U.S. role in post-Mubarak Egypt still unclear

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi walks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to a meeting at the Ministry of Defense July 15, 2012 in Cairo, Egypt. Clinton is holding talks with Egypt's top military leaders to press for the military to work with Egypt's new Islamist leaders on a full transition to civilian rule. / AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski

(AP) CAIRO - Having pressed the new Egyptian president, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday sought to mobilize what influence the United States still has with the army chief whose key role in post-Hosni Mubarak Egypt is splitting the country between those who see the military as a threat to democracy and those clinging to it as a guarantor of stability.

The United States sees it as a bit of both.

Clinton's demand to the military was simple: Work with Egypt's new Islamist leaders on a full transition to civilian rule.

But with the U.S. having already approved yet another massive delivery of military aid, it was unclear what leverage the Obama administration has as it seeks to stabilize Egypt and build a new relationship with America's once ironclad Arab ally.

Clinton's meeting with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi in Cairo came with Egypt's transformation from dictatorship to democracy in peril. Clinton and Tantawi met for more than an hour.

"They discussed the political transition and the (military council's) ongoing dialogue with President Morsi," a senior State Department official said, providing details of the private meeting on condition of anonymity. "The secretary stressed the importance of protecting the rights of all Egyptians, including women and minorities."

Tantawi, according to the official, focused on Egypt's economic needs and the two discussed U.S. aid plans.

Tantawi's council of generals is locked in a tense political standoff with the Muslim Brotherhood after curtailing the powers of its victorious President Mohammed Morsi on the eve of his inauguration last month and enforcing a court decision dissolving the Islamist-dominated parliament. Together the actions have created an atmosphere where no one is quite sure who is in control and where Egypt is headed.

Clinton to Egypt's Morsi: Find way out of crisis
Egypt's president promises to respect courts
No winners yet in Egypt's power struggle

Seventeen months after the street demonstrations that ousted Mubarak, the United States is left without a friend and with little influence among a host of old and new political actors who can't seem to chart a mutual path forward. Calling for compromise and consensus on Saturday after her first ever meeting with Morsi, Clinton staked out a middle ground in the dispute. Yet the immediate effect of her exhortations was nothing.

For the Obama administration, the old prism supporting Egypt's military leaders as bedrock allies shattered with Mubarak's demise. It wants to safeguard U.S. interests in the region, from counterterrorism cooperation to Arab-Israeli peace efforts, but its agenda remains on hold while the Arab world's most populous nation remains mired in turmoil. The lack of clarity over who is going to prevail from Egypt's political maneuvering is only adding to the paralysis.

Clinton, who earlier this year certified sufficient Egyptian action toward democracy for $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid to go through, carried the same message to Tantawi as Morsi. Without taking a position in disputes over parliament or how to draft a new constitution, Clinton urged the long-time military chief to return the armed forces to a "purely national security role," as she termed it Saturday.

Her criticism was muted, however. Clinton commended the military for defending lives during the February 2011 revolution against the former president and for the progress Egypt made under its interim leadership, which included free and fair elections. And she contrasted the approach with how Syria's military is "murdering their own people," while recognizing that the Egyptian military authorities still needed to do more.

It was unclear if she adopted a tougher tone with Tantawi behind closed doors or what that might even yield from the generals, whose distrust of America is now almost as strong as that of the Brotherhood.

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[dmnnumberone]

Help the President serve the people to the best of his and your ability. It's time for the merging of a brain trust. Let's build bridges.

[pcfogarty]

Our roll in Egypt as of the "Arab Spring" , what we like to call it , is rather limited . The more we try to get involved the less influence we will have and the more likely the eventual out-come will be unfavorable to the Western World . Watch and wait for them to allow us an opening ; rather than elbowing our way in as we usually do . Hilary , stay seated ! They will call if they want you ; but you might concider packing a lunch it my be awhile .

[melpol12]

Allah the great one in his wisdom provided Islamists with blind courage but kept the Shekels. The benevolent one has not forsaken his followers; he has also provided them with the book of a thousand threats. Israelis will fearfully provide Egypt with billions of Shekels; Allah is not only wise he is also thrifty.

[melpol12]

Dreams of a Caliphate spanning the greater middle-East will soon become a reality. But it will be plagued with the problem where 90% of the population is slow minded. This is because Muslim women were denied the opportunity to breed with smart workers. Unless women are given the freedom to choose their mate Islamists will continue being dumbed down. Intelligent civilizations will replace the slow minded dreamers.

[tiktin]

What is that silly woman doing in Egypt? Her"demands on the military"? For crissakes, it's their country. What the h business is it of ours? These people have yenta complex. They want to interfere in everybody else's business. Enough already.

[joe1022joe]

Obama has greatly assisted in removing a stable government in Egypt that has been a friend to the USA for 30 years and installing the Moslem Brotherhood as in charge of Egypt. If there was ever any doubt about how bad Obama's foreign policy is, that doubt has now been erased.
Anybody who think the Moslem Brotherhood will be a friend to the USA needs their head examined.