CBS war correspondent Lara Logan went to Egypt to cover the protests against Hosni Mubarek in its early, heady days of hope n’ change. She was detained, interrogated, and released. Undeterred, she returned to Egypt last week to continue covering the story and to interview Wael Ghonim, the young Google executive who played a pivotal role in orchestrating the protests.
Caught up in the final massive anti-Mubarak protest, Logan was surrounded by a mob of men, separated from her crew, and brutally beaten and sexually assaulted. A group of women and Egyptian soldiers finally rescued her. CBS
got her out of the country and hospitalized as soon as possible.
This is a personal horror for Logan, and we all wish her a speedy physical and emotional recovery.
There are, however, some lessons in this horrendous attack for the rest of us:
- The Western reporters who went into Tahrir Square to cover the demonstrations got swept up in the fantasy that they were “one of them,” meaning that they felt they were part of the story as well as its chroniclers. The result? Even though most were with security, they let their guards down, becoming enamored of the wondrous “democracy movement” they were witnessing. The result? Many of them got attacked: Fox News’s Greg Palkot, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, ABC’s Brian Hartman, CBS’s Lara Logan. They were not “one of them.” And the Egyptians made that brutally clear.
- The Muslim Brotherhood has played a role in the protests from the start, has been orchestrating the transition, and is now running the show in less obvious ways. Yesterday they formed a formal political party to run in the upcoming elections, should they ever take place. And the godfather of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Youssef al-Qaradawi, is now speaking out about the need for Sharia in Egypt and elsewhere and the creation of a renewed Islamic caliphate, what he calls a “united Muslim nations.” When the enemy tells you who they are and what they intend to do, believe them. Today the New York Times has one article saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is not relevant in Egypt, and another article saying that a radical MB member has been named to the transition panel advising on a new government. It’s all so obvious. We just choose not to see it.
- As I’ve been saying, I hope this revolt produces true freedom and human rights for the Egyptian people. But no one has taken the time or thought to ask: Is that what THEY want? That is a serious question. Because so far, it looks like the Egypt that will emerge will be not the one that came to Lara Logan’s rescue, but the one that attacked her.