Global Post quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Amy Hawthorne on the three Al Jazeera journalists who were sentenced to jail for at least seven years in Egypt:
Kerry isn’t prioritizing press freedom in Egypt, according to Amy Hawthorne, resident senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri center for the Middle East in Washington. His public comments suggest the US wants to first and foremost allay tensions between the two countries, she said.
“The US is going to raise concerns, but at a lower volume,” she said. “There won’t be serious consequences for ongoing human rights abuses. There won’t be a significant cost for Egypt to pay, based on its domestic political performance.”
For State Department policymakers, cooperation on security and strategic issues such as terrorism, and the right of the US military to use both Egyptian airspace and the Suez Canal take precedence, she said.