Obama says Egypt neither ally nor an enemy

[Maimonides]

Looks like Obama is trying have it both ways when it comes to Egypt.
Overall, the Arab Spring is doing what needs to be done, which is to expose the real hatred that the Arabs have for Israel and the West. Remember that honest Muslims like the Muslim Brotherhood are easier to deal with than the clever so-called "moderate muslims" like Mubarak.


http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=284997

WASHINGTON - The United States does not consider Egypt's Islamist-led government an ally or an enemy, US President Barack Obama said in a television interview aired in full on Thursday.

"I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy," Obama told Telemundo, a Spanish-language network, on Wednesday after mobs of demonstrators angry over a film they consider blasphemous to Islam assaulted the US embassy in Cairo.

He said the newly formed Egyptian government, which was democratically elected, is trying "to find its way."

If government officials take actions showing "they're not taking responsibility," then it would "be a real big problem," the president said in the interview.

The attack on the embassy in Cairo coincided with attacks on a US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi that led to the killing of four US diplomats, including the US ambassador.

Obama's comments reflected deepened US wariness over Egypt's new Islamist president Mohamed Morsy - who took office in June after the country's first free elections - in the aftermath of the Cairo embassy assault.

The United States was a close ally of Egypt under ousted autocratic President Hosni Mubarak and gives $1.3 billion in military aid a year to Egypt plus other assistance.

Obama ultimately called for Mubarak to step down as he faced mass protests in early 2011. But the US president was criticized for taking too long to assert American influence.

On Thursday the White House said Obama had spoken with the presidents of Egypt and Libya to discuss the violence against US diplomatic compounds.

Obama, in his call to Morsy, said Egypt "must cooperate with the United States in securing US diplomatic facilities and personnel," the White House said.

Clinton condemns film, defends free speech

The US government had nothing to do with a controversial Internet video about the Prophet Mohammad that triggered anti-American protests in Egypt, Libya and Yemen, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

"The United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its content and message," she said at the start of talks with senior Moroccan officials. "To us, to me personally, this video is disgusting and reprehensible. It appears to have a deeply cynical purpose: to denigrate a great religion and to provoke rage."

"I know it is hard for some people to understand why the United States cannot or does not just prevent these kinds of reprehensible videos from ever seeing the light of day," she said. "I would note that in today's world, with today's technologies, that is virtually impossible.

"But even if it were possible our country does have a long tradition of free expression which is enshrined in our constitution and our law. And we do not stop individual citizens from expressing their views no matter how distasteful they may be," she added.

"There are of course different views around the world about the outer limits of free speech and free expression. But there should be no debate about the simple proposition that violence in response to speech is not acceptable," Clinton said.