Our 30 Year Mistake

http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1825:our-
30-year-mistake&catid=62:texas-straight-talk&Itemid=1&Itemid=69

Our 30 Year Mistake        

The events in Egypt of late have captured the attention of the world, as many 
thousands of Egyptians take to the streets both in opposition to and in favor 
of the current regime.  We watch from a distance hoping that events do not 
spiral further into violence, which will destroy lives and threaten the 
livelihoods of average Egyptians caught up in the political turmoil.

I hope that Egyptians are able to work toward a more free and just society. 
Unfortunately, much of the blame for the unrest in Egypt and the resulting 
instability in the region rests with US foreign policy over the past several 
decades. The US government has sent more than $60 billion to the Egyptian 
regime since the Camp David Accords in 1978 to purchase stability, including 
more security for the state of Israel. We see now the folly of our 
interventionist foreign policy: not only has that stability fallen to pieces 
with the current unrest, but the years of propping up the corrupt regime in 
Egypt has led the people to increase their resentment of both America and 
Israel!  We are both worse off for decades of intervention into Egypt’s 
internal affairs. I wish I could say that we have learned our lesson and will 
no longer attempt to purchase – or rent – friends in the Middle East, but I 
am afraid that is being too optimistic. Already we see evidence that while 
the US historically propped up the Egyptian regime, we also provided 
assistance to groups opposed to the regime. 

So we have lost the credibility to claim today that we support the self-
determination of the Egyptian people.  Our double dealing has not endeared us 
to Egyptians who now seek to reclaim their independence and national dignity.

“Diplomacy” via foreign aid transfer payments only makes us less safe at home 
and less trusted overseas.  But the overriding reality is that we simply 
cannot afford to continue a policy of buying friends.  We face an ongoing and 
potentially deepening recession at home-- so how can we justify to the 
unemployed and underemployed in the United States the incredible cost of 
maintaining a global empire?  Moral arguments aside, we must stop sending 
hundreds of billions of dollars to foreign governments when our own economy 
is in shambles.

American media and talking heads repeatedly pose the same loaded questions:  
Should the administration encourage the Egyptian president to remain or to 
resign? Should the US ensure Mohamed ElBaradei or current vice president Omar 
Suleiman succeeds current president Mubarak?  The best answer to these 
questions is that we should just do nothing, as Eisenhower did in 1956.  We 
should leave Egypt for Egyptians to figure out.  Some may claim that this is 
isolationism. Nothing could be further from the truth. We should 
enthusiastically engage in trade and allow travel between countries, but we 
should stay out of their internal affairs.  We are in fact more isolated from 
Egypt now than ever, because the regime we propped up appears to be falling. 
We have isolated ourselves from the Egyptian people by propping up their 
government, as we isolate ourselves from Tunisians, Israelis, and other 
recipients of our foreign aid. Their resentment of our interventionist 
policies makes us less safe, because we lose our authority to conduct 
meaningful diplomacy when unpopular regimes fall overseas.  We also 
radicalize those who resented our support for past regimes. 

Let us hope for a more prosperous and peaceful era for the Egyptians, and let 
us learn the lessons of our thirty year Egyptian mistake.

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