OBAMA: We're Suspending Military Exercises With Egypt

President Barack Obama took a break from a vacation on Martha's Vineyard on Thursday to comment on the ongoing bloodshed and violence in Egypt, saying the United States "strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by Egypt's interim government and security forces" over the past few days.

Obama also announced that the U.S. would suspend a biannual joint military exercise with Egypt that was scheduled for next month.

"We deplore violence against civilians," he said in a statement from his rented home in Chilmark, Mass. He added that the people of Egypt "deserve better."

Obama has been roundly criticized for his administration's stance on Egypt recently. Both The Washington Post and The New York Times ran scathing editorials Thursday demanding that the U.S. suspend $1.3 billion in aid to Egypt after a military crackdown, which had led to the deaths of more than 550 people and is climbing.

Though Obama announced the suspension of next month's joint military exercise, the bigger question — if anything will change with the $1.3 billion of military aid to Egypt — was left unsaid.