The Army:
The ex-CIA Reuel Marc rc Gerecht knows what he talks about: "a civilian protest movement against the militarization of Middle Eastern life" will most likely result in cutting the army's budget - which it won't like:
A democratic Egypt, cursed with bloated bureaucracies and a still vibrant socialist ethic, would likely cut back military expenditures severely in an effort to maintain public-sector civilian jobs. More or less, the Egyptian Army has been able to wall off its defense budget — and senior officers' posh lifestyles — from economic reality. America's yearly billion-dollar military-aid package has allowed the Egyptian Army to enjoy toys — advanced Abrams tanks, F-16 aircraft, and Israeli-ship-killing surface-to-surface missiles — that would be unthinkable if purchased only through Egyptian taxes. It's a decent guess that a democratic Egypt will distance itself from America's military largesse — seeing it, not incorrectly, as an enabler of autocracy. A democratic Egypt will demand a more humble, less well-fed military establishment. Do Egyptian military officers believe that angry liberals and even angrier Muslim Brothers won't eventually expropriate all that their families have accumulated under martial rule?
A democratic Egypt, cursed with bloated bureaucracies and a still vibrant socialist ethic, would likely cut back military expenditures severely in an effort to maintain public-sector civilian jobs. More or less, the Egyptian Army has been able to wall off its defense budget — and senior officers' posh lifestyles — from economic reality. America's yearly billion-dollar military-aid package has allowed the Egyptian Army to enjoy toys — advanced Abrams tanks, F-16 aircraft, and Israeli-ship-killing surface-to-surface missiles — that would be unthinkable if purchased only through Egyptian taxes. It's a decent guess that a democratic Egypt will distance itself from America's military largesse — seeing it, not incorrectly, as an enabler of autocracy. A democratic Egypt will demand a more humble, less well-fed military establishment. Do Egyptian military officers believe that angry liberals and even angrier Muslim Brothers won't eventually expropriate all that their families have accumulated under martial rule?
No comments:
Post a Comment