Like other messes Sir— Who is to blame? You can blame the home team's supporters for murdering the away team's supporters; the people of Egypt for being hoodwinked into thinking Morsi was going to be anything other than an out and out Islamist, with no thought of those who he promised to support but won't; the fact that there will only be more bloodshed and rioting because the two opposing factions will never agree. This can only descend into the mess that mirrors what is happening in Libya; is happening in Syria and is likely to spill over into Jordan, the Emirates and Saudi Arabia. What price a gallon of gas then, assuming we can sit back and ignore the many deaths of innocent people? Justin Antinoph Washington USA
Democracy's drawbacks Sir— I think innocent people are safer with a democratically elected government than not. There is a format and platform for raising doubts and misgivings without resorting to riots. Democracy is not perfect, particularly when politicians deliberately mislead and lie to gain votes, when the elections can be rigged by closing before those that have been waiting patiently actually get to vote, by not allowing some sections of society a chance to vote. No doubt there are many more problems but it is far better than people only having a dictator to vote for. Dalia Youssef Cairo Egypt
Sucker punched Sir— Seems as though now that normal Egyptians have found out just what kind of totalitarianism the Brotherhood really represents, they are ready to fight on the streets again. Many Egyptians feel they got gypped. These people got sucker punched by Morsi and the Brotherhood. They thought they were going to have a democracy or something close to it. The Muslim Brotherhood are the dictatorial elitist not unlike what we have in Washington. The only difference is in the US there hasn't been blood in the streets. Yet. Nicholas Frenkel Massachusettes USA
Growing up with Islamists Sir— Having grown up and lived with the Islamist extremists, why would the people of Egypt expect them to keep their promises not to inflict their religious agenda upon the country? They have never honoured their word before. They want to follow the Iranian template and have a government of elected officials controlled by a dictatorial clergy. For the average Egyptian, it will be the same, oppressed life as they had under Mubarak. Susan Tuller Washington USA
Not even Hillsborough Sir— And all this grief over a game of football, makes you think doesn't it? Makes the punishments for Hillsborough look pretty tame, thankfully. All that happens is that you simply replace one despot with another, so why don't we stop meddling in the affairs of other countries? I don't think even Mubarak would have handed out death sentences for this. Philip Boldit London UK
Using our weapons Sir— I thought Egypt used to be our ally. We just gave them $1.5 billion. Egypt does not need 16 Jet fighters from the US and I hope Congress will re-examine this decision. Why would the US send $1 billion and military jets (and Americans will have to train them) to a country led by an Islamist leadership who hates the US? Where is common sense? They might use it on Israel and American interests. I feel we will be fighting against our own weapons in the future. This is the Muslim Brotherhood group that hates America and the West. Yet Obama and Hillary have nothing but praise and have given them millions of American taxpayer dollars in aid. A Gallup poll last year found that 80 per cent of Egyptians don't want US money. Why do we keep giving it to them? We send that country money for the Brotherhood apparently since they run things. Emilio Chacko New York USA
Egg's end Sir— In Lilliput (Gulliver's Travels), the wars were fought over which end of the egg should be cracked for breakfast. It is never about the details, but about warring mentality, and how the few manipulate the many. Keep power by keeping the crowd divided. It's called divide and conquer. There's a lot of it about. Nicky Bermar Minneapolis USA
