Frankly, Egypt is a mess. Since 2011, the country has struggled with political turmoil. It began with a fight for democracy and ultimately a more westernized governmental system.

Before 2011, Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt. The Egyptian people began to realize that democracy was something they wanted. Having overthrown the dictatorship of Mubarak through bloodshed, Egyptian citizens were able to vote in Egypt’s first democratic election in 2012. They elected Mohamed Morsi, a man backed by the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt – a religious group devoted to conserving and spreading Islam.

On June 30, 2013, one year after the election of Morsi, millions gathered in the center of Cairo to push for his withdrawal from the presidency. Morsi had been ruling with too much power and favoring members of the Muslim brotherhood, along with several other unfair policies and decisions. The people called upon the military, who is funded by the United states, to force Morsi out of office, and the military complied by giving Morsi 48 hours to step down as president, otherwise he would be forcibly removed. The Egyptian military has recently established itself as a legitimate force due to funding by the U.S; funding that is now being questioned as the military has taken over the entirety of Egypt.

There have been hundreds of killings and violent attacks on protestors from both sides. The Muslim Brotherhood is fighting for Morsi’s reinstitution, while the military, funded by the United States, and Egyptian citizens are fighting for a re-election.

“It’s hard to imagine that the place where I spent a pretty normal four years of my life is now the way I see it on the news,” said senior and former resident of Egypt, Lina Saleh.

Long story short, Egypt has been experiencing revolution for the past 2 years. Revolution is necessary for nations to evolve and adapt; however, is Egypt going about this the right way, and is the U.S. helping Egypt evolve or fueling a military coup?

Egypt became a democracy in the summer of 2012, Morsi was voted in, and the country looked to have a promising, non-violent future. Apparently, Egypt can’t stop itself from breaking out into violent civil unrest.

Usually in a democracy, when a president is violating the rights of the people, an impeachment can be arranged, and lead to a peaceful resignation. Instead of taking to the streets and killing, a vote could and should have been called to impeach Morsi, thus avoiding deadly clashes in the streets. Egypt’s military has fired upon members of the Muslim Brotherhood (Morsi’s supporters), and the Muslim brotherhood has retaliated with homemade bombs and firearms.

Egypt is on the verge of civil war – a civil war that could have been avoided with a democratic impeachment. Lets not forget America, the country with debt so large it will spill into future generations and a foreign policy that includes funding militaristic “needs” of multiple countries. One such country is Egypt, a nation we’ve funded for years with the hope of stabilizing their military. Today, we continue to provide money to their military, who at the moment, are murdering citizens in the street. Aid to Egypt’s military needs to be cut off, or momentarily decreased because the money we provide to them goes directly into the killing of protestors. Egypt has experienced a tumultuous, and violent two years. There are better ways for the country to become a functioning democratic state, and the U.S. does not need to be a part of it.

By Tyler King