What a huge mistake; I can't believe it. This will not help us in the Mideast or elsewhere, including Egypt: U.S. to Suspend Most Financial Aid to Egypt

From The Wall Street Journal:

The Obama administration is set to suspend most financial assistance to Egypt, except aid targeted for counterterrorism operations and the defense of Israel, in an announcement expected as early as Friday, U.S. officials said.

The U.S. decision, while not a full aid cutoff, is likely to further strain Washington's relations with Cairo's military-backed government, as well as the Arab states that have showered Egypt with billions of dollars of new economic aid in recent months.

Egypt's military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi in July and has launched a broad crackdown on his Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

 

President Barack Obama refrained from condemning the coup d'état against Mr. Morsi. But his administration has pushed in vain for Egypt's new government to quickly write a new constitution and to prepare the country for new legislative elections.
 

Officials said it is unclear how much assistance will still be provided to Egypt under the new approach.
 

Egypt's Foreign Ministry reacted cautiously on Wednesday, with spokesman Badr Abdel Atty saying it had no official notification of the U.S.'s plans.
 

"We have no idea. We are not relying on media reports," he said. "We are relying on official statements, official channels of communication. We haven't been informed of anything new with regard to assistance."
 

Egypt's military couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
 

The goal of the decision is to suspend deliveries of military hardware that the Egyptian military could use against protesters without compromising counterterrorism efforts, U.S. officials said.
 

Officials at Egypt's embassy in Washington didn't respond immediately to a request for comment on the U.S. action.
 

The U.S. has also pressed Cairo's generals unsuccessfully to release Mr. Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders from detention and to integrate their political movement into Egypt's political system.
 

The administration at first sought to avoid threatening to hold up $1.5 billion a year in U.S. assistance, most of it in military aid. But in recent months, the Pentagon suspended a planned sale of F-16 jet fighters and a joint military exercise. The State Department has hinted in recent weeks that it was likely to hold up other financial assistance to Cairo.
 

"We will continue to provide funds that are seen to support our national security interests," a U.S. official briefed on the Egypt deliberations said.
 

The official said American assistance for Egypt's efforts to secure its borders with Israel and to combat militancy in the Sinai Peninsula would continue. Broader joint efforts to combat al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations were also going to continue, the official said.
 

Egypt's government, its Arab allies and Israel have all aggressively lobbied the Obama administration and Congress in recent months to continue providing aid to Cairo.
 

Arab governments, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, view the Muslim Brotherhood as a broader regional threat that could potentially destabilize their own monarchies.