Few Egyptians in Las Vegas fault U.S.

To the editor:

Regarding your Aug. 16 article, “Many Egyptians in Las Vegas fault U.S. as violence increases,” the opinions of those quoted in the article are clearly in line with ousted President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

At most, Osama Haikal is the de facto leader of a small sect of local Egyptians.

After Mr. Morsi was removed from office, Muslim Brotherhood officials were invited to present their platform, along with the other political parties in Egypt. They declined the invitation and demanded that Mr. Morsi be returned to power.

The recent and saddening events arose after more than six weeks of the police and military respectfully asking Morsi sympathizers to disperse. After peaceful requests to disband were ignored for such a long period, the police and military took lethal action. Many of these protesters were armed and supported by persons such as the brother of well-known al-Qaida leader Ayman alZawahiri. The Morsi protesters are crippling the everyday life of the Egyptian citizens, who are just trying to lead a normal life during these hard times.

Currently, the Muslim Brotherhood is attacking peaceful religious institutions. They have burned down many Coptic Christian churches and Catholic schools that were built hundreds of years ago. They have killed priests who were peacefully carrying on their daily activities. They also paraded two nuns in the streets as prisoners of war.

Not even the citizens of Egypt are asking for the U.S. government to cut aid to their country’s military. Such action will only promote anarchy and lead to more bloodshed. The United States’ support of the Egyptian military is needed to restore order and prevent the country from becoming a nation that harbors terrorists.

The idea that a civil war might be the only solution to the current crisis is preposterous. This will only lead to a more unstable Egypt and a more unstable Middle East. Any new democracy will struggle; however, the ones that succeed take a peaceful approach that includes all political parties and the majority vote. The people who petitioned to remove Mr. Morsi and are now considering outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt are the majority of its citizens.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently stated that

Horses have been there for man throughout history. When are we, as a supposed humane society, going to take a stand for them? It is our moral obligation to speak for these beautiful, amazing animals that cannot speak for themselves.