To Aid or Not to Aid Egypt? That Is The Question.

The United States has never had it easy in the Middle East, with its presence made necessary by its almost blind support of Israel and by its addiction to oil.  Most Arab countries would just as soon see the Eagle fly somewhere else, if it weren't for the war on terror and for the billions they get from our government.

One of the U.S.'s most critical allies in the region is Egypt, and they're in turmoil right now.  After longtime President Hosni Mubarak was driven from power by citizens taking to the streets, new elections were held with the promise of a new democracy.  What they got instead was Mohammed Morsi, who represented the Muslim Brotherhood.

When Morsi tried to take Egypt into a more Islamist direction, to the country's dismay, the generals who actually run things went into action.  They swept Morsi out of power, installed a military government, and that's when the chaos started.

To date, nearly a thousand people have been killed and scores arrested as the violence spread all over Cairo.  Much of that has been directed toward members of the Muslim Brotherhood, because it seems that the military wants the organization eradicated.

And there's this:  Mubarak is scheduled to be released from prison soon, where he had been serving a sentence for corruption.

President Barack Obama's administration has been put into a box over this.  He's denounced the violence and called on the Egyptian military for new elections.  But the White House held off saying the change in Egypt's government was a military coup because they don't want to be seen as supporting a dictatorship.  That's all well and good, but in this instance it makes the administration look wishy-washy to the rest of the world.  Especially to the Egyptians who had been counting on the U.S. for help.

There have been calls for the U.S. to suspend military aid to the Egyptians--which totals over a billion dollars a year--until things settle down, but the administration has been cautious about doing that, too.  Is withholding money really the answer in such a volatile situation?  Besides, if the U.S. quits paying, countries like Saudi Arabia which supported the coup will be more than happy to pick up the slack.

But no amount of money should detract from the fact that the so-called Arab Spring is wilting away, as if it were ever allowed to bloom in the first place.  Is there going to be a real sense of democratic reforms in the Arab world, or will they just go back to the dictatorships that have served everyone but the people so well for so long?  The answer might have a big impact on American security and influence going forward.