CAIRO - Egypt's Army has resisted US pressure to modify its strategy to counter new regional threats, stressing the country's national security was "a red line" the United States could not cross, leaked US diplomatic cables have shown. Egypt has received over $36 billion in US military aid since 1979 when it made peace with Israel, the second largest recipient of US foreign aid. But the cables showed Washington and its Arab ally disagreed on how the money should be spent, according to Reuters. US defence officials said Egypt's Army needed to be re-focussed to counter "asymmetric threats" such as terrorism, the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, piracy and support US policy towards Iran, a February 9, 2010 cable showed. "While the US-Egypt military relationship remains strong, the Egyptian military has been resistant to our efforts to adjust its focus to reflect new regional and transnational threats," said the February 28, 2010 cable. But Egyptian military officials said threats facing their US ally were different from Egypt's. The Arab country's defence policy priorities were "Egyptian land and the Suez Canal," and keeping "a strong conventional army to counter other armies in the region," Major-General Mohamed el-Assar said in a February 9, 2010 cable. While Egypt preferred "to purchase its weapons and armaments from the United States," its "national security was a red line" Assar said, adding that they "could go elsewhere if they had to," the memo showed. Assar said heavy gear such as aircraft and tanks were necessary in counter-terrorism missions and called on US officials to tell Congress not to limit the number Egypt acquired. Other Egyptian officials complained that the United States has increased military aid to Israel while Egypt's amount was fixed, adding that Israel possessed "unconventional weapons", which creates a regional imbalance and could cause instability.
