What happened at the Mar Mina Church in Imbaba calls for tough action by the Higher Council of the Armed Forces (HCAF). The Salafis have gone too far. They are jeopardising the future of the country, have no interest in the law, and no respect for the state. They are a danger to civic peace because they provoke Copts into taking to the streets in defence of their religion. The Salafis are dragging the country into a civil confrontation that we simply cannot have. They are a menace to the 25 January Revolution. Over the past three months, they fought every week for control of the Nour Mosque, they staged demonstrations of sectarian nature in Alexandria; they cut off and slept on the railway track in Qena. For much of the public, their actions appear as a direct consequence of the revolution, not a side effect. This is scary; for it is a threat to the democracy, dignity and security we all aspire to. The Salafis have singlehandedly undermined the 25 January Revolution, sown sedition between Copts and Muslims, and instigated acts of defiance against the state. The worst part is that they have done all of that in broad daylight, and yet the government did nothing to stop them. The government is not applying the law against them, which prompts them to make more ridiculous demands. Now they want the government to look into the heart of their Coptic "sister", Camilia Shehata, to see if she meant what she said when she told a television station that she was Christian and would remain so until she died, or if she was lying because of the pressure the church put on her. That piety can be something between man and God doesn't seem to interest them. The Salafis, who seem capable of taking to the streets and smashing everything in their way over the slightest rumour, are tied to an umbilical cord that extends beyond the borders of this country. They wear deshdashas, wave Saudi flags, and call Osama bin Ladin a great man of jihad. A man who has killed thousands of innocent people is a model Muslim in their eyes. They embrace the Wahhabi doctrine, a doctrine that is undergoing revision in its own birthplace, with many trying to bring it closer to mainstream and moderate Islam and keep it away from violence and terrorism. Unfortunately, the rest of our political groups, including those of political Islam, are not speaking up against the Salafis and the threats they pose to religion and country. On the contrary, certain groups are flirting with the Salafis and see them as allies of the Islamist cause, notwithstanding the disruption they are bound to cause come the next elections. We are reliving the nightmare of the old regime, not because the remnants of the old regime are out to get us, but because our ways have not changed. The silent majority is still silent and the speaking majority is still wrapped up in its own game. Meanwhile, the religious current is running loose, using thugs and opportunists to wreck the revolution and hoping to remake the country in its own image. Egypt has not changed a bit, except that the chaos, poverty, quarrels, destruction, moral decay, and insecurity are getting worse. The HCAF, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, and the government, led by Essam Sharaf, have a duty to save Egypt from a potential civil war. They have already lost an opportunity or two to act. We call on them to stop talking about protecting the revolution and start saving the country. What good is protecting the revolution if we lose the country? They must strike against the opportunists, the sedition mongers and the hypocrites. They must take action against those who lifted them high on their shoulders only to throw them into the fire. This is no time for shyness or good manners. This is no time for a Gulf tour or attempts to retrieve money that we all know is lost. Protect the country from those who speak of democracy but don't mean it. Protect the country from hooligans, from those who want us to live like nomads, and from those with a persecution complex. Forget the law, for what happened calls not for due process but for swift deterrence. This is the time to save a country from being shredded apart. If you need, strike with an iron fist, and hold speedy military trials. Sedition is a question of national security. As such, it is part and parcel of the job and doctrine of the Armed Forces. Those who want to set the country on fire must be treated not as common criminals but as traitors. We cannot watch Egypt burn while the criminals hide behind tanks. This is the time to ask ourselves: Have we staged a revolution that we don't deserve?
