Rand Paul Seeks to End Aid to Egypt

Honestly, I'm a bit conflicted on this one.  I think it would be bad foreign policy to actually cut off aid to the relatively pro-western Egyptian military, especially when things are still so much in flux over there.  I would hate for us to send the wrong signal and end up with another Iran (I wrote a post on this here).  On the other hand, the law is the law and we really need to stop this arbitrary enforcement of laws that this administration is making a very bad habit of.  So I at least applaud Rand Paul for bringing that up:

Sen. Rand Paul today introduced legislation to prohibit the United States from sending foreign assistance to the government of Egypt, as a result of the country's military coup d'état on July 3, 2013. Click HERE to read Sen. Paul's legislation in its entirety.

 This week, it was reported that the Obama Administration was moving forward with plans to deliver four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt despite the political unrest in the country. Earlier this year, the Senate voted against an amendment introduced by Sen. Paul that would have prohibited the U.S. government from selling F-16 military aircraft, M1 tanks, and similar military weapons to the Egyptian government.

 "Egypt is the latest example of the Obama Administration's misguided foreign policy," Sen. Paul said. "The overthrow of the Egyptian government was a coup d'état, and the law is clear that when a coup takes place, foreign aid must stop. But, the President still plans to continue to send aid to Egypt, at a pace of more than $1.3 billion per year. By the President's refusal to call the situation in Egypt a 'coup' and continuing the flow of foreign assistance to Egypt, he is forthrightly saying 'I am ignoring the rule of law.'"