Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/812577
ChipThompson, Editor How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS It was most serene of all scenes: A choir singing hymns on a Palm Sunday morning. It could have been any church, anywhere in the world. Then, the unimaginable. Thescreengoesblankamid the sounds of explosions, as the beauty of that Sunday service is shattered by the unspeakable violence that tore through St. George's Coptic church in Tanta, Egypt. At another church, St. Mark's in Alexandria, a suicide bomber, denied entrance, detonates himself outside the main gate. The Coptic pope was celebrating services inside. When it was done, 44 people between the two sites were dead, and dozens more were injured. In the wake of those savage and unspeakable attacks at these two Egyptian houses of worship, the gathering places for an ancient sect and the Middle East's largest Christian community, much of the world was asking "Why?" But for the Copts, who trace their roots to the Apostle Mark, they were the latest in an escalating cycle of violence that began with the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 — but, in truth, really goes back centuries. In a pair of Tweets, President Donald Trump said he was "so sad to hear of the terrorist attack in Egypt," which the "U.S. strongly condemns." Trump added that he had confidence that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi "will handle [the] situation properly." The Tweets came just days after an apparent reset in American-Egyptian relations. During an Oval Office meeting last week, Trump said he and el-Sisi "agreed on so many things." "I just want to let everybody know, in case there was any doubt, that we are very much behind President el-Sisi," Trump said. "He's done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation. We are very much behind Egypt and the people of Egypt." El-Sisi on Sunday declared a three-month state of emergency and promised a "long and painful" fight against the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the bombings, the BBC reported. El-Sisi's ISIS hard line is encouraging and the apparent reset in American and Egyptian relations is welcome. But that doesn't mean the United States should give El- Sisi a pat on the head and a cookie and send him on his way. As a 2016 report by The Brookings Institution makes clear, el-Sisi has pretty much contented himself with leaving the plight of the Copts where it has stood since the reign of Anwar Sadat in the 1970s: With nearly non-existent political representation and with violence a fact of daily life. Consider: In 2011, a bomb at a Coptic church in Alexandria claimed the lives of 20 people and wounded nearly 100, CNN reported. Just a few months later 13 people were killed during a fracas between Christians and Muslims in Cairo. Last December, 25 were killed and 50 more were wounded when a suicide bomber attacked a smaller church near St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo. But perhaps the most indelible image (and not the direct fault of Egypt) in the eyes of most of the civilized world, was a 2015 video by ISIS that apparently showed the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya. As the Brookings report notes, el-Sisi has based his claim to legitimacy on a pose of tolerance. He's attended Christmas Eve services at Coptic churches, the first Egyptian president to do so. The president, part of Egypt's Sunni Muslim majority, won plaudits in 2015 for remarking that "It is important that the whole world watch us, the Egyptians...You noticed that I am not using another word than Egyptians...we are the Egyptians." But he has also failed to acknowledge 'de facto' discrimination against Coptic Christians. As of 2016, Egypt's 596-member parliament had just 36 Christian members, two-thirds of whom were elected under the country's first religious-based quota system. And while El-Sisi's "one Egypt" claim appears to suggest that he's a president for all the nation's citizens, the Brookings report also posits that "by refusing to acknowledge the differences between Christians and Muslims, he does not see Copts as a minority in need of protection and is therefore not willing to extend the necessary measures to proactively protect against or respond to attacks." Here, Trump and the United States can lead by moral example — by emphasizing the nation's history of religious pluralism and tolerance. Trump can also tie future American economic and humanitarian assistance to greater political representation for the Copts and — critically — by rolling out the welcome mat for refugees from all nations, regardless of their faith. Trump thankfully appeared to pivot from his "America First" policy with last week's cruise missile strike in Syria. He can continue his education on the world beyond Manhattan Island by putting el-Sisi on notice that American support comes with strings attached. Anaward-winningpolitical journalist, Micek is the Opinion Editor and Political Columnist for PennLive/The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. Readers may follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek and email him at jmicek@ pennlive.com. JohnMicek Don't overlook violence against Christians Cartoonist's take It is past time to provide readers with some factual ob- servations on the scandal (slightly side- lined by Syria and North Korea) that hasn't gone away: Abuse of the intelligence apparatus by the Obama admin- istration to at- tack, shackle and neutralize political opponents. Such abuse, which goes back to the contentious and contro- versial Iran nuclear deal, in- volves both legal and illegal activities by Obama's people in and out of the agencies; it makes Nixon's Watergate scan- dal pale in comparison. First, regarding President Trump not providing tax returns; he has no legal obligation (only tradition and his own stated goal of releasing