Pacic Northwest State

The Intelligencer

Edition #1

AID TO EGYPT?
Resolved, the United States should cease economic and military aid to Egypt in light of the current government's method of obtaining power.!

Junior State of America

!1

Pacic Northwest State

The Intelligencer

Edition #1

Online Debate
Resolved, the United States should cease economic and military aid to Egypt in light of the current government's method of obtaining power. Pro: Uma Ilavarasan! Con: Austin Weinstein!

Background
" Former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi was deposed in on July 3, 2013 by military leader Abdel Fatteh El-Sisi. This has sparked a debate over how the United States should respond: declaring his deposition a coup would require the U.S., by law, to cease its 1.3 billion dollars in aid to that nation. Since July 3, Morsi supporters have faced untold violence (including a massacre at Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque on July . Muslim Brotherhood o#ces have been closed and its leaders arrested (Morsi was a political representative of this pan-Islamic organization). Egypt, under the leadership of General El-Sisi and interim president Adly Mansour, seems to be returning to a Mubarak-era crackdown on dissent. No plans have been made for new elections, leading many to wonder if democracys previous gains in Egypt have come and gone. However, many diplomats argue for the continuation of aid, as ceasing to provide funds would jeopardize Americas important relationship with an ally. The United States needs all the partners it can get in this fractious, splintering region. Should the United States cut o$ aid to Egypt, at least until a timeline for the democratic process has been solidied? Is it worth putting our diplomatic friendship at risk?%

Junior State of America

!2

Pacic Northwest State

The Intelligencer

Edition #1

PRO: Uma Ilavarasan

" The protests begin on June 30, the one-year anniversary of Mohammed Morsis inauguration to the presidency, spurred by that leaders authoritarianism and whispers of an Islamist agenda running rampant Egypts edgling democracy, a charge seemingly corroborated by Morsis Freedom and Justice party membership (the FJP is the arm of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood that elds candidates for o#ce). The next day, the Egyptian military threatened to take over the government if warring politicians (secularists, more extremist parties, and MB leaders themselves) could not quickly craft a successful conclusion. The military made their loyalties to harmful paradigms, and their distaste for the MB, painfully clear on July 2 with their slaughter of 18 people (exact gures are not available) and injury of 200 protestors at a pro-Morsi rally. This tumultuous half-week culminated in Morsis removal from o#ce, the arrest of senior MB members, the suspension of the constitution, and shadowy plans for a future presidential election. The interim government, currently in place, is led by president Adly Mansour; no dates have yet been set for the aforementioned elections. The actions taken by the Egyptian military (and originally backed by religious and secular leaders) dene a coup, despite the US governments unwillingness to designate them as such. Members of the state department, and Congress, know that dening the decisions of El-Sisi and his cronies as dictatorial, and marking them as illegitimate, would necessitate ending the 1.5 billion dollars in aid to Egypt the United States annually dispenses and threaten already tenuous relationships in the region. The legal obligation to cease the provision of funds, is at least equalled, perhaps trumped, by the United States moral obligations (obligations that are unfortunately predicated on a reality the US seems unwilling to recognize): the interim government has stied dissent, failed to respond to the persecution of Coptic Christians, and further normalized sexual assault. Thus, the United States should cease economic and military aid to Egypt in light of the current governments method of obtaining power.! " Section 508 of the Foreign Assistance Act clearly states none of the funds appropriated...pursuant to this act shall be obligated or expended to nance directly any assistance to any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup. A coup assuredly occurred: a democratically elected leader (Mohammed Morsi) was thrown out one year into his term in favor of a bizarre semi-junta (events, of course, orchestrated by the elmilitary, though with considerable civilian backing). It would seem obvious, then, that the US should stop funding the Egyptian military (the greatest beneciary of the previously mentioned 1.5 billion). However, the Take Care Clause (Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says that the President shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed) has led some to believe that the situation in Egypt calls for a suspension of this law (otherwise, again, the President and his government are legally bound to the halting of fund dispensation). The emergency circumstances that would negate the Take Care Clause are simply not present. This is not to say that the events unfolding in Egypt are not horric, problematic, and inammatory, but that the United States is not a direct player in the conict and is not threatened by an Egyptian attack; the fact that modern-day Egypt can be characterized by those three adjectives is an indicator that the US must stop condoning coup-behavior and follow its own laws. Additionally, the US has failed to declare an obvious coup a coup, which is intensely
Junior State of America !3

