Counterterrorism

The United States should not give unqualified support to Sisi and his government, as working closely with repressive Egyptian governments in the past yielded poor results and engendered widespread anti-Americanism. Rather, Washington should refocus its diplomacy on supporting the Egyptian people, while limiting relations with Sisi and his government to essential security interests.

During the United States Military Academy’s Commencement Ceremony at West Point last week, President Obama called on Congress “to support a new Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund (CTPF) of up to $5 billion,” which he indicated would allow the United States to “train, build capacity, and facilitate partner countries on the front lines.”

For over two years, the Egyptian military has been conducting large-scale military operations in North Sinai in response to a series of insurgent attacks targeting Egyptian security forces. However, Egypt’s response—supported by the United States and Israel—to the group conducting the insurgency in Sinai and the Nile Delta, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), lacks innovation and adaptability. The “War on Terror” has become predictable in ways that have been taken advantage of by ABM. Until the Egyptian military and its allies begin to properly understand ABM’s strategy and learn from past mistakes in their approach to confronting Islamist insurgency, they will be largely ineffective in combating

President Obama should make Libya a focus in his meeting with NATO partners because of worsening terrorist and security threats emerging from North Africa.