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Bombing the pyramids is foolish because they hold little interest for Muslims; indeed, the Taliban would probably treat them as they did the Buddhist mountain carvings.

However, given the reactions of the Egyptian government posted on this thread, it is apparent that our enemies are not only the terrorists themselves but the civilians who cheer them, succor them and drag their feet in fighting them. If "moderate Islam" exists, it had better rise up and bring us some terrorists' heads on pikes. Until then, I feel that just as we did not blather about "moderate Shinto" or "mainstream fascism" in World War II, we had best be prepared to understand what the Muslims already do: theirs is a fighting faith and they are practicing it with relish.

Bombing the pyramids is foolish because they are historically interesting and irreplaceable :-).

As for the rest, I completely agree with you. Worldwide, moderate Muslims need to engage with more than the current vague negative rhetoric; otherwise, it's clear the 'fighting faith' you reference is indeed the head and they are at best the tail.

On the Egypt-specific political side, I read somewhere that a guy named Omar Suleiman was head of their army and a possible candidate to succeed the president. (Did quick Google search and found more here. It says he has an interest in promoting ties with Israel, which I found interesting, given his military background. They are also drawing closer to China, at least from an economic standpoint, which is unsettling.