More U.S.-made tear gas used against protesters in Egypt:
As I’ve written about many times before, “the close military relationship between the U.S. and Egypt/SCAF is” continuing and is serving as an impediment to prospects for democratic governance. Elections took place today in Egypt and we will soon see the results, but – as a recent Amnesty International report puts it – the elections are being overshadowed by the continuing abuses by the U.S.-supported military junta.
In fact, with regard to trials of civilians before military courts, the numbers have become worse. Bloggers, journalists, scholars and ordinary citizens have been silenced and charged with crimes such as “criticizing the military.” When pressed to end the state of emergency, the military rulers repeatedly use security issues as an excuse to maintain the status quo.
Furthermore, the SCAF failed to heed the call of Amnesty International and Egyptian activists to demand accountability for the security abuses of the past Mubarak regime. Certainly key members of the previous government have gone on trial, including Mubarak himself. But the SCAF never took steps to investigate past abuses. Without accountability, the police and security officials of the past regime simply returned to their old jobs; it should be no surprise that the old regime’s violence toward protesters is now getting repeated.
The above links I provided detail recent U.S. military and economic aid to Egypt making the “U.S.A” on those tear gas canisters seem like a mundane feature of the status quo. The Government Accountability Office has made it clear that the U.S. is unable to track their weapons welfare to see whether it is used on civilians. But really, anybody with mental faculties rivaling that of a 10 year old kid can predict they U.S.-donated weapons to military rulers will eventually be used on the people.
Uncle NED is there lending a helping hand, too.