Terror in Egypt

Hmmm...how long until someone figures out a way to blame this on the Jews, or the American presence in Iraq:

CAIRO, Egypt - Three nearly simultaneous bombings hit the Egyptian beach resort popular with foreigners Monday at the height of the tourist season, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 60...
...The bombers struck the Sinai seaside town of Dahab in the early evening along a crowded promenade of shops, restaurants and bars. Authorities said 18 of the dead were Egyptian and that a Russian and a Swiss were also killed.
The explosions hit the central part of the city at 7:15 p.m. when the streets were jammed with tourists going for walks, shopping or looking for a restaurant or bar for evening festivities by the tranquil waters of the Gulf of Aqaba....

Seems like holding hands with Hamas didn't help the Russians; nor did funnelling terrorist money give any protection to the Swiss.

The Egyptian government has said the militants who carried out the bombings were locals without international connections, but other security agencies have said they suspect al-Qaida.

In Washington, a U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy, said it was unclear who was behind Monday's attack.

Officials there have not ruled out the possibility that al-Qaida may be involved, but have no evidence showing that is the case, the official said. Nor do they have any evidence that bin Laden's tape was linked to the attack.

It is hard to call it an al-Qaeda "style" attack; as many terror groups now use the simultaneous explosives routine. The big question is; did Osama's tape release yesterday have anything to do with the timing/location of the attack? After all, he did claim all Westerners were fair game; and the Sinai, alas, has proven very easy to infiltrate in the past.

Me - well, I do not believe in coincidence.

It becomes all the more urgent to find and kill Osama bin Ladin; for even if he is only a spiritual leader, incapable of carrying out attacks by himself, it appears likely that others await his cues.

Secondly, the fact is that al-Jazeera has become nothing more than a terrorist propoganda and communications outlet. Their selective release of tapes, whether those of Osama's, or al-Zaquari's, or various hostage beheadings, is timed and selected only to inflame the passions of war in the Middle East. It is not OK, whether in the name of free speech or ratings, to help elongate a war that has already killed thousands.

Al-Jazeera, too, must be "knocked off " the air. You gonna cry "free speech"? Ask the families of the dead hostages, and the relatives of the tourists slaughtered while on holiday in the grand Sinai, how they feel...

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long - from Little Green Footballs:

Retired General Salah al-Din Salim, an Egyptian researcher at the Strategic Studies Institute in Cairo, said that it could not be ruled out that the Israeli Mossad was involved in the terror attack in Dahab.
“The Mossad’s ability to penetrate the Bedouins in Sinai is known,” Salim said in an interview with al-Jazeera

Ah, there's that helpful TV network again....