Ally?

We must support our ally Egypt, the cry goes up. ” I stand ready to assist President Obama in the pursuit of a policy that defends our invaluable ally; and advances Egyptians’ inalienable, peaceful aspirations,” says an email message from Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan.

And I’m reminded of reports on Voice of the Martyrs , like this one from November 2010: “Egyptian Christians fear for their safety as false allegations, violent threats and mass demonstrations pile up against the Church in Egypt. Muslim anger was ignited last month when entirely unfounded accusations were made on Al-Jazeera TV that Egyptian Christians were aligned with Israel and stockpiling weapons in preparation for waging war against Muslims. (Egypt borders Israel as well as the Gaza Strip.) Tensions were also fueled by Islamist leaders falsely accusing Christians of kidnapping and torturing women who had converted to Islam. Egyptian Christians’ rights were subsequently threatened by the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, a government body, which confirmed Egypt to be an Islamic state where ‘the citizenship rights of non-Muslims were conditional to their abiding by the Islamic identity of the State.’ Thousands of Muslims with the Front of Islamic Egypt have promised Christians a ‘bloodbath’ in at least 10 mass demonstrations.”

Under pressure from the US, Mubarak has helped the Copts, but injustices large and small remain entrenched in Egypt. Do we want or need such an “invaluable ally”?