McCain: Suspend aid to Egyptian military

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called on the United States to suspend aid to the Egyptian military as the country grapples with clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

{mosads}”We have to suspend aid to Egyptian military because the military has overturned the vote of the people,” McCain said Friday according to Al Jazeera. “We cannot repeat the same mistakes that we made in other times of our history by supporting removal of freely elected governments.”

McCain said that Washington should demand the Egyptian arm set a timetable for elections and for making a new constitution, the network said.

“And then we should evaluate whether to continue with aid or not,” he said.

McCain’s comments come as clashes continue in the country following the ouster of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi. On Friday, more than 1,000 were injured and 30 were killed during the protests between Islamist supporters and opponents of Morsi.

Two days earlier, Morsi was removed from power by the military. He was taken into custody in response to large protests calling for him to step down. Even after Morsi’s removal, though, violence has continued as protests organized by the Muslim Brotherhood grow.

On Wednesday, President Obama called on the Egyptian military to “move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government. “

But the Obama administration has not called the events in Egypt a coup. Doing so could imperil the $1.5 billion in aid the United States sends to Egypt each year. Legally, the U.S. cannot send aid to countries that are controlled by the military.