Egyptian analysts said Friday that US efforts to impose its political, economic and military might on the rest of the world was behind the anti-American hatred that led to the deadly terror attacks.
"The attacks on the one hand hit the World Trade Center, which symbolizes American control of the world economy at the expense of the world's poor," General Magdi Omar told the Al-Ahram Al-Arabi weekly, cited by AFP.
"On the other they hit the Pentagon, symbol of the blind military power which has crushed the world since Hiroshima and Nagasaki," the military expert said.
Another general, Salah Eddine Selim, told the paper: "Since the new world order which made them the lone superpower, the United States has not respected international laws ... and intervenes militarily as it sees fit."
He cited repeated US strikes on Iraq since the end of the Gulf War and the 1998 bombardment of a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum that Washington accused of manufacturing chemical weapons.
The editor-in-chief of the governmental Al-Ahram paper wrote Friday: "In all sympathy with its sadness and understanding its anger, we call on the United States to show a lot of wisdom, because its reputation in the world is problematic.
"The moral credibility of the United States is particularly suspect in the Middle East concerning the bloody violence between Palestinians and Israelis," Ibrahim Nafe’ said.
"It's this policy of double standards and the lack of justice which laid the groundwork for this barbaric terrorist act," he said.
Like the majority of Arab nations, Egypt regularly accuses Washington of taking Israel's side in the Middle East.
In contrast to the government's and political groups’ response, some Egyptian population rejoiced at Tuesday's terror attacks.
The main opposition group, Muslim Brotherhood, joined the government in denouncing the attacks expressing its “deep sorrow and pain.”
The group said in a statement that the Muslim Brothers who were “horrified by the killing, devastation and attacks on innocent civilians in the USA and express their deep sorrow and pain.”
“We strongly condemn these acts which violate all human and Islamic values and announce our opposition to all attacks on people’s freedom and dignity all over the world,” added the statement.
The head of the Muslim Brotherhood block at the Egyptian parliament, Mohammed Mursy, told Albawaba.com that his group does not approve such acts, reiterating that Islam respects human beings regardless of their religion, race or color.”
Responding to a question on the delight shown among some of the public, Mursy said that people in Egypt and throughout the world feel helpless and victimized by the American foreign policy and violation of the freedom and rights of people everywhere.
“What do you expect from the Egyptian people who daily see the mutilated bodies of the Palestinian people killed by the Israeli occupation army supported by the US. What do you expect from such people who see embargo on Iraq and Libya and remember the Israeli crimes against the Egyptian POWs in Sinai,” he said – Albawaba.com
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