WASHINGTON – The US military’s top officer on Friday cautioned against moves to cut off aid to Egypt due to the unrest against the government of President Hosni Mubarak. “I would just caution against doing anything until we really understand what’s going on,” Admiral Mike Mullen said in an interview on ABC News.
Mullen was asked a possible freeze to the vast US aid to Egypt, as a move that Republican Senator John McCain has said is being considered. “That’s not mine to decide,” said Mullen. “But at the same time, I’d like to understand a little bit more about what’s going on before we took any specifics.” For years Egypt has been the second largest recipient of US foreign aid after Israel – 1.3 billion dollars over 30 years, according to Mullen.
Aside from military hardware, the aid has “established a relationship … of great strength” between the US and Egyptian military, Mullen said. “And there’s some intangibles associated with that, tied to how they handle themselves and how they focus and what they understand about who they should be, which are very, very positive.”
