The military coup in Egypt shows that “the Obama administration has thoroughly failed when it comes to handling the post-Arab Spring revolution,” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen tells Newsmax TV.
“They've bet on the wrong folks time and time again,” the Florida Republican tells Newsmax in an exclusive interview. “Many of us in Congress were saying: ‘Guys, look at the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a group that's going to take over — and it's not going to be what you think.’”
“They were anti-Christian, anti-minority, anti-women — and one year after Morsi won in ‘his election’ and all of the millions of dollars that the Obama administration badly wasted in this government, the people have risen up and said: ‘No, you have failed us. We want you out. We want to try again.’”
The United States sends $1.5 billion annually in military and economic assistance to Egypt.
“It is way past time to suspend the aid,” she tells Newsmax. “Why are we giving money to theocratic regimes or to autocratic regimes? It's not like we don’t have a lot of problems here at home. Let's use the money wisely. Let's leverage it so we can help countries become stronger and freer and more democratic, which is in our national-security interest.
“Giving money to someone who's a thug and wishing and hoping and praying that they're going to turn into a Jeffersonian Democrat is wrongheaded. It’s foolish and it's never worked — and it's proven again with Egypt,” she says.
