Former Defense Secretary Says Egypt Aid Shall Continue Despite Coup

Former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said on Friday in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” that he agrees with Barack Obama’s decision to continue U.S. aid to Egypt even though U.S. law forbids foreign assistance after a coup. The Egyptian military forced Islamist President Mohamed Morsi out of office in early July and began a deadly crackdown of his supporters.

“We’ve decided to place our interests over our ideals,” he said. “We should have maybe a temporary, you know, suspension for a while, but I would not cut off, because I think the Egyptian military is going to produce what is some element of stability, with a hope in the next year we can get back to a democratic regime.”