12 billion in aid to Egypt’s new rulers – a figure that dwarfs the $1.3 billion the U.S. gives Egypt annually. Like the Saudi monarchy, the royal families of the Emirates and Kuwait are bitter foes of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they have long seen as a threat.

The Saudi royals didn’t contain their fury at the toppling of Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak or the fall of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the first of the autocrats to fall in the Arab Spring. He and his family were given sanctuary in Saudi Arabia.

And while Washington labored over whether to dub the ousting of Morsi, Egypt’s first ever Islamist president, a coup or not, Riyadh didn’t disguise its delight with King Abdullah issuing a statement of support within hours. He has since continued to offer rhetorical support for what he calls Egypt’s fight against “terrorism and extremism.”

Fox News