The US was a witness to the Egypt-Israel Treaty of Peace. To make that treaty "stick" we have given Egypt around 2 billion dollars a year ever since. This subvention is a bribe by another name. The Israelis receive even larger sums. Why we need to "bribe" the Israelis is a mystery. These charitable contributions have become a tradition in both those countries. Neither party can deal with the thought that our charity might come to an end. Egypt has never done anything of importance for the US. They sent two ground divisions to the First Gulf War. They stated in advance that they would not fight and they did not. Syria sent a division and they did not fight either. Egypt interrogated some AQ people for us. These "services" sum up Egypt's contributions to US welfare. There are bi-lateral agreements with Egypt with regard to equipment sales and traing. None of these obligate either party to go to war for the other. Such relationships are not alliances. NATO is an alliance. Our relationship with Egypt is nothing like the NATO alliance or any other real alliance.
BHO was correct. Egypt is not an ally of the US. The most that can be said of Egypt post Mubarak is, as the president said, that the country id not yet our enemy as Nasser's Egypt was our enemy. BTW, international relationships among countries are not limited to manichaean dualities of "ally" and "enemy." Most countries in the world should properly be described as "out there," IOW neither friend nor foe.
In political international studies-speak, countries, "out there" are routinely described as "allies." How stupid this is.
What BHO did by declining to call Mursi's Egypt an ally was to put Egypt on notice of the simple fact that the US is not obligated to give Egypt anything. The NB's retreat from confrontation is the result. pl
