Cuba Takes Notes

The budget proposal released by the Obama administration Tuesday seeks to roll back restrictions Congress has placed on foreign aid to Egypt’s military regime and the sale of crowd control weapons to “emerging democracies.”

Under current law, 15 percent of aid to Egypt is subject to being withheld based on human rights conditions — although even that can be waived if it is deemed to be in the national security interest of the United States, as it was last year.

  The Intercept

In other words: the whole thing is total bullshit.

“Typically the administration always wants as much freedom of action as possible, it wants the fewest legislative restrictions as possible on assistance programs,” says Michele Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

What I said: bullshit.

Also in the administration’s budget is a request to remove a provision that prohibits the transfers of tear gas and other crowd control weapons to countries that are “undergoing democratic transition.”

[...]

If the administration successfully rolls back the crowd control provision, “It’s basically going to be free for all,” says Husain Abdulla, executive director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain.

Gas away.

“You cannot call for democracy in one region of the world then supply another region with equipment that is used to suppress people who are peacefully asking for their universal rights.”

Wanna bet? This is America.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.