The White House approved delivery of tanks, fighters and missiles to Egypt Tuesday that had been previously held up over human rights concerns, to assure its ally and ensure “it is better positioned to address the shared challenges” both countries face against the Islamic State.
After a call Tuesday with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Obama said he would “lift executive holds that have been in place since October 2013 on the delivery of F-16 aircraft, Harpoon missiles, and M1A1 tank kits,” according to a White House readout of the call.
The White House imposed the holds and cancelled joint military training exercises after a violent summer in Egypt in 2013 in which al-Sisi imposed martial law after the overthrow of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.
In the decision, the administration said the release of the weaponry and follow-on military aid would not be subject to the “democracy certification” that normally accompanies legislation Congress must approve to provide the aid.
The political outreach comes amid a complicated series of international security shifts in the Middle East where the U.S. finds itself on both sides of the fight. A consortium of Arab allies have joined forces to destroy Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen who overthrew the Yemeni government last week, while the U.S. has had to work around Iranian-backed militias in Iraq in order to support the fight against the Islamic State in Tikrit. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to expend all efforts to secure a nuclear deal with Tehran.
The administration said the delivery of weapons to Egypt will “ensure that U.S. funding is being used to promote shared objectives in the region, including a secure and stable Egypt and the defeat of terrorist organizations.”
House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, supported the decision, noting, “Egypt is also a strong regional ally. Maintaining that relationship must be a priority for the U.S. Providing them with the means to protect Egyptians and Americans from the threat of terrorism is the right thing to do.”
