Canceling Egypt’s $7-Billion Defense Debt
President Bush’s decision to forgive the $7-billion Egyptian defense debt (front page, Sept. 1) is ill-timed at best, and could be seen as kowtowing.
He has yet to settle with Congress on an agreeable budget package, the savings-and-loan losses mount daily and our cities’ basic infrastructures are desperately in need of repairs.
How can President Bush justify this magnanimity without knowing how long the U.S. commitment will last or how much it will cost? We have already spent millions without firing a shot.
Odd diplomatic maneuvers such as this prompt one to speculate as to whether Egypt’s rapid response was a result of good U.S.-Egyptian relations or the fulfillment of an earlier U.S. promise to entice Egypt into swift compliance.
RICHARD E. WILSON JR.
Woodland Hills
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