September 13th, 2012

House Intelligence Committee Chair: Libya attack was at least done by an Al Qaeda affiliate

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, weighs in on attacks and uprisings in the Middle East; whether Egypt is an ally or enemy; and the Arab Spring’s role in the current conflicts.

Rep. Rogers says, “The problem is, in Egypt, there’s a great example of the Arab spring. The people who caused the uprising, caused the change in government, caused the revolution in Egypt aren’t really part of the government now. So it was the youth, it was the folks who were disenfranchised, highly educated, very high unemployment and very well-connected with social media, which is the thing that tipped this thing over. But those people weren’t very organized. The Muslim Brotherhood had been there for a long time. They had a political organization. I think if you sampled the people who helped turn Egypt over, they’re not — they’re feeling a little disenfranchised, the day that Morsi was sworn in. That’s the problem you have in the Arab spring. And we see it kind of filtering around all over, a little bit in Libya, a smaller amount in Tunisia, but certainly in Egypt, the same in Yemen. So you see these changes where people still, on the day of the free election, still feel disenfranchised. And that’s something we haven’t quite gotten our arms around yet. “

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs weekday mornings from 7-9am ET on CNN.