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July 23, 2005
AQ Kills Muslims In Egypt, Belies Iraq As Cause

Al-Qaeda took responsibility for the horrendous coordinated series of bombings in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday, killing 83 and wounding hundreds. The suicide car-bomb attacks targeted Egypt's tourist business, which hoped to recover from the Luxor bombings in 1997 and a series of attacks last year:

The attacks dealt a fresh blow to the tourism industry so crucial to Egypt's economy, which was still recovering from the fallout of last year's bombings.

There have also been several attacks in tourist areas in Cairo in recent months, as Egypt prepares for its first multi-candidate presidential election in September.

The Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Levant and Egypt said it carried out the multiple bombings as a "response against the global evil powers which are spilling the blood of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya."

Where has Egypt stationed its soldiers in any of these areas? Nowhere. Why does AQ want to attack Muslims in Egypt if the country doesn't have any soldiers deployed to Iraq? Because Iraq has nothing to do with Al-Qaeda's overall war. This attack should make that obvious, finally.

Egypt has no patience with radical Islam; Hosni Mubarak sees it as a threat, and rightly so. Radicals killed his predecessor for signing a peace treaty with Israel and Mubarak has maintained that diplomatic contact. He has managed thus far to checkmate the radicals in Egypt, mostly through political oppression that has the deadly side effect of oppressing everybody, creating more radicalism. For example, Osama's number two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, hails from Egypt and used to head the leading radical terrorist group there before it folded itself into AQ.

AQ antagonism towards Egypt has nothing to do with Iraq, Palestine, and Chechnya and everything to do with assuming control of the ummah in its entirety. It attacks the US and Britain because we oppose the radical takeover of Southwest Asia by the lunatic Islamofascists. Does that involve Iraq? Certainly; right now it's the hot front in the war on terror, along with Afghanistan. But to claim that these attacks spring from our presence in Iraq exclusively, or even our presence in Arab lands, flies in the face of all evidence. Where are the American troops in Egypt?

The media, especially the British media who keep haranguing Tony Blair about causing the London bombings as a price for liberating Iraq, need to start adding two plus two and quit getting three for an answer. AQ operations point to a long-term strategy of isolating and crippling Middle East governments that (a) oppose radical Wahhabism and (b) operate in a secular manner that maintains ties to the West, especially Israel. That is the scope of the war Islamists have fought for twenty years under different banners -- Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and now al-Qaeda. They want to seize power by force, cast a Taliban-style tyranny over the entirety of Southwest Asia and North Africa (to start), and bring the infidel world to its knees through the control of petroleum.

Why, four years after 9/11, does the media and the Left still fail to grasp this? Could it be because acknowledging this fact requires a stark choice to either fight or surrender, and they would prefer to create a fantasy through sophistry to allow them to simply go AWOL instead?

Sphere It Digg! View blog reactions
Posted by Ed Morrissey at July 23, 2005 9:35 AM

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» The Captain puts it better than I could have from New O'Rama
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Tracked on July 23, 2005 11:25 AM

» Egypt bombing: death toll is up to 75. from The Anti Corn Law League
According to Bloomberg, this is the fourth attack this year and the largest attack so far. Al Qaeda is apparently trying to wipe out Egypt's tourism business. [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 12:49 PM

» Terror in Egypt: Sharm el-Sheikh bombings from Willie Galang
Terror in Egypt Sharm el Sheikh bombings [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 2:50 PM

» Egypt Bombings Update from In the Bullpen
Egypt Bombings Update ... [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 2:57 PM

» The Battle Of Sharm El-Sheikh from Hard Starboard
From Strategic Forecasting: At least two car bombs exploded in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and nearby Naama Bay hotels resort area at around 1 a.m. local time July 23. Initial reports indicate at least 20 dead and more than 100 ... [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 3:12 PM

» Terrorists demand Egyptian troops leave Iraq from Mark in Mexico
Wait, Egypt doesn't have any troops in Iraq. Or Afghanistan. Nor were there ever. [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 3:20 PM

» Excellent Post by Captain Ed from Fat Steve's Blatherings
He points out that al-Qaeda wants: . . . to seize power by force, cast a Taliban-style tyranny over the entirety of Southwest Asia and North Africa (to start), and bring the infidel world to its knees through the control of petroleum. Which ... [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 3:46 PM

» Is evil confused, turning in on itself? from The Anchoress
Jeanette has an interesting post up where she is confessing some confusion about the recent bombings in Egypt: Since September 11, 2001, we have been told many times the reason Al Qaeda is attacking us is we have downtrodden the Muslims, we have occu... [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 4:11 PM

» http://www.itsapundit.com/2005/07/the_good_captai.html from It'sAPundit.com
The good Captain Ed has a must read regarding the Egypt bombings.Where has Egypt stationed its soldiers in any of these [Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya] areas? Nowhere. Why does AQ want to attack Muslims in Egypt if the country doesn't [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 4:22 PM

» AQ Against The World from The Strata-Sphere
The good news coming out of Iraq is the Sunni’s are ready to get back to the constitution, due out in less than a month. Sunni Arabs signaled readiness Saturday to end their boycott of the commission drafting Iraq’s constitution while the... [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 4:51 PM

» Egypt hit by al Qaeda - The Wrong Country!!! from Mike's Noise
Don't these guys read what Ted Kennedy and the BBC have been saying for the past four years? Al Qaeda is motivated by America's illegal invasion of Iraq, right? They have no quarrel with other Muslims, right? Or do they? [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 6:59 PM

» Egypt from The Other Corner
You will find no Egyptian soldiers in Iraq. However, that did not stop Al Qaeda from unleashing a furious and deadly attack on an Egyptian resort, killing over 80 people and injuring over 200. [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 7:24 PM

» Bombing I Egypt from Flopping Aces
The explosions that ripped apart the Ghazala Gardens hotel in Egypt today serve to remind us that this is a global war. Those of us on the right need no reminder but those on the left, they seem to need a reminder all the time. They believe if only w... [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 9:15 PM

» The Egypt bombings from The House Of Wheels
So they kill some more Muslims, mostly Egyptians. But I just saw the strangest thing. There are no Egyptian troops in Iraq. There are no Egyptian troops in Afghanistan. There are no Egyptian troops in Palestine. There are no Egyptian troops in Chechnya. [Read More]

Tracked on July 23, 2005 9:53 PM

» If Iraq is the cause, why are terrorist bombing Egypt from GayPatriot
In his post on Thursday, Bruce noted how Australian Prime Minister John Howard replied to a reporter's suggestion the war in Iraq had "*increased* the threat of terrorism." That good man from Down Under reminded the reporter that there had... [Read More]

Tracked on July 24, 2005 3:37 AM

» Iraq and the War on Terror Roundup from Searchlight Crusade
National Review Online has a good article on the influence muslims who migrate to the west have on their homelands. It's good to know that some influence goes the other... [Read More]

Tracked on July 24, 2005 5:09 PM



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