At stake as Obama and his aides wrestle therewith question within the returning days is that the $1.5 billion in aid the u. s. sends to Cairo annually - the majority of it for the military - in addition because the president\'s views on however best to push Arab democracy.
If the u. s. formally declares Mursi\'s ouster a coup, U.S. law mandates that the majority aid for its old ally should stop. which may weaken the Egyptian military, one in every of the country\'s most stable establishments with long-standing ties to U.S. authorities.
Further complicating Obama\'s calculus is that the incontrovertible fact that several Egyptians rallied in favor of Mursi\'s departure, which the military proclaimed a roadmap for come to civilian rule that was blessed by Egypt\'s Muslim and Christian non secular leaders.
But Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood retain backing from a broad swath of Egyptian society, while he alienated several of his countrymen.
Obama, when meeting prime advisors at the White House, aforesaid in a very statement that he was \"deeply concerned\" by the army\'s actions and had directed the relevant U.S. agencies to review the implications for U.S. help to Egypt.
But he didn\'t use the word \"coup\" and stopped well in need of advocating for Mursi\'s reinstatement, suggesting Washington may be willing to simply accept the military\'s move as some way to finish a political crisis in a very nation of eighty three million individuals battling severe economic difficulties.
Recent history suggests Obama would possibly take his time on deciding the longer term of U.S. aid to Egypt, and by extension, Washington\'s relations with the country.
U.S. law bars \"any help to the govt. of any country whose punctually electoral head of state is kick out by military takeover or decree.\"
When Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in June 2009, Washington quickly suspended aid, however didn\'t cut concerning $30 million in help till over 2 months later.
Even then, Secretary of State Sir Edmund Hillary Clinton didn\'t verify as a matter of law that a coup had taken place.
Eric Trager, associate professional on Egyptian politics at the Washington Institute for Mideast Policy, aforesaid Obama mustn\'t label Mursi\'s ouster a coup, nor stop U.S. aid.
\"The Obama administration ought to acknowledge that as authoritarian as a coup is, it absolutely was the results of the fundamental incontrovertible fact that President Mursi had fully lost management of the Egyptian state,\" Trager aforesaid by phonephone from Egypt.
\"Democracy wasn\'t the first factor at stake in Egypt these previous couple of months,\" however rather Mursi\'s management and fears of collapse of the Egyptian state, he said.
In asserting Mursi had been kick out and therefore the Egyptian constitution suspended, Egypt\'s army commander secure a fast political transition. The military set out plans for elections and a constitutional review.
CALLS FOR fast TRANSITION
The U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of employees, Gen. Martin gladiator, warned Egyptian military leaders of consequences if Mursi\'s overthrow were viewed as a coup.
\"At the tip of the day it\'s their country and that they can realize their means, however there\'ll be consequences if it\'s badly handled,\" gladiator told CNN.
Obama conjointly warned against any violence, indicating that Washington\'s final call on aid to Egypt can depend upon however Egypt\'s soldiers handle the transition in returning weeks.
Mursi, in power for a year, was wide blasted for presiding over a gradual decline in Egypt\'s economy and for failing to create a broad-based government that enclosed different teams that had joined within the 2011 revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.
U.S. lawmakers conjointly welcome Mursi\'s departure however drawn up a fast transition back to democratic rule - with a detailed consider the help budget.
Democratic legislator Apostle Leahy, UN agency heads the Senate committee that oversees economic aid, on Wed secure a review of the $1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in aid sent to Cairo annually.
Washington has stop aid following military coups many times before. In Apr 2012, the u. s. suspended a minimum of $13 million of its $140 million in annual aid to African country following a coup within the West state.
Programs that didn\'t go directly through government ministries weren\'t affected.
Any Obama support for Egypt\'s new government is unlikely to face opposition from Republicans in Congress, UN agency had been skeptical of Mursi\'s Muslim government.
\"Mursi was associate obstacle to the constitutional democracy most Egyptians needed,\" aforesaid Republican Representative ED Royce, the chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
Republicans conjointly voiced robust support for Egypt\'s military, whose shut ties to Washington stretch back to the 1979 Israeli-Egypt peace accords.
\"The Egyptian military has long been a key partner of the u. s. and a stabilising force within the region, and is probably the sole trusty national establishment in Egypt nowadays,\" said U.S. Representative Eric Cantor, the No. two Republican within the House.
\"Democracy is concerning over elections,\" he said.
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