Following a violent government crackdown on protesters supporting deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi that has left hundreds dead and thousands more injured, P.J. Crowley, former assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said Saturday the country was “moving backwards” to January 2011 levels.
After the military ousted Morsi—Egypt's first democratically elected president—it became evident that the country's path to democracy would be difficult.
In response, the Obama administration has declined to classify the takeover as a coup, which allows the US to continue giving military and humanitarian aid to Egypt. The US can then position itself for a relationship with the future Egyptian government that will be largely decided by the military, Crowley said.
“The United States looks at the Egyptian military as the most effective institution, probably the only effective institution in Egyptian society," he said. "It's going to have its influence on whatever emerges, and the United States is going to link itself for good and bad to the outcome that is shaped by the military, not by the United States."