West strikes dangerous balance in dealings with Egypt's military

[FarCenter]

Western nations led by the US appear to be hedging their bets on the true intentions of Egypt's military rulers as the crackdown in Cairo continues unabated. A fear of alternative leadership may be holding the West back.

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In recent days, the administration of US President Barack Obama, which has broadly supported the SCAF while quietly pressurizing it over its slow path to reform, has urged Egypt's military rulers to increase the speed of its transition to civilian control. There is a fear in Washington that the revolution that gave most heart and impetus to the Arab Spring may be dying - and the wave of pro-democracy movements across the Arab world along with it.

However, while hoping for widespread change, the White House treads a careful path. Egypt is an important US ally in the region, one which has supported the US role in the Middle East and one of the few states to maintain an uneasy peace accord with Israel. It is this strategic importance which has led Obama to reject recent calls from within Washington for the delivery of $1.3 billion (0.97 billion euros) of US aid to Egypt to be conditional on the military leadership's progress on democracy and human rights.

Meanwhile, the White House is keen to strengthen ties with Egypt's newly empowered political opposition which could be the country's new power-brokers.

It is a stance that sits uncomfortably with the fact that the US - as well as a number of European states - has continued to supply the SCAF with the military hardware, tear gas and rubber bullets being used against the crowds in Tahrir Square. Much the same way as it supplied over $60 billion in unconditional aid to the Egyptian military during Mubarak's 30-year reign of corruption and oppression.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15546334,00.html

[msongs]

1. revolutions always have more than one stage, and unpredictable outcomes nt