Anti-Americanism In Egypt Troubles U.S.

[High_Gravity]

Anti-Americanism In Egypt Troubles U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration on Wednesday expressed concern about a "creeping" trend of anti-American sentiment in Egypt, where it says it has noticed mounting attacks and criticism of U.S. aid and motives as the country transitions to democracy.

The State Department said it has raised the matter with Egyptian officials. It complained that the criticism is "inaccurate" and "unfair" and that personal attacks lodged against Anne Patterson, the new U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, are "unacceptable."

"With regard to this kind of anti-Americanism that's creeping into the Egyptian public discourse, we are concerned," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "We've expressed these concerns to the Egyptian government. We think this kind of representation of the United States is not only inaccurate; it's unfair. We are very strong supporters of Egypt's transition to a democratic future, and we will continue to be there for Egypt."

Nuland said Patterson "is one of our finest, most respected, most experienced ambassadors around the world. And she is in Egypt to represent U.S. policy and the American people's aspiration to support a strong, democratic, prosperous Egypt."

U.S. officials said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton raised the matter with Egypt's new intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Murad Muwafi, in a July 28 meeting in Washington. However, the trend has continued with some accusing Washington of interference and fanning instability since the ouster earlier this year of authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak, a longtime U.S. ally.

During a July visit to Washington, Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Assar, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, criticized the United States for funding pro-democracy groups away from Egyptian government supervision.

At a conference hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace, al-Assar said that some countries including the United States have violated the Egyptian laws in their funding Egyptian NGOs and said that Egyptians were opposed to "foreign interference," according to a statement by USIP posted on its website. He added, "It is a matter of sovereignty."

Hours earlier on the same day, he met with a number of scholars at the headquarters of the Egyptian consulate. He reiterated same notion and said, "all foreign funding should be subject to scrutiny in Egypt."

The July 31 issue of a state-run magazine featured a cover depicting Patterson as holding a burning wad of dollars to the wick of a bomb wrapped in an American flag. The headline read: "The ambassador from Hell who lit a fire in Tahrir," a reference to Cairo's Tahrir Square, which was the epicenter of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in February.

Anti-Americanism In Egypt Troubles U.S.

 

[driveby]

Another conflict in which Obama was on the wrong side, imo ....

 

[High_Gravity]

Another conflict in which Obama was on the wrong side, imo ....

Well Egyptians have always had a poor opinion of Americans, it really shouldn't come as a shock that they don't like us.

 

[driveby]

Another conflict in which Obama was on the wrong side, imo ....

Well Egyptians have always had a poor opinion of Americans, it really shouldn't come as a shock that they don't like us.

You probably know more about this than i do, but weren't they an ally with Mubarik in power?

 

[High_Gravity]

Another conflict in which Obama was on the wrong side, imo ....

Well Egyptians have always had a poor opinion of Americans, it really shouldn't come as a shock that they don't like us.

You probably know more about this than i do, but weren't they an ally with Mubarik in power?

Yes, we actually give the Egyptians about 1 billion dollars a year in aid, they are the second highest donor besides Israel, however the opinion of the US on the Egyptian street has always been very poor. The money we gave the Egyptian government never went to the Egyptian people, they never saw any of that.The Egyptians blame us for alot of their problems because we were good friends with Mubarak for decades and armed his Military, even though Obama did his best to escort Mubarak out most Egyptians still have a sour taste in their mouth when it comes to the US, but than again that is the same with every Arab country anyways.