Egypt Isn’t So Hard To Understand
BY Herschel Smith
12 years, 2 months ago
Almost 2.5 years ago when the 26th MEU was in the Persian Gulf (or Gulf of Aden), I noted that:
During the 2008 deployment of the 26th MEU, an Iranian helicopter all but landed on the deck of the USS Iwo Jima. The Marines could almost touch it from a standing position on the deck, but no actions were taken. The Navy refused to allow the Marines to fire on the aircraft.
So much for the doctrine of force protection. But that isn’t all for the 26th MEU. I was talking to my son today about scooting through the Suez canal, and when the USS Iwo Jima was near Egypt, he told me that RPGs started pinging against the side of the ship, and Scout Snipers were stationed in the highest point of the ship because of the high risk to the ship and its souls.
If you think about it, all of the hand wringing that the “experts” did over Egypt and its well trained military forces – who were supposed to be so loyal to the U.S. – was just so much silliness.
For a country who incubated the likes of Sayyid Qutb and Ayman al-Zawahiri, and who today (and even in 2008) would incubate elements that send RPGs in our direction, for the U.S. to have ever wondered what would come of this wonderful “Arab spring,” which held out so much promise for the ignorant do-gooders and well-wishers, was wasted energy and even worse. Our coupling with Egypt will show itself to be one of the worst foreign policy catastrophies in modern history.
Egypt isn’t so hard to understand. Whoever thought it was? Oh, and perhaps we will continue our aid to Egypt considering how vulnerable they are. Such is the intransigence of ignorant people.
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