The United States is wading into the strife in Egypt, apparently trying to find a path in the middle of President Muhammed Morsi, the millions of Egyptians who oppose him, and the military, which appears to be backing the people.

Millions fill the streets in Egypt’s cities.  There are some rallies in support of Morsi, but they are far outnumbered by those who want him to call early elections and step down.

The US is reminding Egyptian officials that US$1.3 Billion of foreign aid is at stake, reminding the army that a coup could have consequences.  But at the same time, Washington is admonishing Morsi to listen to the protesters and roll back some of the hard line Islamist tinge to the Egyptian constitution.  Protesters are being asked to keep it peaceful.

But the Egyptian Military’s deadline for Morsi to step down or somehow come to an accord with the protesters is rapidly approaching.  Morsi is defiant, refusing to step down and going as far as to surround the presidential palace with Muslim Brotherhood supporters, armed with metal pipes and wearing construction hard hats.  Not sure how well that’s going to work against a well-equipped military with real weapons, but whatever.

The Army says unless Morsi acts it will oust him, suspend the Muslim Brotherhood-dictated constitution, dissolve the legislature, and establish up a provisional government.

The Military has been concerned about Morsi’s rule for a while.  But the tipping point reportedly came two weeks ago when Morsi, a Sunni Muslim, severed all diplomatic ties with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, a Shi’a Muslim backed by Shi’a Iran.  Morsi announced this at a meeting of fellow Sunnis and called for a “holy war” in Syria.