The Egyptian military junta is killing -- again and in a big way. On July 8, they killed 51 unarmed protesters. On July 27, they killed 74 (according to Human Rights Watch). Yesterday, the Muslim Brotherhood accused them of killing 2,200 and wounding some 10,000. The exact figure is impossible to determine, but it doesn't matter all that much. It was a veritable massacre.

Security forces stormed two Cairo protest camps set up by supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi. They used tear gas followed by live automatic gunfire. The crackdown soon turned into a bloodbath. Among those killed was Asmaa, the 17-year-old daughter of Mohammed Beltagi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.

The military-backed interim government declared a state of emergency. Mohamed El-Baradei, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, resigned as vice president, saying it had "become difficult for me to hold responsibility for decisions that I do not agree with, whose consequences I fear."

The military junta removed the last of the appointees of the ousted civilian government, and appointed 25 new provincial governors, 19 of them former generals, mostly Mubarak loyalists, including some responsible for the bloody crackdown against protesters during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. It is back to total military rule -- a veritable reign of terror.

The interim prime minister and interior minister appointed by the military claimed that security forces had acted with the "utmost self-restraint" while cracking down on the two camps of peaceful protesters. CNN's Reza Sayah reported a different story from Cairo. "I have personally never seen this much bloodshed in what, according to what we've seen over the past six weeks, had been a peaceful demonstration," Sayah said. When they were visiting makeshift hospitals, the CNN crew was "literally walking on the blood of the victims."

Worldwide condemnation came quickly. The European Union said that reports that protesters had been killed were "extremely worrying," and called for restraint from the Egyptian authorities.

Turkey's President Abdullah Gur branded the crackdown "unacceptable".

Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, urged supporters of Egypt's interim government as well as Morsi supporters to renounce violence.

It is interesting to note that U.S. secretary of state John F. Kerry, who told a TV interviewer this month that the Egyptian military was "restoring democracy", said that yesterday's events "are deplorable and they run counter to Egyptian aspirations for peace, inclusion and genuine democracy." He also said the United States opposes the return of emergency rule in Egypt.

But speaking from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where President Obama is on vacation, Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that the military crackdown calls into question the interim government's commitment to quickly restoring civilian rule. Yet he said the violence would not force the administration to change its approach to the military government, led by General Abdel Fatah al-Assisi. In other words, Washington would not cut off the $1.3 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian military. It refused to call the events a coup in the first place.

No amount of hypocrisy will cover up the Obama administration's embarrassment. One has to ask: "Would the Egyptian junta crack down without consulting Washington?"

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/zhaojinglun.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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