Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, on Israeli television, said the Egyptian forces deployed on the border between Egypt and Gaza aren't capable of stopping the weapons smuggling, blaming Israel for not agreeing to let Egypt deploy even more troops above and beyond the limits in the Israel-Egypt peace treaty.
The boundary between Egypt and Gaza is only nine miles long, with the Egyptian side consisting of a vast expanse of thinly populated desert with little vegetation. Egypt would have little difficulty shutting down the arms smuggling if it had desired, even without the additional military whose deployment Israel has already allowed.
Ultimately, this abdication of responsibility will come back to haunt Egypt in the same way the virus of terrorism Egypt harnessed for many years against Israel eventually spread to afflict Egypt as well. The Muslim Brotherhood, which poses an existential threat to the authoritarian regime of Hosni Mubarak, will only gain strength as a result of the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, its Palestinian Arab counterpart.
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Postscript: Egypt Blames Iran for Fueling Gaza Violence. It's reported Egypt has reinforced its border with Gaza and accused Iran of threatening its security. Fearing an influx of thousands of refugees, dozens of extra police have reinforced the paramilitary troops guarding the border fence.
It's amazing that Egypt claims it can't do anything more to keep weapons from going into Gaza, but is acting quickly to keep Gazans from going into Egypt!
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