A masked Egyptian protester runs after picking up a tear gas canister fired by riot police during clashes near the interior ministry in Cairo on February 4, 2012. (Photo KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images)
When the news finally came, it was through the back door. Last week, US Senator Patrick Leahy posted a public statement expressing “disappointment” with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s decision to waive new Congressional human rights requirements on US aid to Egypt.
In Senator Leahy’s words:
The Egyptian military should be defending fundamental freedoms and the rule of law … They should end trials of civilians in military courts and fully repeal the Emergency Law, and our policy should not equivocate on these key reforms.