Egyptian police killed in Sinai ambush at Rafah

[Bosonic]

Source: BBC

At least 24 Egyptian policemen have been killed in an ambush attack in the Sinai peninsula, officials say.

The police were travelling in two buses which came under attack from armed men close to the town of Rafah on the Gaza border, security forces said.

A number of police were also reported to have been injured in the blast.

The military recently intensified a crackdown against militants in Sinai, where attacks have surged since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23751954

[David__77]

1. Egypt better get its act together, and soon.

There will be full-scale insurgency if they don't root out the Islamists politically and organizationally. There can be no reconciliation.

[Igel]

2. Well, the Army certainly has set things up for that.

You know, when the MB was put in office and the Army sat on its collective haunches I wondered if they were set up.

The Islamists were allowed to run and win high executive office.

The Islamists were allowed to win parliament. Those most allied with the Army now quickly realized they weren't going to win and decided not to be included or to cooperate.

The Islamists formulated a Constitution, and while the courts tried to ban it and gradually disallowed parliament's legitimacy, the Army sat back.

Meanwhile, the vast Army enterprises and much of the bureaucracy tuned out Morsi and held stuff back from the economy.

In the end, the economy was intentionally worse, fears had been stoked far beyond what Morsi had actually setted on or said, and Morsi had the courts against him, no parliament, no way to achieve a parliament, and no bureaucracy that actually followed his orders.

The opposition had decided "anybody but Morsi/MB" when they didn't get the power they craved, so the Army was okay.

The courts had decided "anybody but Morsi/MB" when the laws weren't to their liking, so the Army was okay.

The bureaucracy had decided "anybody but Morsi/MB" even before Morsi won, so the Army had always been okay.

Finally a large portion of the population decided "anybody but Morsi/MB" because the economy was worse, so the Army was okay.

It's authority, perks, and the eonomic infrastructure it has accrued during a very nationalist, central-authority-centered government is safe. The only danger is that the "opposition" will decide that to win power and eventually seize total power it needs to put space between it and the Army.