Texas Republican Sen.Ted Cruz blasted the Obama administration’s policy  toward Egypt in a  scathing op-ed in Foreign Policy magazine, slamming  the president’s stance on the Muslim Brotherhood “one of the most stunning  diplomatic failures in recent memory.”

As the Egyptian military ends President Mohamed Morsi’s rule, Cruz points out  that the ire of many people in the streets of Cairo is not reserved for the  Muslim Brotherhood alone.

“The people protesting in the streets were not only carrying anti-Morsi  signs,” Cruz writes. “They were also carrying signs with slogans like ‘Obama  Supports Terrorism’ and ‘Obama Supports Morsi,’ as well as pictures of the  American ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, with a large red ‘X’ through her  face.”

Cruz believes that the 22 million Egyptians committed to ending  Morsi’s rule are largely secular, pro-democratic people dismayed at the  religious authoritarianism slowly strangling their country.

By throwing America’s weight behind Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Cruz argues  that President Obama has alienated potential allies in the region.

“The United States is — in both perception and reality — entrenched as the  partner of a repressive, Islamist regime and the enemy of the secular,  pro-democracy opposition,” he writes.

Over the past year, the Obama administration sold high-tech military hardware to the  Muslim Brotherhood regime and sent $250 million in foreign aid to Egypt, even  while Morsy repeatedly clashed with his nation’s  judiciary and allowed Egypt’s large Christian minority to suffer at the hands of  Islamic fundamentalists.

Cruz argues that this lent Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood much-needed  strength and legitimacy.

As the movement to depose Morsi picked up speed in recent weeks, President  Obama withheld his support from the opposition, instead sending Ambassador Anne  Patterson to try to talk protesters  out of their plans.

“Some say that street action will produce better results than elections,” she  said at a Cairo seminar. “To be honest, my government and I are  deeply skeptical.”

By pursuing a “policy of strategic silence” instead of supporting the secular  democratic opposition, Cruz warns that the Obama administration has provoked  hostility towards the United States and may have missed a golden opportunity for  “meaningful change” in the region.

But questions remain over just how secular and democratic Morsi’s adversaries  really are. Human Rights Watch reports that scores  of women have been gang-raped at opposition rallies over the last several  days.

And Al-Monitor notes that Egypt’s Salafist  parties, which interpret Islam even more strictly than the Muslim Brotherhood,  hope to use Morsi’s weakness to their own advantage.

Other observers argue that U.S. aid helped the military leaders ousting Morsi  more than the Muslim Brotherhood.

Cruz concludes by encouraging Congress to  halt all aid to the Muslim Brotherhood and exhorting his fellow lawmakers to  “find the courage to speak out forcefully on behalf of those advocating secular  democratic reforms in Egypt.”

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