Break Up to Make Up

Obama is kissing and making up with Egyptian President Abdelfattah al-Sisi.  The US and Egypt broke up when al-Sisi led the coup that US-backed Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood regime in August 2012.  From a commentary from Glenn Greenwald on this rapprochement:

President Obama spoke with Egyptian President Abdelfattah al-Sisi today regarding the U.S.-Egyptian military assistance relationship and regional developments, including in Libya and Yemen.  President Obama informed President al-Sisi that he will lift executive holds that have been in place since October 2013 on the delivery of F-16 aircraft, Harpoon missiles, and M1A1 tank kits.  The President also advised President al-Sisi that he will continue to request an annual $1.3 billion in military assistance for Egypt.

Greenwald outlines the many human rights abuses committed by as-Sisi’s government – something that has never prevented US advances in the past.  Greenwald does not offer a reason of why today is the day, or what has gone on behind the scenes. 

So, why today?  Here is a clue, and the reason appears to be a lover’s jealousy:

On February 9 [Putin] met Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo…. Few details of the latest Cairo visit are being released but Putin said they agreed to boost trade and military cooperation, and Russia has begun supplying weapons to Egypt after signing a memorandum…. And days following Putin’s Cairo meeting with al-Sisi, Russia and Egypt signed an agreement to build four advanced Russian nuclear power reactors in Egypt.

At the same time al-Sisi announced that Egypt would join Russia’s new Eurasian Economic Union in the form of a joint Free Trade Agreement. The union consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia. It was Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich’s November announcement to the EU that Ukraine would join the Eurasian union that triggered the US blatant coup d’etat of Maidan Square.

Robert Nisbet wrote a book, Roosevelt and Stalin: The Failed Courtship.  Adolescent boys who remain controlled by their hormones.  Perhaps it is this simple.