Blind Patriotism Is Toxic and Destructive

Photo: Top row, 3 great and patriotic Egyptian generals,
Bottom, is the Sisi the butcher

I agree that Egyptian blood is scared, whether it be civilian or military. I don't condone armed attacks on civilians nor the military, but: I do understand why the attacks are taking place against our troops in the Sinai.

Today's Egyptian military is completely different from that of 1973 era. Those troops were honorable, unfortunately, quite a few of today's are without honor.

There has always been lawlessness to a degree in the Sinai, but there are reasons for it:

1. The Camp David Surrender effectively squandered any achievements the Egyptian military gained on the battlefield during the 1973 war.

To be brutally honest, Egypt has ZERO sovereignty over the Sinai. When a country MUST seek permission from another, to enter its troops and equipment on part of its land, then you really have NO sovereignty and to claim otherwise, is just being DISINGENUOUS.

So, lack of an effective military/police presence in the Sinai has contributed to the lawlessness.

2. The Sinai has been neglected by the state on every level, and that has led to resentment.

3. The brutality of the Egyptian military/police against the people of Sinai, is a MAJOR factor which encourages retaliatory attacks against the troops.

I posted a video before, where it showed an Egyptian soldier threatening a Sinai village with: "Wallahi, we'll hit you with chemical weapons like Bashar is doing."

So, when the military/police consider their own people to be the enemy, and are willing to treat them with such brutality and contempt, then I can't fault them for taking up arms.

4. The Sinai and the rest of Egypt, need a just law enforcement/policing solution, not a military one.

The Egyptian military is making the same mistake the American's made in Iraq: attempting to remedy a situation with military force instead of a law enforcement option.

5. I posted before, that the longer and more brutal the state is with its people, the more likely it is for the people to resort to arms, in order to protect themselves and seek vengeance.

6. The usurpers declared a war on terror, therefore, it's a war and in wars soldiers die.

I don't blame the Sinai residents for their deaths, I blame Sisi, the military high command and the officers/soldiers who carry out criminal orders.

- I have no sympathy for any soldier/police officer that attacks and murders the people they have sworn to protect.

- During World War II, German officers and soldiers used the excuse that they were merely "following orders," and the Allies refused to accept that.

They insisted that they should have disobeyed criminal orders, even if it meant that they would die in order to save innocent civilian blood.

So that rule, in my eyes, also applies to what the Egyptian military/police are doing. If they attack their people, then they risk being attacked in self-defense or even for vengeance. So, The Military brought these attacks on themselves.

7. The strategy the military is using against the Sinai residents is completely counter-productive.

- The size and scope of those attacks have increased after the coup, in comparison with any activity during the Presidency of Mohamed Morsi:

a- Military against the Sinai residents,
b- Sinai residents against the military.

- The military punishes the entire people for the actions of a few, which leads to many more Egyptians conducting attacks against the military

Modern history is full of these military mistakes, but apparently the military hasn't invested adequate time to learn from the mistakes of others, because they're too busy manufacturing refrigerators and washing machines.

8. There are many forces that may be behind the attacks against the troops:

a- It could be actual terrorists

b- it could be a legitimate insurgency that has taken root in response to abusive military/police tactics

c- It could be a war-by-proxy: Mohammed Dahlan's Palestinian forces escaped into the Sinai after they were defeated by Hamas.

d- Another war-by-proxy is: Israel activating its sleeper cells in the Sinai to attack and degrade the Egyptian army.

Just because the Egyptian military is at "peace" with Israel, doesn't mean that Israel is at peace with Egypt.

e- It could be the American's, since they have a military presence in the Sinai, to guarantee Israel's safety.

f- It could be Egyptian military intelligence or other security agencies.

There are examples of Egyptian security setting of a car bomb in front of a church; Egyptian intelligence set off a bomb in front of its embassy in Libya; Gamal Mubarak & Habib Al-Adly set off bombings in the Sinai in retaliation over a business deal that went bad.

9. What is the difference?

Why condemn Bashar Al-Assad when the Syrian military attacks its own people, but defend the Egyptian military when it attacks its own?

Why the glaring hypocrisy?

People need to use some critical thinking and cease making blanket statements and throwing around the word "terrorism" with such ease. It's more complex than it seems.

Blind patriotism is toxic and destructive. This blind approval and excusing every action a regime takes against its people, will only encourage the regime to become more abusive.