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A Provocation in Egypt

(Washington Post) Editorial - Thursday's raid on 17 foreign NGOs in Egypt represents a frontal provocation by the ruling military council to the Obama administration. The military is blaming domestic disorder on sinister "foreign hands"; it is also seeking to destroy liberal, pro-democracy groups that have resisted its attempts to perpetuate its power indefinitely. The premise is that civilian groups that receive a few million dollars in U.S. or European funding are traitorous. Unquestioned is the substantial funding that reportedly flows from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Arab states to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic groups, which mounted by far the best-organized campaigns in this month's elections. It is past time for the administration - and Congress - to stop treating aid to the Egyptian military as inviolate and related only to peace with Israel. The military must get the message that continued funding will depend on whether a full transition to civilian democratic rule takes place in the coming year. That means, among other things, an immediate end to the harassment of pro-democracy and human rights groups.
2011-12-30 00:00:00
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