Egyptian Government, Egyptian Pig Farmers Square Off Over Swine Flu

We previously reported in this space that the Egyptian government has ordered the slaughter of the nation's herd of 300,000 pigs to stem the surge of swine flu that never existed to begin with.

And while the Egyptian pigs have been taking the news of their death sentences with utmost diplomatic grace, the farmers that own them have been somewhat less cooperative...

Egyptian police and armored cars charged into a crowd of a 1,000 irate pig farmers armed with stones and bottles, leaving 12 people injured as residents of a Cairo slum resisted government efforts to slaughter the nation's pigs to guard against swine flu.

Egypt last week ordered the slaughter of all the country's 300,000 pigs even though no cases of swine flu have been reported here. The World Health Organization has said the move was unnecessary because the virus is being spread through humans.

Americans, far removed from the conflict, might consider the Egyptian pig farmers' tactics to be a bit extreme. But before we cast judgment, let's look no farther than our own nation's lawmakers-- some of whom have also resorted to thoroughly undiplomatic behavior when told to kill off massive piles of pork.