In choosing Luxor for this carnage, the Islamic militants who are hoping to overthrow Egypt's secular government targeted not only the foreign infidels who contribute so much to its Western-oriented economy but also the country's most spectacular symbols of Pharaonic, pre-Islamic glory.
In recent weeks, activists and scholars have been shot dead amid a nationwide campaign against "Hindu-baiters" that targets secular intellectuals and "westernised" women as well as public figures with Muslim and Christian names, and western NGOs such as Greenpeace.
To learn more about the Reason Rally and how discrimination and bigotry targets secular Americans -- sometimes leading to death threats against teenagers and suicides -- read the full story at InThese Times here.
The Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taleban Pakistan) promptly said they did it because Mir was targeting them with a "secular agenda"—and anyone "targeting the Taliban would be targeted with explosives".
The Pakistani Taliban has vowed to disrupt the poll by targeting secular and liberal parties.
Nicholas D. Kristof's April 24 column was on target: secular fundamentalists tar with as broad a brush as Christian fundamentalists.
Far more than the secular Ba'athist regimes targeted by the Washington neo-cons, the Saudis have turned the face of Islam against the west.
