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Spotlight Is on Libya, but Bigger Challenge for White House May Lie in Egypt

(New York Times) Helene Cooper and Mark Landler - For all the harrowing images of the deadly attack on the American mission in Benghazi, the far bigger long-term problem may lie in Egypt. In Egypt, the second-largest recipient of American foreign aid, President Morsi issued only a mild rebuke of the rioters, while his movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, called for a second day of protests against the lurid anti-Muslim video that set off the riots. Martin S. Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, noted: "This was the fourth time an embassy was assaulted in Cairo with the Egyptian police doing precious little. And where was President Morsi's condemnation of this?" Morsi waited 24 hours before issuing his statement against the militants who stormed the embassy. What makes Egypt's uncertain course so vexing for the White House is that Mr. Obama, more than any other foreign leader, has sided again and again with the Arab street in Cairo. "How does the president go to the Hill and say, 'We need to forgive $1 billion in Egyptian debt?'" said Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
2012-09-13 00:00:00
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