Egypt's Rights Abuses: US Aid Fuels Sisi's Grip
📰 THE STORY: An NGO reports over 5,000 human rights violations in Egypt for 2025, including forced disappearances, deaths in custody, and extrajudicial killings under the Sisi government. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: In 2013, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a military coup against the democratically elected government of Mohamed Morsi. Despite initially suspending aid,
the Obama administration resumed full military assistance, effectively legitimizing the coup and solidifying Sisi's authoritarian rule. This echoed the longstanding US policy of supporting regional strongmen over democratic aspirations. Double Standard: Western media outlets often highlight human rights abuses in countries designated as adversaries, like sanctioned Iran or Venezuela, framing them
as intrinsic failures of those systems. Yet, when a strategic ally like Egypt, which receives significant US aid, commits similar or worse violations, the coverage tends to isolate the abuses from the broader geopolitical context, particularly US financial support. Follow the Money: The United States provides Egypt with approximately $1.3 billion in military aid annually. This funding is critical
to maintaining Sisi's regime, enabling its security apparatus, and ensuring that strategic interests, like keeping the Rafah border crossing with Gaza controlled and largely closed, align with US and Israeli objectives. This aid flows directly into sustaining the very system implicated in these human rights abuses. 💡 THE PATTERN: This is a classic playbook of supporting authoritarian regimes with