Reply #48

That was my point, given the fact that the present President of Egypt has the support of the Moslem Brotherhood, any REVOLT or COUP against him would lead to a Civil War (and given the nature of the Egyptian Army, the dissolution of that Army as the enlisted desert and join the Moslem Brotherhood).

Most of the US Supplies are in form of support for the Egyptian Military, something the Moslem Brotherhood (and the present President of Egypt) would like to REDUCE, i.e. cuts in military supplies would be WELCOMED by the President. The only issue is FOOD, and it appears the reason for the Arab Spring had more to do with the wide spread increase in the price of bread then anything else. What can the US offer in regards to FOOD, given that it would mean having to CUT support for Corn to Gasoline program so the ground growing corn can be converted to Wheat to ship to Egypt to sell at a loss?

The Arab Spring the the price of food:
http://www.economist.com/node/21550328
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/world/july-dec11/food_09-07.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/04/food-fao-idUSL6E8L473R20121004

In simple terms, what drives the population of Egypt is the price of Food, not military supplies, or anything else the US can give them. The elites may want cell phones and more internet service, but 18-40 % (Depends on the source) of Egyptians live on less then #2 a day or less, ($730 a YEAR or LESS),

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/egypts-silent-poor-majority/242105/

http://data.worldbank.org/country/egypt-arab-republic?display=default

22% of the population live in poverty:
http://data.worldbank.org/country/egypt-arab-republic?display=default#cp_wdi

Gross National Income per Capita is only $2600, compared to the US of $48.450 and Israel of $28.930.

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD/countries/EG-XQ-XN?display=default

Just pointing out, the price of food is more critical to Egypt then anything else, and most US Foreign Aid is of Military gear NOT food (and clearly not food in the last five years):