Colin Powell: U.S. Must Remain Patient with Egypt Unrest

According to former Secretary of State and retired four star general Colin Powell, President Barack Obama and his administration must demonstrate patience when it comes to the ongoing unrest in Egypt, as the nation continues to struggle with the transition to a democratic government.

Speaking to CBS’s Face the Nation program this weekend, Powell stressed that while the country’s military has seized control over the nation, the U.S. must  bide its time before rushing to any sort of intervention.

“The military leadership, General al-Sisi and his colleagues, have, to use a poker term, gone all in,” Powell said. “I don’t think anything we can do right now is going to pull General al-Sisi from that position. He feels it is his place right now to bring order to society.”

The U.S., he said, has to “be ready… when things quiet down.”

“It’s not a good situation and I deplore, as everybody does, the number of lives that have been lost,” he continued. “But, hopefully, this will quiet down in the near future so we can get back to a sensible path to a democratic Egypt.”