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Why We Give Foreign Aid to Egypt
(Washington Post) Charles Krauthammer - President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt is intent on getting the release of Omar Abdel-Rahman (the "Blind Sheik"), serving a life sentence for masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center attack that killed six and wounded more than a thousand. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood is openly anti-Christian, anti-Semitic and otherwise prolifically intolerant. Nonetheless, we should not cut off aid to Egypt. It is perfectly reasonable to cut off aid to governments that are intrinsically hostile and beyond our influence. But Egypt is not an enemy, certainly not yet. The Brotherhood aims to establish an Islamist dictatorship. Yet it remains a considerable distance from having done so. Precisely why we should remain engaged. Any foreign aid we give Egypt should be contingent upon a reversal of repression and a granting of space to secular, democratic, pro-Western elements. We give foreign aid for two reasons: (a) to support allies who share our values and our interests, and (b) to extract from less-than-friendly regimes concessions that either bring their policies more in line with ours or strengthen competing actors more favorably inclined toward American objectives.