White House clarifies Obama’s statement that Egypt is not an ‘ally’

[FlaGator]

Don't Obama like to point out that he has a lot of foreign policy experience? He apparently doesn't know that Egypt is considered an ally.

In an interview with Telemundo Wednesday night, Obama said that the U.S. relationship with the new Egyptian government was a "work in progress," and emphasized that the United States is counting on the government of Egypt to better protect the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, which was attacked by protesters on Sept. 11.


"I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy," Obama said. "They're a new government that is trying to find its way. They were democratically elected. I think that we are going to have to see how they respond to this incident."


That comment had Egypt watchers scratching their heads, especially since technically, Egypt was designated as a Major Non-NATO Ally in 1989 when Congress first passed the law creating that status, which gives them special privileges in cooperating with the United States, especially in the security and technology arenas.


White House spokesman Tommy Vietor told The Cable Thursday that the administration is not signaling a change in that status.

Story is here

[Adam Wood]

Every time I see a story like this (which is pretty much every day since November of 2008), I let out a big sigh of relief that we didn't get someone who doesn't know anything about foreign policy in the White House. Boy, howdy did we ever dodge a bullet with that Sarah Palin lady! WHEW! We almost had someone a heartbeat away from the Presidency who would have made such stupid foreign policy decisions as not throwing Mubarak under the bus and not literally slamming a door in Bibi Netanyahu's face.

I feel soooo much better knowing that we have someone in the White House who really knows what he's doing on foreign policy.

[Zeus]

Thanks to the Obama administration's bumbling middle east foreign policy I don't think the USA does have an ally in the middle east,except Israel. Israel will hang in there as long as they can out of loyalty because they know Obama will eventually be gone.

[SaintLouieWoman]

I think those White House spokesmen have the world's toughest, and busiest, jobs. I'd sure hate to have to tap dance around all the stupidities coming out of O's mouth. If he doesn't have a teleprompter (and a puppeteer telling him what to think) he sure does put his foot in his mouth.

[Hubie]

Two words:


"Obama."

"Moron."


That is all.

[SaintLouieWoman]

Two words:


"Obama."

"Moron."


That is all.

Good one. Another word----clueless

[noonwitch]

Egypt wasn't exactly acting like an ally when the protests in Cairo began. They dragged their feet getting their police and security forces to the area around the Embassy.

Now, they are acting more like an ally.

[wasp69]

Egypt wasn't exactly acting like an ally when the protests in Cairo began. They dragged their feet getting their police and security forces to the area around the Embassy.

Why do you think that is?

[Elspeth]

Egypt wasn't exactly acting like an ally when the protests in Cairo began. They dragged their feet getting their police and security forces to the area around the Embassy.

Now, they are acting more like an ally.

The new Egyptian government is still trying to figure out where the light switches are. My guess is they blundered badly at controlling the protests.

[Odysseus]

Egypt was an ally, before Obama pulled the rug out from under Mubarak. Now, they are becoming the next bastion of Islamic theocracy and will soon be as virulently anti-American as Iran. Obama's confusion is, therefore, almost understandable in that context, but obviously, he wouldn't want to admit that he took a staunch ally and turned it into an enemy.

You have to wonder just how far the media will go to cover for this clown. The Egypt gaffe recalls Gerry Ford's comment about how Poland didn't consider itself under Soviet occupation during the 1976 debates against Carter. Throw in Obama's Carteresque abandonment of Mubarak, his utter cluelessness in economics and the hikes in gas prices, not to mention the numerous scandals that his Justice Department is stonewalling, and Obama has managed to channel the worst aspects of the Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations. If the media reported any of this, instead of spending all of their time attacking Romney, Obama's support would be in single digits.

The new Egyptian government is still trying to figure out where the light switches are. My guess is they blundered badly at controlling the protests.

Not likely. If there's one thing that the Muslim Brotherhood knows how to do, it's suppress unwanted dissent. They've had no trouble keeping Cairo free of anti-Morsi protests (and there've been attempts at a few). And, let's remember that the Cairo and Benghazi attacks occurred almost simultaneously, almost as if they'd been coordinated. Every country touched by the Arab Spring has seen anti-US riots, and four embassies have been penetrated. That's not incompetence on the part of one government, that's malice.