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This Visit to Egypt
was an eye opener. Back in October my brother, the short one and I spent two weeks in the Middle East seeing the sights and talking and sharing meals with more that six different personal tour guides and Egyptoligists. The experience was enlightening on both the Muslim religious aspect and their political views on both Iraq and Egypt. We were there during Ramadan so they were always thirsty and hungry. We had them in a unfair weakened condition for answering questions.
First of all they all generally agreed that the junior and senior leadership in Egypt was corrupt and holding back progress. The country educates it smarter students. The better you apply yourself academically the further you go in school. You can in fact defer compulsory military service by keeping your grades high but the sour note for two of the guides is when you graduate with various degrees there are few good paying jobs. Very high unemployment. If you want to go into business the nightmare of permits, delays, payoffs can be endless unless you are rich to begin with. Importing the tools like computers, cars, equipment, is heavily taxed and discouraging for business expansion.
Everyone but a small Christian minority is Muslim. Egyptians enjoy religious freedom and no one is forced to practice any religion. The respect given to the senior members of the close knit family relationships keeps members from straying very far, religiously. Everyone lives with family, three and four generations in one building is the norm. This is the fundamental way of life among the Muslims in the Middle East.
Though there is contempt for the government it is mild with only some fringe elements making further freedom demands. Mubarrak and family has run a tight ship for almost thirty years and doesn't look like he's giving up power any time soon.
As for their opinion about the US being in Iraq- -well we were told that when we get to Egypt and people ask us where we are from we should say Canada, definitely not the US. Well I'm here to tell you folks that just ain't so. Egyptians, like people where ever I've traveled, like Americans. So after a bit of trepidation and after telling and inquiring Egyptian that I was American and him giving me a big smile and a glad hand in return, I had no hesitation from then on.
They are very glad that Saddam is gone but they don't want lasting US presence in the Middle East. They really don't think that we should be meddling in Middle Eastern affairs. I don't blame them. They are a very proud people and foreigners are not welcome except as tourists. It's not so much a religious reason as it is more a nationalistic thing . Arab affairs should be left to Arabs as they see it but at the same time they understand the US motivations.
One tour guide offered that he guided American soldiers on R&R recently and they offered oil as the reason America is in Iraq. I gave my new friend additional reasons but he clung to the one he wanted to believe. Oil.

More on Egypt soon.