Let's hope our long mil-to-mil relationships pay off.
UPDATE: We apparently have special forces in Sicily and a Marine Expeditionary Unit (a reinforced rifle battalion) afloat in the Mediterranean Sea.
In case things get civil war-y and Egyptian security forces can't protect our embassy.
UPDATE: Status of the Navy says an amphibious ready group is in 5th Fleet--not 6th Fleet--right now. If it isn't in the Red Sea, it could get there quickly, of course.
And we have special forces in Djibouti, of course. And regular troops in Europe.
Not that this would be enough to intervene, even if we wanted to. I'm just talking about rescue missions to evacuate Americans and anyone else seeking a way out.
UPDATE: More.
UPDATE: There could be a teaching moment here:
The muted U.S. response - at least thus far - to the dramatic events in Cairo suggested that Washington may be willing to accept the military's move as a way of ending a political crisis that has paralyzed Egypt, a long-time U.S. ally.
Still, the distant attitude toward Mursi, who has come under U.S. criticism in recent days, could open up President Barack Obama to complaints he has not supported democracy in the Arab world.
Rather than accept the charge that going along with the coup is an abandonment of democracy, perhaps we could take the opportunity to explain that confusing democracy with just voting can lead to tyrannies of the majority--or just tyrannies of the best organized, in some cases. Rule of law is the necessary partner of voting for a system to be considered democratic.
Let's try pushing for democracy in Egypt rather than hoping for a friendly despot to emerge.
UPDATE: Yes, I'm conflicted about the coup. In a perfect world, I'd have liked it if we'd bolstered opposition parties and civil institutions to allow Egyptian voters to reject the Moslem Brotherhood government in a future scheduled election whose conduct would be reasonably fair (as good as Chicago) and whose outcome would be accepted as legitimate. It might take many elections for the voters to get it right, but so be it. You get who you want and who you deserve by that choice, no?
Will it be a problem for establishing rule of law that the military removed Mursi and the Moslem Brotherhood before Egypt's economy broke down and so would make the Moslem Brotherhood take responsibility for a country without the resources to provide adequate food and fuel at subsidized prices? Will the Moslem Brotherhood simply escape responsibility for a future breakdown?
I'm not happy that we were viewed as backers of Mursi rather than backers of democracy and rule of law.
And I'm not happy that the military stepped in directly. Pakistan and Turkey certainly had a long history of this type of intervention.
But I had little confidence that Mursi and his Islamist supporters were committed to democracy and rule of law.
I do hope that this coup puts in place a better system for elections with a constitution that safeguards rule of law.
And I hope that the people treat the next election more seriously as they choose who will lead them. But in the end, that's why I want the system to be the guardian of rule of law rather than hope for ideal leaders to defend it.
But it is quite possible that new elections will reflect the popular will for an Islamist government. In the end, if that is the case, Egypt will have an Islamist-friendly elected government. We'll see how that government attempts to tame the military after that.
And if the coup leaders don't allow voting to reflect that popular will, Egypt will still get an Islamist-friendly government whether it is directly achieved by voting or achieved indirectly by an autocrat who appeals to Islamist sentiment for legitimacy to maintain his power. Mubarak, after all, did not eliminate Islamist popularity in Egypt by denying Islamists a direct role in government.
So I give a qualified nod to the coup and will hope for the best. The people have to want democracy and rule of law. One uprising and one election didn't really indicate that. Now a coup has given the people a chance to choose democracy and rule of law one more time in a do-over. Do the Egyptian people want those things?
