A prominent August 19 New York Times editorial, “The Questionable Legality of Military Aid to Egypt,” referred to a key recent letter, stating “According to information I have received, the number of militants has steadily increased, due, at least in part, to ineffective and indiscriminate operations by the Egyptian military and the lack of licit economic opportunities for inhabitants of the Sinai,’”  Senator Leahy wrote in his July 20 letter.

Secretary Kerry has to be able to say that he is overseeing the use of U.S. military aid – and that includes aid to the Egyptian military units in Sinai.

In part 2 Charlies Tiefer writes:

When Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the coup in Egypt in July 2013 against Mohamed Morsi, human rights issues quickly arose. And, U.S. law led to a suspension of the $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Egypt. My previous memo on Egyptian military aid cited several key kinds of weapons covered – like Apache helicopters, tanks, and missiles. In April 2014, the Obama administration partially reinstated aid. But, right then in April 2014, Senator Leahy denounced a wave of 750 death sentences handed down by courts in Egypt after hasty mass trials. (The al-Sisi regime responded by saying that the courts in Egypt are completely independent.) Senator Leahy blocked the Obama Administration’s intended release of $650 million worth of military aid.

see also: http://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestiefer/2015/09/11/al-sisis-egypt-chal...