Pacic Northwest State

The Intelligencer

Edition #1

problematic in and of itself. The selective nature of Section 508s application renders it ine$ective, and counters its purpose. Not naming this beast a coup constitutes presidential negligence, and an inability to fulll the job partially outlined by the Take Care Clause.! " Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is both an ine$ective and troublesome ruler, emphasized by the current lack of election plans, and the suppression of pro-MB voices through arrests and violence. Immediately after the coup took place, the new regime seemed a positive development; gas lines were shorter, electricity showed more constancy in presence. These initial gains, however, have degenerated into losses exacerbated by the presence of an undemocratic government. El-Sisi and his a#liates have imprisoned Morsi and fellow MB members that populate the upper echelons of this political organizations hierarchy, while bringing ex-president and dictator Hosni Mubarak out of jail. The latter move signaled to many protestors, and to the international community, the lack of reformist sentiment in the new government;. Demonstrations have splintered into bloodshed and distrust, as members of the police force and military break up existent protests with weapons and degradation. The Egyptian governments ine$ectual responses to the abuses of Coptic Christians by Morsi supporters as part of a larger backlash, further speaking to the ine#ciency and disregard of the institution. During protests, large numbers of women were sexually assaulted as well, in a climate of overwhelming impunity. El-Sisis government has o$ered no course of redress for these females, preferring to follow the low standards of responsiveness to sexual crimes set by his predecessors. These factors combine to demonstrate that El-Sisi is no improvement, no purveyor of democracy to his people; his current actions seem to indicate a return to the same authoritarian, oppressive tendencies of the past. The human rights abuses carried out under his watch, too, are a call to action.! " The United States must stop providing aid to Egypt because of that actions illegality under Section 508 of the Foreign Assistance Act and the agrant human rights abuses apparent under ElSisi and Mansours direction.%

Junior State of America

!4

Pacic Northwest State

The Intelligencer

Edition #1

CON: Austin Weinstein

" Egypt currently receives the 5th-most aid of any country to whom the United States sends aid. This past year, the U.S. authorized a 1.55 billion dollar aid package to Egypt. 250 million of that aid is economic in purpose, the rest of the aid is military. This aid is in the form of F-16s, Abrams tanks, and other proprietary (thats important later) military equipment1. A military coup (Yes Ill call it a coup) this summer replaced the democratically-elected President Mohammed Morsi with a military leader, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. After a period of diplomatic uncertainty, The U.S. ended portions of that economic (not military) aid in response to the raids (or crackdowns) that killed at least 600 protesters that supported President Morsi. That begs a very important question. What was the U.S. doing aiding Egypt in the rst place? !
"

" The story of U.S. aid towards Egypt begins in 1978. As a condition of the Egyptian-Israeli peace accords (also known as the Camp David Accords), the U.S. supplies aid towards both Israel and Egypt to ensure this peace2. The keystone of Israeli-Egyptian peace is this aid. This resolution proposes to cut o$ all military aid towards Egypt. This would be an e$ective rejection of the Camp David Accords, and an a$ront towards both Israel and Egypt. !
"

" But lets look at the aid in modern diplomatic terms rather than in the frame of reference of 1978. What happens if we cut the aid? ! & Egypts view: Were seen as in opposition of the el-Sisi regime, and in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood (regardless of whether or not this is true). We lose an important ally, and the guiding force of the region. As the term goes, So goes Egypt, so goes the Middle East (a.k.a. why the Camp David Accords was one of the biggest diplomatic achievements ever).! & Israels view: Israel is a big fan of el-Sisi because he has brought stability to Egypt and has began wresting control over the volatile Sinai peninsula. Were seen against Egyptian stability, against elSisi, and against a stable mid-east. We also lose ground with an ultra-important ally, whos not so keen on us after the Iranian nuclear deal.! & U.S. view: We gain.the favor of the human rights community for taking a stand against a military leader. !

1 '

Meyer, Theodoric. "F.A.Q. on U.S. Aid to Egypt: Where Does the Money Go, And How Is It Spent?" ProPublica. Pro Publica Inc., 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/f.a.q.-on-u.s.-aid-to-egypt-wheredoes-the-money-go-who-decides-how-spent>.
2 '

Snowden, Edward. "US Embassy Cables: Egypt's Strategic Importance to the US.theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/ 199866>
Junior State of America !5

Pacic Northwest State

The Intelligencer

Edition #1

" Some argue that cutting o$ aid wouldnt even matter, as Saudi Arabia has pledged to make up the di$erence if the U.S. cuts aid3. That argument forgets that the U.S. aid is not in hard cash, rather it is in proprietary military technology, a condition that greatly sweetened the deal when it rst began. In addition, we lose Egypt as an ally, and were seen as abandoning the region by Saudi Arabia and an array of important gulf states.!
"

