CAIRO: The United States Congress has reduced the financial allocations for the “spread of democracy in Egypt” by $5 million last week after Senator Patrick Leahy was reported to have said it was having little to no affect on the North African ally. The White House and President Barack Obama did not object, reflecting what many see as a trend in Congress to ease the pressure on the ruling National Democratic Party and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ahead of Parliamentary and presidential elections this fall and next year. According to America in Arabic news agency, the Senate Appropriations Committee did approve nearly $20 million that had been requested by the Obama administration for the 2011 fiscal year. The money was to be allocated for the “dissemination of freedom and democracy.” Observers say it is not enough to put a dent in any government effort to maintain a stranglehold on power in the country. Thomas Friedrich, a German political scientist in Berlin, told Bikya Masr via telephone that “the money is enough to stave off massive criticism, but it will do little to improve the situation.” The expert, currently writing a book on foreign aid to the Middle East, said that what is needed is the end of tacit support for regimes that continue to bypass human rights and the rule of law. “If the region is to become a stronghold of justice and peace, foreign governments, including the United States and those in Europe, have to end the throwing of money at countries and step up their efforts diplomatically to change the situation on the ground,” he said. On top of the democracy aid, economic aid to Egypt for 2011 will reach at least $250 million. The committee had allocated $35 million for education, including $10 million for Egyptian students to study in the United States and Egypt; $100 million for new activities called the “Forest Service of America” that will take on agriculture and land subsistence issues. Military aid to Egypt remains the largest financial assistance to the country, as the committee approved the Obama administration's $1.3 billion to “include dedicated protection of the border and activities in Sinai.” The bill did not specify what those activities will be. The law allows Egypt and Israel and a number of other allies who are not members of NATO the rental of U.S. military equipment, with an opportunity to purchase new equipment, “which can have a civilian use after the approval of the US President.” Israel continues to have the lion's share of American military aid. The committee approved aid to the Jewish state for $3 billion for the 2011 fiscal year, a move that maintains the status quo of Israel receiving the most military aid of any foreign nation by the United States. BM
