Could President Obama Have Given A More Tougher Response Against The Egyptian Regime

Is That Really A Tough Enough Response, Mr President? Obama Cancels Joint Military Exercise With Egypt As Death Toll Of Cairo Massacre Soars To 525 - But He Says Nothing About The Billions Of Dollars In Aid -- Daily Mail

* 'The cycle of violence, and escalation, needs to stop,' said Obama, but he turned his back on reporters as they asked whether U.S. aid money will stop as well
* 45 minutes after he spoke, a White House pool report said: 'The president is golfing'
* 'Our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed on the streets and rights are being rolled back,' he said
* The military-exercise cancellation was expected - they haven't been held since 2009 - but Obama will still have to address the issue of aid money
* Horrifying images showed the moment an armored vehicle filled with police was pushed off a bridge
* Sky News cameraman Mick Deane, a 61-year-old father of two, was shot and killed in the massacre
* Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi regrets bloodshed but does not apologize for deaths
* Muslim Brotherhood calls for a protest march this afternoon as Western leaders condemn the violence

President Barack Obama stopped his Martha's Vineyard vacation for seven minutes on Thursday to describe a subtle shift in U.S.-Egyptian relations following a massacre in Cairo that left at least 525 people killed.

'We deplore violence against civilians,' Obama said. 'We support the universal rights essential to human dignity, including the right to peaceful protest. We oppose the pursuit of martial law, which denies those rights to citizens under the principle that security trumps individual freedom, or that might makes right.'

And in a move that will be seen as a safe, middle-ground reaction, Obama announced that the U.S. government will not hold a planned joint military exercise with Egyptian forces in September.

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Update: TRANSCRIPT: President Obama’s remarks on Egypt -- Washington Post

My Comment: The majority of Americans .... by far .... do not support U.S. aid and/or involvement in Egypt .... hence this should be a no-brainer for President Obama .... he should have said that what happened in Egypt was a coup, and cut off the aid. But .... not surprising .... that did not happen .... and it will not happen .... and the Republicans only response has come from Senator McCain .... everyone else has been moot. But what really got to me was this .... America's most important ally (after Israel) is Egypt .... but 45 minutes after giving his statement on the utter chaos in Egypt President Obama is off to play an afternoon of golf .... no emergency meeting of officials .... no leadership .... nothing. Talk about giving the impression to the Middle East (and to Egyptians specifically) that you do not care.