Posted on 04/24/2006 10:38:11 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Three explosions have been heard in the Egyptian resort town of Dahab, according to the Reuters news agency.
More follows...
I've been to Dahab many times. There are 2 Dahabs - the Egyptian town, and the coastal area inhabited by Beduin about 1 mile away. The coastal area was a nice place, right on the red sea. Not very luxurious, I slept in a grass hut a few times, and once in a mud hut. This was almost 15 years ago though. It's probably changed a lot. At the time, it was where tourists went to relax on the beach, and also where you could smoke pot and hash and opium. The town of Dahab had more permanent structures.
Al Queda has now taken over practically the entire Sinai desert. They are embedded deep in the hills and the Egyptians have only meekly tried to root them out. Many Egyptian soldiers have been killed because they are not really trying hard enough. Al Queda live hiding in the hills making it easy for them to booby trap and snipe at the Egyptian troops. From the caves and rocks they crawl down to the cities and blow up hotels. They are scum.
Tell me if it is still the same as it was 15 years ago? Was there still the bediun town on the sea, or did the city grow out to the sea by now?
Be safe. They have some nice scuba diving there.
If nothing else, the enemy of our enemy, at least might be, temporarily, our friend, or at least a useful ally. The Jihadies seem intent on making lots of enemies.
Explosives are not that difficult to make in the modern world. Yeh I know that might not include the places these guys are from, but in this case anything past the industrial and agricultural revelutions qualifies. Lots of high energy density stuff around.
After all who supplied McVeigh and Nicholes? The local farm supply places and an supplier of racing fuels.
And there were plenty of "America First" types who weren't bothered by that either. IIRC, there were even quite a few "I will not fight for King and Country" types in Britain as well about that time, or just before.
Definitely. I'll light a candle for you! Although I think, all in all, your odds are probably better than driving down a US highway filled with semis.
Just listen to your instincts. I've travelled a lot and avoided a lot of bad situations simply because something seemed a little "off" to me.
Thank God!
Two weeks ago I was at the Red Sea coast directly south and east of Cairo. The resorts were very western in look but not in service. But it is still VERY sparsely developed. I was surprised to see long stretches of coastline that had no development whatsoever.
The bedouins are still there, at least on the West side. I don't know about Sinai.
I think the beduin village is in that little alcove in the upper right of the photo. You can see the main road leading into the town by the "boot", but if you took that little road off to the left that takes you back up north a little it would take you right into the village. Of course I could be way off.. it's been a while.
My sister says they are police escorted in some of these areas, sometimes up to 5 or more escorts. I suppose the police presence is everywhere now.
After we give the ME the appearance of the surface of Mars, you will be able to tour it and get the same experience, without the same travel expenses. Of course, touring in a full-body hazmat suit may leave something to be desired.
That worked our real well. Where I grew up, you shot rabid dogs.
Well like I said it was 15 years ago. There was no trouble with the Beduins I ever experienced. I visited them for 3-4 nights at a time about 4 or 5 times. I got involved in some nighttime hanky panky on the beach with another tourist from Denmark - got busted by the cops but they just said "you can't do this here. Go to your room" like they were our parents. :-)
It was peaceful there. I spent most of the time hanging out with a guy named Mohammed (surprise!) who ran a shop that sold blankets and hand made bronze decorated plates to tourists. He was a nice man and I ate with his extended family at their home a few times.
I paid $2 a night for a grass hut with a bed, and gave the proprietor a bottle of vodka, gin or tequila each time I visited. He liked me a lot for that, you know... it's forbidden. Funny thing about that was at the time I was mostly in Israel at the time. It was hard to find tequila in Israel at the time.
Now from what I have read in multiple sources, the mountains are crawling with Al Queda. Egypt is forbidden, by the peace treaty with Israel, of sending any serious infantry into the Sinai. So its a perfect place for Al Queda to hide out. The Egyptian Army cannot do anything about it. Plus like you said, it is highly undeveloped. Mostly just a desert.
And this is the great fear - that Al Queda, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Iranian Mullahs almost literally do have an axis of evil stretchning from Iran to the Sinai, through Iraq into the West Bank and Gaza. Throw in Lebanon to boot. Only Israel and Jordan stand in the way (with a possibly revival of the South Lebanese Christian militias, far fewer than there were 20 years ago). It's going to be a tough go with the Islamic Fascists on the rise, with Egypt restricted and most of the land barren, tribal and the armies of the nations antiquated and unaggressive and fractured. The Islamic Fascists may be small in number but they have almost free reign. That's why it was big news when Jordan busted a couple of cells last week. They are working their axis hard. Israel cannot give up the Jordan River Valley to the Palestinians or they will be in a world of hurt.
Quote "Right on the heels of an Osama Tape. EVERY TIME THERE IS AN OSAMA TAPE THERE IS A BOMB BLAST AFTER THAT."
This is SOOOOOO not true. There have been many tapes and few bombings. MOST of the time NOTHING happens when Bin Loser talks. So your comment is 100% incorrect.
There is no evidence that yesterdays tape has anything to do with these bombings.
It's Karl Rove fault
Going by some of the ignorant comments I see occasionally on here, I believe they're having some success. ;-)
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