Egypt Fires Back Over U.S. Decision to Suspend Aid, Anti-U.S. Sentiment Grows

The U.S. decision to suspend military and economic aid to Egypt as a strategy to push the country towards democracy may ultimately backfire and cause Cairo to seek assistance elsewhere, giving Washington less leverage to help stabilize the country.

Egypt is a major U.S. ally that controls the Suez Canal and has a peace treaty with neighboring Israel. However, Washington did not approve when its army overthrew the first freely elected president, Islamist Mohamed Mursi, in July, reports Reuters. It also rejects the military's crackdown on Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood; hundreds of Brotherhood members were killed and thousands of Islamist activists and Brotherhood leaders, including Mursi, were arrested.

The United States said on Wednesday it would withhold deliveries of tanks, fighter aircraft, helicopters and missiles to Cairo as well as $260 million in cash assistance to push the army-backed government to steer the nation towards democracy. Washington said the aid would be restored if "credible progress" was made toward setting up an inclusive, democratically elected government, reports the AP.

In response, Egypt's government, the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel, said it would not bow to American pressure. Experts say that Washington's decision to withhold millions of dollars in mostly military aid to Egypt is fueling anti-U.S. sentiment and the perception that Washington supports Mohammed Morsi.

That could boost the popularity of the military chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, whom the U.S. is trying to pressure to ensure a transition to democracy and ease the fierce crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

The aid freeze could also embolden Morsi's supporters to intensify their campaign of street protests in the belief that the military-backed government is losing the goodwill of its top foreign backer. The protests, met by a fierce response by security forces that has left hundreds dead, have kept the new government from tackling Egypt's pressing problems after 2 ½ years of turmoil.

In addition, warnings that Washington might cut off aid were met with a defiant response in the Egyptian media.

"Let American aid go to hell," screamed the banner headline of Thursday's edition of Al-Tahrir. Egyptian newspapers and television have for weeks taken a deeply hostile line toward the United States, portraying Washington as unhappy to see Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood lose power and lambasting it for allegedly meddling in Cairo's affairs.