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Mona Eltahawy, an acclaimed Egyptian-American journalist who was arrested and assaulted by Egyptian security forces last month, is now determined to tell the world about the spiraling situation in her homeland.
Eltahawy made an appearance on MSNBC's "The Dylan Ratigan Show" on Wednesday to discuss her troubling experience in Cairo.
On Nov. 24, Eltahawy was covering the protests in Tahrir Square when Egyptian security forces reportedly detained her. Over the course of the next 12 hours, Eltahawy was blindfolded, beaten and sexually assaulted by five or six men.
After she was released, Eltahawy immediately went to the hospital for treatment. Although her right hand and left arm were broken in the incident, she received no medical attention during her detainment.
Despite her suffering at the hands of Egyptian authorities, Eltahawy emphasized that what happened to her was "tiny compared to what has happened to so many Egyptians."
"The Army and security forces in Egypt have been sadistic. So many young men lost their eyes during that week that I was in Egypt," Etlahawy said. "Almost 40 people died. Three thousand people were injured during that time when I was injured. And not all those people have access to media the way that I do."
Eltahawy explained that the savagery of the military regime is even worse than many of the years spent under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak.
"The reason this revolution began was to fight exactly this type of brutality," she said.
Eltahawy also railed against the Obama administration and U.S. arms manufacturers for selling bullets, guns and tear gas canisters to the Egyptian regime.
"The U.S. administration gives the Egyptian military $1.3 billion in aid every year. That comprises 40 percent of the military's budget," Eltahawy said. "That military junta that is now oppressing us and beating us and sexually violating us in Egypt, in ways even worse than Mubarak, is being directly funded by the United States and this must stop."
Amnesty International criticized the U.S. government on Wednesday for allowing arms shipments to Egypt despite the current crackdowns on protesters, The Associated Press reported.
Although U.S. officials have acknowledged sending munitions shipments to Egypt, the government also condemned the Egyptian military's excessive use of force.
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