It should be anticipated the Muslim Brotherhood will intensify calls for further attacks against Egyptian authorities – especially given the el-Sisi support for Israel’s efforts against Hamas.    The Brotherhood and Hamas are ideological brethren.   With Libya in a state of civil war and crisis, the Eastern Libya border to Egypt will be used by the severe Islamists as an incursion zone to attack.   

Remember the most hated man in the region (by the terrorists) is not Benjamin Netanyahu, it is Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi .  President el-Sisi has deconstructed the terror networks, arrested the brotherhood members, and jailed the violent extremists.

VIA BBC – Gunmen have killed at least 15 soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint in western Egypt, security officials say.

The attackers used grenade launchers and heavy machine guns when they attacked the desert post some 390 miles (630km) west of Cairo, officials said.  It is not yet clear who carried out the assault.  Militants have intensified a campaign against the security forces since the Islamist president Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power just over a year ago.  (link)
(more…)

If your children are old enough to be in college, they probably think the country they were born into is falling apart.  If you’re a Baby Boomer like myself, you know the country you were born into is already gone.  It’s a hard thing to thwart the general feeling of optimism shared by most Americans during a beautiful summer season.  But, if you stop and take a thoughtful assessment of the disasters currently befalling our world, perhaps you’ll see that the fall might be closer than you think.

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The summer of 2014 will go down in history as the season when America fell apart. Let’s take a tour of the disasters…

(Townhall)…Germany in 2008 enthusiastically hosted candidate Barack Obama for his so-called “Victory Column” speech. Now, Germans suddenly sound as if they are near-enemies of the U.S. Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly was furious that her cell phone was tapped by American intelligence agents. She just kicked the top CIA official out of Germany, further enraged that the U.S. had recruited at least one German official to provide intelligence on the German government. Polls show that Germans find Vladimir Putin’s Russian tyranny almost as popular as Barack Obama’s America.
Japan is becoming similarly frustrated with the U.S. It is rearming like crazy to confront an aggressive China. Both Asian powers apparently assume that Obama won’t guarantee the security of the Japanese as America had in the past. (more…)

WASHINGTON DC – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday called for a halt to “dangerous” levels of violence in Libya after militia clashes in Tripoli closed the country’s main airport, destroyed most planes parked there, and prompted the United Nations to evacuate its staff.
In some of the worst violence in months, at least 15 people have been killed in clashes in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi since Sunday, and a Libyan official said several Grad rockets hit the Tripoli International Airport on Monday, damaging the control tower.
With its new government struggling to impose order since the 2011 rebellion that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is sliding deeper into turmoil with rival brigades of former rebels battling for political and economic power. (more…)

The Israeli military launched a ground operation into Gaza late Thursday, the government said.  The much-anticipated operation follows some of the most intense fighting in the 10 days of bombings and airstrikes between Israel and Hamas.

FULL STATEMENT – press release issued by #Israeli military announcing it's initiation of ground operation in #Gaza pic.twitter.com/tnfpUfOpOR

— POWER987News (@POWER987News) July 17, 2014

Just now on @Channel2News: Egypt announces that Hamas is reponsible for this conflict.

— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) July 17, 2014

https://twitter.com/DannyNis/statuses/489861421568512000
With Egypt’s el-Sisi supporting Benjamin Netanyahu against Hamas this time things might be substantially different. If Israel is allowed time to work through the border region used by Hamas terrorists the IDF can fully dismantle and destroy the network of underground border tunnels.

#BREAKING #Hamas armed wing rejects #Egypt ceasefire proposal as 'surrender': AFP

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) July 15, 2014

No doubt the fact that Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s Egyptian government was the peace-broker for this deal had something to do with Hamas refusal to engage. Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood despise el-Sisi.

BREAKING NEWS: Hamas reportedly rejects proposed Gaza cease-fire http://t.co/b9JgqwAznv

— Fox News Alert (@foxnewsalert) July 15, 2014

https://t.co/b9JgqwAznv

This question highlights the actual substance of the policy issue.
Who would be the best broker, considering each side’s position, for peace?

USA’s Obama/Kerry, or Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ?

[polldaddy poll=8185601]
(more…)

The dynamic and contrast could not be more stark.   The majority secular Egyptian people continue to spotlight freedom principles and identify terrorists as just that, terrorists.

Admittedly there are ideological elements inside Egypt, mainly the Muslim Brotherhood, which are aligned and supportive of Hamas.   Fortunately, they are in the minority and being diminished daily.   The bright light comes from the majority Egyptian people who worked diligently to remove the terror network from their own political constructs, and now continue to push back against the terror in surrounding countries, including Hamas. 
Egyptian people intelligently know who the terrorists are; they have lived through them. This makes them uniquely well skilled at putting the sunlight upon the shadow dwellers because they have lived through survived the propaganda.    In addition, were it not for the Western trained and secular Egyptian military, the Brotherhood would still rule over them.
Watching the evolution of Egypt in the past 4 years has been the single brightest ray of hope for a region severely lacking in it.    (more…)

It’s an inevitable outcome.   President Obama and DoD cannot allow Bowe Bergdahl to be found guilty of desertion and/or treason – it would make them look bad…. 

WASHINGTON — Six weeks after being released from five years in Taliban captivity, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is expected to return to life as a regular Army soldier as early as Monday, Defense Department officials said late Sunday.
Sergeant Bergdahl has finished undergoing therapy and counseling at an Army hospital in San Antonio, and will assume a job at the Army North headquarters at the same base, Fort Sam Houston, the officials said.
He is also expected to meet with Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Dahl, the officer who is investigating the circumstances of Sergeant Bergdahl’s disappearance from his outpost in Afghanistan in 2009.
Sergeant Bergdahl’s transfer from the therapy phase to a regular soldier’s job is part of his reintegration into Army life, officials said. He will live in barracks and have two other soldiers help him readjust. (more…)

https://twitter.com/khorasan313/statuses/486806279470346240
(via WeaselZippers) The man to the left of Bergdahl is Badar’udin Haqqani, the son of the Haqqani leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani. The Haqqani are aligned with the Taliban and are the people who held Bergdahl for five years. Badar’udin Haqqani was killed in an attack in 2012.