" When el-Sisi took power from the democratically-elected Mohammed Morsi, many people sprung up saying that a. this was coup and b. according to the Foreign Assistance Act, the U.S. must cut aid to the country. I dont dispute that this was a military coup, it was, by denition, a military coup. I also dont dispute that according to the text of the law, we should cut aid to Egypt. But, as we discovered this summer, the U.S. found a clever trick to circumvent this condition4. They simply didnt call it a coup. I support this action, not because it is the proper action, but because it is the logical action. If what we have to do to maintain mid-east peace, and keep important allies is circumvent some diplomatic language, Im all for it. In fact, I have my own qualms with this coup clause. Its excessively idealistic (think of the million circumstances where an radical regime is overtaken by a moderate rational one) and ignorant of the diplomatic realities and circumstances that I mentioned.!
"

" el-Sisi isnt perfect. Hes not even very good. Nor average. He kinda sucks. Hes been harsh on dissenters and he hasnt done much to improve the country. But he supports maintaining a democratic Egypt--they just have to work out a solution that is best for a stable, prosperous, democratic Egypt. President Mohammed Morsi led the country into economic stagnation, took nearly dictatorial measures that he used to further an Islamist agenda that upon which he had promised not to act, and was less of an ally to the U.S. than el-Sisi appears to be. The rst Egyptian experiment into democracy did not work. el-Sisi supports a new constitution that seems to rectify the mistakes in the rst (reminiscent of U.S. under the Articles of Confederation needing the Constitution)5. Cutting U.S. aid would e$ectively denounce el-Sisi, cause untold problems politically in Egypt, disrupt the Egyptian re-transition into democratic rule, and all of the diplomatic problems I previously mentioned.!
"

" I argue that keeping the U.S. aid intact, maintaining a stable region, keeping crucial allies, and placating important friends is more important than standing by an idealistic, impractical clause that would make only the Human Rights Watch happy.%

3 '

Sly, Liz. "Backing Egypts Generals, Saudi Arabia Promises Financial Support."Washington Post. Je$ Bezos' " Moneypit, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-19/world/" 41424062_1_saudi-arabia-obama-administration-saudi-leaders>.
4 '

Landler, Mark. "Aid to Egypt Can Keep Flowing, Despite Overthrow, White House Decides." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 25 July 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/world/middleeast/ aid-to-egypt-can-keep-owing-despite-overthrow-white-house-decides.html?_r=1&>.
5 '

Spencer, Richard. "Egypt Military to Retain Key Powers in New Constitution." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 23 May 0021. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10465842/ Egypt-military-to-retain-key-powers-in-new-constitution.html>.
Junior State of America !6

Pacic Northwest State

The Intelligencer

Edition #1

Works Cited
Images:! http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/99/90099-050-0302422F.jpg! http://multimedia.pol.dk/archive/00772/Mideast_Egypt_New_L_772348a.jpg! http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/egyptchange021011/e01_08967231.jpg!

Footnotes! Landler, Mark. "Aid to Egypt Can Keep Flowing, Despite Overthrow, White House Decides." The New York " Times. The New York Times Company, 25 July 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/ " 2013/07/26/world/middleeast/aid-to-egypt-can-keep-owing-despite-overthrow-white-house-" " decides.html?_r=1&>.! Meyer, Theodoric. "F.A.Q. on U.S. Aid to Egypt: Where Does the Money Go, And How Is It Spent?" " " ProPublica. Pro Publica Inc., 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/ " f.a.q.-on-u.s.-aid-to-egypt-where-does-the-money-go-who-decides-how-spent>.! Sly, Liz. "Backing Egypts Generals, Saudi Arabia Promises Financial Support."Washington Post. Je$ Bezos' " Moneypit, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-19/world/ " 41424062_1_saudi-arabia-obama-administration-saudi-leaders>.! Snowden, Edward. "US Embassy Cables: Egypt's Strategic Importance to the US."Theguardian.com. " " Guardian News and Media, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/ " us-embassy-cables-documents/199866>.! Spencer, Richard. "Egypt Military to Retain Key Powers in New Constitution." The Telegraph. Telegraph " " Media Group, 23 May 0021. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/" " africaandindianocean/egypt/10465842/Egypt-military-to-retain-key-powers-in-new-" " " constitution.html>.!

! ! !

Credits
Written by Uma Ilavarasan (Background and Pro) and Austin Weinstein (Con)! Formatted and Compiled by Hari Mahesh! Posted on the Website by Julian Boss! Pacic Northwest Website: states.jsa.org/pnw/! Pacic Northwest Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/pnw_jsa! Pacic Northwest Instagram: http://instagram.com/pnw_jsa! Pacic Northwest Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/183505885114580/! Junior State of America Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/JuniorState!

Are you interested in writing for future Online Debates?

Contact either Uma Ilavarasan, your Director of Online Literature, or Hari Mahesh, your Director of Publicity, and they will assign you to online debates on future editions of the Intelligencer.
Junior State of America !7