Explosion in Eygpt

It has nothing to do with Iraq.

Basically, terrorism reared its ugly head in Egypt before it did anywhere else in the world. Throughout the 80s, and part of the 90s, Egypt dealt with waves of terrorism from extremist groups in its midst, who wanted to overthrow the Mubarak regime by any means necessary. Mubarak then called for international coordinated efforts to deal with the issue of terrorism, because "if we don't, it will catch fire throughout the world", Mubarak said. However, since a major Western power wasn't hit on its soil as of yet in the early 90's, the US and Britain and other powers didn't give a damn, and saw it as a local Egyptian struggle that could be addressed locally.

Anyways, Mubarak cracked down with an iron fist against all extremists in egypt (especially the Brotherhood) and he succeeded, which made Egypt one of the few countries in the world that successfully crushed extremism in its midst (for a while at least), and the Brotherhood and other Islamists finally issued a declaration renouncing terrorism and violence against the regime, so that was settled.

As far as Al-Qaeda is concerned, the #2 man Al-Zawahiri was an Egyptian, and he was arrested and tortured multiple times until he finally fled. So forever now, Al-Qaeda and many other extremist Islamists have hated the Egyptian regime and have always considered Egypt as a primary target for their attacks; it's symbolic for the regimes throughout the Arab world that the Islamists have always hated and viewed as a major obstacle to their vision of an extremist Islamist regime throughout the Arab world.

 

Who knows? It probably has something to do with the fact that they have an oppressive authoritarian regime. Those aren't a good thing, and make some people mad.

 

i'm confused by your sig- is t-mac psychic, since he appears to have made his comment during the regular season...

 

So, the bombers are freedom fighters like the French resistance in WWII?

 

I never sais such a thing. However listening to the leaders of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda they do talk about the injustices of totalitarian regimes. The leaders may not actually be concerned about that, but many of the foot soldiers that sign up or carry out bombings might be legitmately concerned about such things.

They may have some legitimate beefs, along with illegitimate goals and methods of trying to acheive them.

 

complete and utter bull****. their beef is that there isn't an islamic caliphate stretching from the sea of marmara to the straits of malacca. this strikes you as legitimate?

 

If there was an Islamic Caliphate, they would've all been put to death by now.

 

Setting up a state ruled by the likes of Al Qaeda's version of Islam is a horrible goal. I wasn't referring to that, and I think you know it.

However, they have also spoken out against regimes. There is nothing wrong with wanting to get rid of oppressive regimes. There is something wrong with wanting to replace them with a more oppressive taliban like regime. There is everything wrong with using terrorism for any reason.

They spoke out against Israeli oppression of Palestinians. That is a good thing to speak against. They spoke out against Saddam's corruption. That is a good thing to speak out against. They probably aren't in favor of the common cold either. That doesn't mean we need to start praising the common cold.

 

If you made a broader statement than that, I think you'd need a double-D cup. The cleavage would be amazing. (please! no pics!!) You seriously think the average Muslim wants to live under a dictatorship??



Keep D&D Civil!!

 

Not always. I agree they can't live with others, and I agree they aren't looking for a democratic govt. That doesn't mean they like living under oppressive regimes where one group has all the power and riches, and is brutal to its citizens.

 

You've just described neocons and the current administration, as well as millions of their supporters (not all, but just the most vocal ones).

 

Pakistan, Uzbekistan...

 

FYI.

Attacks in Egypt on sites frequented by foreigners since 1992:

By The Associated Press
Sat Jul 23, 9:22 AM ET

___

2005:

• July 23: A rapid series of car bombs and another blast ripped through a luxury hotel and a coffeeshop in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, killing at least 83 in Egypt's deadliest-ever terror attack. The casualties were mostly Egyptians, but many foreigners were among the dead and wounded.

• April 30: Two veiled women open fire on a tour bus in Cairo, then shoot themselves. Also, a suspect in an April 7 attack dies when the bomb he is carrying goes off during a police chase. All three attackers die and seven people, four of them foreigners, are wounded in the violence.

• April 7: Suicide bomber detonates a homemade bomb near the Khan al-Khalili market, killing two French citizens and an American.

___

2004:

• Oct. 7: Islamic militants detonate bombs in the Sinai resorts of Taba and Ras ****an, killing 34 people, including more than 10 Israelis, and wounding more than 100.

___

1997:

• Nov. 17: Islamic militants kill 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians in an attack at the Pharaonic Temple of Hatshepsut outside Luxor in southern Egypt. Police kill all six assailants. The massacre devastates the country's important tourist industry.

• Sept. 18: Two gunmen kill nine German tourists and their driver in an attack on a tour bus outside the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo. Eighteen people are wounded.

___

1996:

• April 18: Four Islamic militants open fire on Greek tourists, killing 18, outside the Europa Hotel on the Pyramids Road in Cairo. Seventeen people are wounded.

___

1994:

• March 4: Islamic militants open fire on a Nile cruise ship at Sidfa in southern Egypt, killing a German woman.

• Aug. 26: A 13-year-old Spanish boy is killed and three other people are wounded when militants fire at a tourist bus near Nag Hamadi in southern Egypt.

• Sept. 27: Two German tourists and two Egyptians are killed when a militant opens fire in central Hurghada, a Red Sea resort.

• Oct. 23: A British man is killed and three Britons and their driver wounded in an attack on their minibus near Naqada in southern Egypt.

___

1993:

• Feb. 26: A bomb explodes at popular coffee shop in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, killing a Swede, a Turk and an Egyptian. Eighteen others are injured, including two Americans.

• Oct. 26: A gunman kills two Americans and a Frenchman and wounds three other foreigners at a Cairo hotel.

___

1992:

• Islamic insurrection begins in Egypt. An early casualty is a British woman tourist killed in an attack on a bus near Dairut in southern Egypt.

 

Pakistan certainly is brutal in that it frequently uses torture, locks people up without trials that kind of thing. Uzbekistan is one of the worst out there. Egypt has problems a plenty, Syria does as well. There is a long list actually.

 

Isn't it sad that those dictatorial states could easily say what you just said if the U.S. ever pressures them on some human rights issues?

Oh how far we have fallen