Obama Unsure, But State Department Says Egypt Is an Ally |http://cnsnews.com http://shar.es/u4CGk via @sharethis
10:12 PM - 14 Sep 12 · Details
Obama Unsure, But State Department Says Egypt Is an Ally
An Egyptian protester throws a gas canister away during clashes near the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. Protesters clashed with police near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo for the third day in a row. Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi vowed to protect foreign embassies in Cairo, where police were using tear gas to disperse protesters at the U.S. mission. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
(CNSNews.com) – State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that Egypt remains a U.S. ally, despite a statement from the White House that the country is not an ally.
“Yes,” Nuland said during a news conference Thursday, when asked if Egypt was still a U.S. ally.
In an interview with Telemundo, President Obama said that Egypt is neither an ally nor an enemy of the U.S.
“I don’t think that we would consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy,” Obama said in the interview Wednesday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the word ally was a “legal term of art,” stating that the U.S. did not have a formal alliance with Egypt.
“The president, in diplomatic and legal terms, was speaking correctly,” Carney told reporters Thursday. “We do not have an alliance treaty with Egypt. Ally is a legal term of art. As I said, we do not have a mutual defense treaty with Egypt, like we do, for example, with our NATO allies.”
Nuland said she would not “parse the president’s words” when asked for clarification, but still confirmed that Egypt was an ally.
Reporter: Egypt is an ally. It’s a major non-NATO ally.
Nuland: Correct, yeah.
Reporter: And you neglected to mention that and that major non-NATO ally status as something is something that you guys have celebrated ever since the 70’s, when they were among the first batch of countries along with Israel to get that distinction. So, is Egypt an ally or is it not an ally, and if it is not an ally in the sense of it being a major non-NATO ally, is Israel not an ally either? Is Japan not an ally?
Nuland: Well, Japan has a treaty alliance with the United States
Reporter: Ok, so they have a treaty. So other countries like Pakistan and India that don’t have mutual defense treaties with the Unites States, they’re major non-NATO allies but you guys don’t really think they’re allies, it that the message you guys are trying to send, because that’s the message the president did last night unless you’ve decided the Egypt no longer qualifies as a major non-NATO ally.
Nuland: Well that was certainly, I don’t think, the intention. I’m going to refer you to the White House for further parsing on this.
Reporter: So, forget about the president’s words, you’re saying that the administration, State Department still regards Egypt as a major non-NATO ally and it is still a recipient of all the privileges that that entails?
Nuland: Yes.
