They also suggest that, to the dismay of the Americans, the Egyptian military continues to see Israel, its enemy in four wars spanning 25 years in the last century, as its primary adversary 31 years after the two neighbors signed a peace treaty.
The memos exposed that public talk of shared goals between the U.S. and Egyptian military is just rhetoric, says Steven Cook, a fellow at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations and the author of a book on the Egyptian military.
Egyptian military officials don't welcome pressure by the Americans to change the doctrine of their armed forces. They also complain that Washington has increased annual military aid to Israel - growing from $2.55 billion in 2009 to an expected $3 billion in 2011.
Since its peace deal with Israel, Egypt has received nearly $36 billion in military assistance - an annual installment of $1.3 billion.
According to the leaked U.S. memos, Egyptian officials told visiting U.S. defense officials they must convince Congress that Egypt was worth more than the $1.3 billion a year it is getting in military aid, according to a memo dated Feb. 28, 2010.
In the memos, U.S. diplomats lament that the Egyptian military has a "backward" posture and has been resistant to U.S. efforts to "adjust its focus to reflect new regional and transnational threats."
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