http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/smalltownusa-3.asp
Dr. Mohamed is a graduate of Ain Shams University in Cairo, and has been in this country since the mid-1970's. He is proud of his U.S. citizenship. "When I came to this country, it was everyones dream in Egypt to go live in America. Everyone loved Americans. Now when I go back to my home country, I do not advertise that I am an American."
He is quite concerned that this interview will cause him to be marked as an apostate, and he fears retaliation, especially on his planned trip to Cairo this summer.
"In Egypt, everyone knew about the Muslim Brotherhood, but it was illegal. After the peace treaty with Israel, the radicals came crawling out of the darkness. But they werent idiots. They were very cunning," he explained.
Dr. Mohamed continued, "The US knew there was going to be a problem. They had problems in Iran with the Ayatullah, now they were afraid there would be problems in Egypt. Jimmy Carter and his people were going to reach the next generation of young men by giving them scholarships to come and study in America. They were going to teach them how great the US was. They recruited from universities in Egypt, Syria, Saudia, the Emirates all the Arab countries."
Dr. Mohamed thinks part of the problem was the students themselves. "They [the students] didnt have to be the smartest. Some were just average students. They didn't just come from Cairo and Alexandria, they came from Benha and Assuit and >>>>Mansoura<<<< and Gharbeya. Anyone who wanted to come to the US and go to graduate school could with a little bit of work, and get a fellowship."
He explained that the rural enclaves of Egypt, especially in places like Assuit and Benha, were known reservoirs of Islamic extremism, even back in the 1980s.
yikes... the pointy finger got too excited....