On this evening's Glenn Beck Program, guest host Laurie Dhue spoke with Sara Carter and Erick Stakelbeck about two very important but seldom discussed stories out of Egypt: the state of U.S. aid and the persecution of Christians.
To begin, Laurie asked Sara to explain, in the wake of President Obama's announcement that we would be canceling our joint military exercises with the country, the state of U.S. military aid to Egypt that totals about $1.5 billion annually. The U.S. government has not labeled the overthrow of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi a coup, in order to continue to provide aid to the Egyptian military, but with violence in the region escalating, it is getting more and more difficult for the Obama administration to ignore the issue.
Sara explained that her sources in the beltway and in the Middle East believe it is all but inevitable that some restrictions will be placed on the U.S. military aid. Stipulations to the aid agreement would allow the U.S. to maintain its leverage with the Egyptian military, which is considered to be vital for the protection of our interests in the region, while taking a stand. Sara elaborates on that argument in the clip below:
On radio this morning, Glenn shared the staggering list of 45 Christian churches and places of worship that have reportedly been destroyed in Egypt. Erick explained that the Coptic Christians of Egypt date back to Biblical times. It is believed that the apostle Mark founded the group, and it is among the oldest Christian groups in the world. While Christianity has been under attack in the Middle East for several decades, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, the attacks on Christianity have intensified tremendously - but very few American media outlets are covering it. Why? Erick attributes the lack of media attention to two things:
- Historically, the U.S. media has not been pro-Christian
- The U.S. media tends to view Muslims as an aggrieved minority
So will Coptic Christians face the same fate the Jewish population of Egypt did during World War II? In the 1940s there the population of Jews in Egypt was 100,000 strong. Today, Erick reports there are less than 100 Jews in the country. The population of Egypt is estimated to be about 84 million and, until recently, at least 10 percent of that population was Christian. Erick offers insight on the future of Christianity in the region below: