Former US defenese official: Pulling MFO from Sinai a misstep

Dov Zakheim, former US deputy undersecretary of defense, sharply criticizes the Obama administration’s plan to downsize and relocate the MFO from its El-Gorah base in northern Sinai. In an article published by the Washington weekly Foreign Policy Friday, Zakheim warns that it will signal Obama’s reluctance to devote significant resources towards destroying the Islamic State; be seen as the first step toward unraveling US commitments under the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace accords; result in Israel and Egypt working closer together – without taking US interests into account – and strengthen their burgeoning ties with Russia, once again the major power in the Middle East. Vladimir Putin will be awarded another strategic victory by another major misstep by the Obama administration, says the former US official.
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