U.S. Funding for Egyptian Military to Resume, Senior Administration Officials Say

Looks like extortion against the United States from Israel’s new “first enemy” will pay off. Despite threats to the contrary, the Islamists will gladly accept $1.5 billion in US military aid and taxpayer dollars, especially if it means that the Egyptian military will be even stronger the day Islamists take full control.  It’ll make their plans to “one day kill all Jews” that much easier …

By William Wan – “The Obama administration intends to resume funding for Egypt’s military, despite congressional restrictions and objections from human rights and democracy advocates.

For months, the money for Egypt — more than $1.5 billion, with the bulk earmarked for the military — has been withheld amid that country’s crackdown on pro-democracy groups, including several U.S.-based organizations with close ties to political parties in Washington.A law passed by Congress in December forbids funding unless the State Department certifies that Egypt is making progress on basic freedoms and human rights.

But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is close to announcing plans to bypass those restrictions on national security grounds, according to senior administration officials and others who have been briefed on the deliberations but were not authorized to speak publicly. The administration believes failure to provide the funds would risk worsening already fraying ties with Egypt’s leaders, most notably the Egyptian military, which still controls the country.

Under the plan, which could be announced as early as next week and was first reported Friday by the New York Times, Egypt would not receive the full $1.5 billion all at once, as has been the practice for decades. The administration would instead dole out the funds in smaller portions to preserve leverage over Egyptian authorities, officials said. The plan would also allow for the continuation of U.S. defense contracts that provide American jobs.” Read more.

Egypt: Islamist-dominated parliament votes to include 50 fellow Islamists on 100-member panel to write new constitution – “Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament voted to include 50 of its lawmakers in a 100-member panel tasked with writing a new constitution, with the remainder coming from other institutions. The results were read by Mohamed Saad el-Katatni, speaker of the lower house of parliament, according to footage of the session posted on the Cabinet’s Facebook page… The makeup of the committee has been the focus of wrangling over the degree of influence Islamist groups will have shaping the constitution… ‘You’re going to agree on 100 people, and then get those 100 people to agree on politically-charged issues that have created a lot of polarization in Egypt: the role of the military, oversight over the military budget, the role of religion in public life, the division of power between parliament and the president,’ Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar, said by phone. ‘That’s a challenge.'” Read more.