[paraclete]

Gunsh.. t diplomacy, the only solution you have when things go against you.

When will americans learn that when you are in a foreign country you are subject to their laws? And being in contempt of the process will get you nowhere

[tomder55]

The Egyptians don't even know which law they are charging them for violating .

[paraclete]

It's probably illegal not to be a muslim

[tomder55]

I figured this all out . It took some time ;but the recent wikileaks releasing of Stratfor emails made me recall their mischief in this whole 'Arab Spring' thingy. So I went back to January of last year and found what I was looking for.

Back then ,Wikileaks spilled the beans that the US was funding anti-regime pro-democracy NGOs going back to at least 2007 . Mubarak was quite upset over this revelation.
He warned then that it would likely lead to a Muslim Brotherhood control of Egypt.

Fast forward to now. Mubarak is out ,the sacrificial lamb to the revolution. He will likely be executed . However ;the judge involved in the NGO case is a Mubarak loyalist who has not forgotten the role the NGO's played in the revolution.

That is the origin of this crisis. This again proves false the notion that these Wikileak releases have done no harm.

[paraclete]

No Tom it is the false notion that the US does no harm. Despite all that has happen you still think there is justification for interfering in the affairs of another nation. So wikileaks called you out and immediately they are the villain, instead of realising that giving ammunition to the enemy by interferring is the enemy. Mubarak knew his own nation, he knew how offensive your interference was to Muslims. The people from the NGO will get what the laws of Egypt demand

[tomder55]

They will leave the country as free Americans or Egypt will lose it's payday.

[paraclete]

Yes, well, Tom, the yankee dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to. You may find the Muslim Brotherhood isn't as interested in the yankee dollar as Mubarak was, not having offshore bank accounts. All you aid didn't help Egypt it was a way of keeping Mubarak on side. I find it strange you still think you can buy your way out of trouble. These places are corrupt at an individual level but highly sensitive at a national level

[tomder55]

Not trying to buy our way out.. It's just a fact that they get a substantial amt of aid from us that they will not get if they continue down this path and/or break the Camp David accords in any way .
You think they don't need the money... lol... their tourist industry is in the cr@pper since the revolution . They depended on the aid before and more so now.

There is no crime here . If I'm the President I refuse to allow another hostage situation and would demand their safe passage out of the nation. If Obama likes he can give them one of those annoying patented apologies he loves giving to the world .

[paraclete]

How do you know there is no crime Tom that is for a court to decide not american popular opinion. This is a beatup and a non event, you are the only person I know who is interested in it. Pity your administration officials don't have something better to do than flog a dead horse, they could get involved in a real problem where people are getting killed, like Syria

Personally I have only a passing interest in the fate of some americans who got themselves into trouble in Egypt. When their trial comes up again in April I will revisit it

[tomder55]

And I will keep on this story. I have unconfirmed reports that there are negotiations with the Obama Adm to swap these American hostages for Blind Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 49 other jihadists
The Sheik was convicted of the WTC bombing in 1993 . I have no confirmation of this but apparently it is being reported in the Arabic language publication 'Al-Arabiya '.

[paraclete]

Appears there is a development the egyptian courts have allowed the americans to travel but not yet the egyptian government

[tomder55]

This is in Foreign Policy Magazine today :

Egyptian officials said [1] that they would lift a travel ban on
Seven Americans who had been caught up in the prosecution of U.S.-financed
Nonprofit groups in the country. The agreement to let them leave the country
Is meant to calm a crisis that had threatened to sever the three decade-long
U.S.-Egyptian alliance.

However, the deal does not resolve the charges brought against the nonprofit
Groups or end the prosecution of the approximately one dozen Egyptian
Employees who have also been brought to trial. The American defendants will
Also have to post up to $300,000 each in bail, defense lawyers said.

The decision to lift the travel ban follows weeks of intense diplomacy, as
U.S. officials attempted to avert a crisis that threatened to cut off the
$1.3 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian military. On Feb. 28, the judges
In the case abruptly recused themselves, saying that a more senior judge had
Asked them to reconsider the travel ban and, in doing so, had compromised
Their political independence. Their recusal, however, put the decision back
Into the hands of top judiciary officials, who lifted the ban.

It's a positive development ,but hardly an end to the crisis .

[paraclete]

It appears the foriegners have been allowed to leave the country after posting bail. So they were not being held hostage after all, but let's hope they learned not to meddle

[tomder55]

EVERY NGO interferes in the internal affairs of their host company.

[paraclete]

EVERY NGO interferes in the internal affairs of their host company.

Are you clear on what you said there Tom? Do you want to make this an internal affairs complaint?

I hope the idea behind an NGO isn't to meddle in the affairs of other countries but then if it's an american NGO it's HQ is Langley VA, just a great big front for influence peddling