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Leaders of the Afghan Taliban are calling for an end to the violence in Egypt, demanding the military end its "inhumane and unethical action" against government protesters in the country.

In a statement posted on its website Friday, members of the Taliban, or "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," demanded Egyptian military chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi "stop spilling the blood of innocent women, children and elderly" in its crackdown on supporters of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, the nation's first freely elected president.

  The Hill

The Egyptian military's crackdown — which came after the administration declined to call its toppling of President Mohammed Morsi a coup — has made Obama look powerless on the international stage, and raised criticism of his Middle East policy.

  The Hill

I might go as far as to say Obama IS powerless here.

The impression of aloofness was reinforced by images of the president golfing in Martha's Vineyard throughout the week's violence.

I used to think Obama was kind of sitting on the sidelines, trying to bide his time and make it to the end without causing any big dustups with the Republicans, so that in the end, his presidency would at least look harmless - big responsibility being the "first black president." Now I wonder if he even thinks of himself that way. He's definitely more a president than a black man. And I am wondering now if he won't wish he'd lost that second term and gotten out before his legacy and his reputation went down in total flames. But, he's sailing on over the edge, as though he hasn't a clue. Or perhaps he doesn't care. Maybe he's a 21st century capitalist above all else.

“People on different sides – whether it's Arab governments or opposition groups – don't take the U.S. seriously,” said Shadi Hamid, the director of research for the Brookings Doha Center who has lived in the region for the past four years and was in Egypt this week. “There is a widespread perception that Obama is a weak, feckless leader. That's not just Republican talking points – it's what people here in the region actually think and say on a regular basis.”

[...]

“The fact that we can't call things what they are [a coup] makes us a laughing-stock in the region. That's why people don't care about what Obama says and his rhetoric.”

[...]

“While suspending joint military exercises as the president has done is an important step, our law is clear: Aid to the Egyptian military should cease unless they restore democracy,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate panel that controls spending for the State Department and foreign operations.

[...]

In a joint statement Friday, hawkish Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also urged the president to immediately call Morsi's July 3 ouster a military coup and suspend $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid.

“The interim civilian government and security forces – backed up, unfortunately, by the military – are taking Egypt down a dark path, one that the United States cannot and should not travel with them,” they said. “We cannot be complicit in the mass slaughter of civilians.”

Since when?  Jeez, I don't know about Graham, he does kind of look like he fell off a turnip truck, but McCain has himself been involved in a war that did just that.  And maybe they don't consider what's been happening in Iraq and Afghanistan "mass" slaughter.  I don't know how many at a time you have to slaughter to qualify as mass.

While U.S. leaders and the public may wish to extricate the country from the Middle East, [Hamid] predicted, the administration's weak response to the brutal crackdown against democratically elected Islamists will only fuel more terrorism.

If one stands back a bit and takes a look at the whole big global picture, one might even wonder if that isn't the point.