Exclusive: John Kerry Defies the White House on Egypt Policy [View all]
By Josh Rogin
November 18th 20135:45 AM
The secretary doesnt agree with Obamas team, especially Susan Rice, on how to deal with Egypt. Unfortunately for Rice, Kerry is the one on the groundand hes doing things his way.
Before Secretary of State John Kerrys recent trip to Cairo, National Security Adviser Susan Rice told him to make strong statements in public and private about the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsi. On his own, Kerry decided to disregard the White Houses instructions.
The tension between the national security adviser and the secretary of state spilled over into public view in the past week, when Rice laid out her critical appraisal of the Egyptian government, which contradicted Kerrys assessment that Egypt was on the path to democracy. The now public rift has been simmering behind the scenes for months and illustrates the strikingly divergent Egypt policies the White House and the State Department are pursuing.
The turf battles and internal confusion are hampering the administrations approach to Egypt, say lawmakers, experts, and officials inside both governments.
John Kerry doesnt agree with Susan Rice on big portions of our Egypt policy, and he made a deliberate and conscious decision not to mention Morsi in his Cairo meetings, an administration official told The Daily Beast. Susan Rice wasnt happy about it.
Full article
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/18/exclusive-john-kerry-defies-the-white-house-on-egypt-policy.html