Egypt: At Least 9 Anti-Morsi Protesters Shot In Tahrir Square While Obama Preps New F-16 Fighter Jets For Muslim Brotherhood

In the past, arming those who openly called for or even threatened to destroy Israel had been largely confined to rogue states and state sponsors of terror. But today it now looks like we can add Barack Obama to that list …

UPI – “The U.S. Embassy in Cairo said Tuesday that nine people were shot in Tahrir Square during protests against the Muslim Brotherhood.

A draft constitution has sparked outrage in post-revolution Egypt. A decision by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to extend his power during constitutional debate brought concerns about the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement from which he hails.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo advised U.S. citizens in the country to avoid downtown Cairo amid heightened tensions.

‘At around 1:30 this morning, armed individuals fired into the area of the square where anti-MB protestors are staging a sit-in,’ a Tuesday statement from the embassy read. ‘Nine people were reportedly shot.’

U.N. rights officials have said some provisions in the draft constitution were cause for concern.

Human Rights Watch said it was frustrated by Morsi’s decision to give the military the power to arrest civilians.” Read more.

Obama To Start Sending US F-16 Fighter Jets To Egypt – On Israel’s Election-Day – ” The Obama administration took a careful look at the political calendar before announcing that the first four F-16 fighter planes – of the 20 approved in a $1 billion US foreign aid package to Egypt – would be delivered Jan. 22. The announcement came Tuesday, Dec. 11, as Cairo and other Egyptian towns were set for massive rival demonstrations for and against President Mohamed Morsi’s decision to hold a referendum on a pro-Islamist constitution Saturday. It therefore came in for rising criticism in Washington of the wisdom of sending the jets to an unstable Egypt in the grip of a strong political confrontation.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Egypt Will Never Be the Friend, Partner or Ally of the Zionist Entity, The First Enemy of Egypt’ – “It’s amazing what ‘freedom’ has brought to Egypt. Rejecting $1 billion in US aid would almost be laughable, if the possible implications were not so serious. Last month the Muslim Brotherhood had apparently come to the conclusion that it was Halal to extort the United States by threatening, for all intents and purposes, to wage war against Israel if America cut off aid to Egypt. Now they’re threatening to reject it all together, and all this while making it loud and clear that Egypt will ‘never be the friend, partner or ally of the Zionist entity’ …” Read more.