Tag: tantawi

Obama continues his endorsement of Mubarak’s Field Marshal Tantawi and his ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. According to the Jerusalem Post:

[T]he United States signaled this week that it plans to continue business as usual when it comes to arms sales to the Egyptian Military.
On Friday, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale of 125 M1A1 Abrams tank to Egypt – the first large arms deal since Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in February – including associated weapons, equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of just over $1.3 billion.
If approved, the deal would increase the number of Abrams tanks in Egypt from around 1,000 to 1,130.
According to the notification to Congress, Egypt would receive 125 tanks parts of which would be produced in Egypt as well as M256 Armament Systems, M2 .50 caliber machine guns, 7.62mm machine guns, spare parts, maintenance, support equipment, personnel training and other related elements of logistics and program support.
The Pentagon told Congress – which has 30 days to object to the deal – that the sale of the tanks would “contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”