them). It bears repeating a rather famous retort: "What difference, at this point, does it make?" I have yet to hear a substantive, relevant answer to that question, given that any issues of legality are between Trump and the IRS. I'd say release them but I could also make a case for not providing fodder for his enemies. We know from illegally leaked returns that Trump pays "huge" taxes and high rates. So what. Hillary never released her Clinton Foundation finances; nor Obama his college and law school records. Irony? To anyone expressing umbrage over the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired at the Syrian airport that launched saran gas attacks, by dictator (not "president") Assad: "Trump Doesn't Need Congress to Strike in Syria," (Stephen L. Carter, Bloomberg, 4/7). It was an act of war. "And, like most of America's wars, it will never be declared by Congress… "Every U.S. president, all the way back to the founding, has at some point used military force without first obtaining the approval of the legislative branch." Carter cites George Washington and the Northwest Indian War; James Monroe sending forces to conquer Amelia Island, off Florida; and James Buchanan sending Marines to Nicaragua. "In 1893, U.S. forces overthrew the government of Hawaii… On the eve of World War I, Woodrow Wilson ordered the Marines into Mexico." Ronald Reagan had Grenada; Kennedy took America to the brink of war with the Soviet Union over the Cuban Missile Crisis. "In 2011, the White House justified President Barack Obama's orders to attack Libya with the remarkable argument that because U.S. forces were conducting only bombing and using missiles, the actions did not constitute 'hostilities' within the meaning of the War Powers Resolution of 1973—a statute requiring that hostilities end within 90 days if no congressional approval is forthcoming." Can critics say with a straight face that these were ok, but not Trump? Even an overview of the "Obama wiretapped Trump" narrative (having no photo of Obama attaching "alligator clips" to a phone line in Trump's office is no refutation of the charge) cannot be confined to the relatively brief period between the election and Donald Trump's swearing-in on January 20. We have the words and actions of Obama's NSA adviser, Susan Rice, which must be discounted by her serial prevarications on five Sunday talk shows where she blatantly lied that the terrorist assault in Benghazi, Libya, resulted from an anti-Muslim video. Her statements about intelligence leaks damaging to Trump's NSA adviser, Gen. Mike Flynn, as well as her endless disclaimers that she "knew nothing about this" prior to proclaiming otherwise—will be worth lengthy hearings and pointed questions. Look up "These Are the Questions Susan Rice Needs to Answer Under Oath," by David Harsanyi, posted on April 12 at DonPolson. blogspot.com, with links: "Why did you lie to PBS about having no knowledge of the unmasking of Trump officials or family?" "Did you request that the identities of Trump campaign officials, transition team members, or family members be unmasked?" "Which Trump team members did you specifically ask to be unmasked, and why?" "In what way did unmasking these people have foreign intelligence value?" "In what way was this done to protect the American people?" A bombshell query: "Did anybody ask you to collect the unmasked information or disseminate it?" As far as a timeline goes, we know a FISA warrant to "wire- tap" (we all know the term means all manner of surveil- lance of all forms of communi- cation) Trump's staff was de- nied last summer, before be- ing granted in October. Those denying that are ignorant, de- ceiving or both. Just consider a headline from early April at The Hill: "How Obama's White House weaponized media against Trump," by Michael Doran. Partisans on the progressive left should really consider— before denying, diminishing and excusing the improper or illegal tactics used to delegitimize Trump—how they would react were the roles reversed. They launched a crusade to impeach Richard Nixon for far less that what it appears was done by and for Obama. Doran described the leak on Flynn as "a felony and a violation of his civil rights. But it was also a severe breach of the public trust." Based on his years as a national Security Council staffer, during which he read "dozens of NSA surveillance reports every day," Doran believes that "someone in the Obama White House blew a hole in the thin wall that prevents the government from using information collected from surveillance to destroy the lives of the citizens whose privacy it is pledged to protect. It can only be described as a White House campaign to hype the Russian threat and, at the same time, to depict Trump as Vladimir Putin's Manchurian candidate." Emphasizing the real collusion that took place, Doran tweeted (I'm extending his abbreviations): "A dirty little secret in DC: Journalists knew that Obama, in the final weeks, hyped the Russia issue, because the White House communications staff pestered them daily." Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@ yahoo.com. The way I see it Syria, taxes and intelligence leaks Trump can also tie future American economic and humanitarian assistance to greater political representation for the Copts and — critically — by rolling out the welcome mat for refugees from all nations, regardless of their faith. Don Polson John L. Micek StateandNational Assemblyman James Gallagher, 2060Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator.nielsen@sen- ate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393-0707, fax 415393-0710 U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, 501 I St., Ste. 7-600, Sacramento 95814, 916448-2787, fax 202 228-3865 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, Kristina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, April 18, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6