Update

I’ve been following the news from Taba for a couple hours now, and here’s what I can report. Last night it appears a truck drove into the Hilton there and exploded, killing an uncertain number of people and collapsing part of the hotel. A second bomb—probably carried on a suicide-bomber—exploded by the hotel pool. A short time later, two more explosions went off at resort areas to the south, also resulting in deaths and injuries. The main targets of the attacks were Israelis on vacation, though numerous Egyptians have been killed and injured as well. (This fits a typical pattern: in the embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya back in 1998, for instance, far more local people than Americans died.) The near simultaneous nature of the attacks instantly brings to mind Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda-inspired groups. Suggestions that these attacks are directly connected to ongoing fighting in Gaza do not, right now, seem terribly credible. It would be very hard for a Palestinian group to get across the border and stage such a complex attack, which also would have required extensive planning. It seems more likely this attack was organized and carried out at least in large part by Egyptians, though we obviously need to learn more before passing any judgments. Egypt reportedly has begun rounding up “suspects,” and I can only hope they’re getting the right people. One of the worst aspects of this situation is all the innocent people who will probably be hurt as the government cracks down. I am also concerned because a luxury hotel full of Israelis SHOULD be one of the most heavily defended and secured regions of the country. Terrorists hitting such a target successfully is not encouraging.

Having said this, I don’t want anyone to worry about us TOO much at this point. As I’ve written recently in a couple e-mails, we're being careful, while it’s still very unlikely we'll be caught up in any troubles. Egypt is a huge country with lots of foreigners, tourist sites, installations, etc. The list of potential targets runs easily in the thousands. There is, of course, still risk, and we're doing our best to assess it continually, but the odds are very much in our favor. This does NOT mean, of course, we are not concerned. We are thinking very carefully about what this means for us, and, as Presidents sometimes say, all options are on the table.

I will write more when I know more. Faith and I hope everyone is well and send our love.