earlier this month an apache helicopter attack on picnicking tourists in egypt made global headlines. 8 mexicans and 4 egyptians were killed; 6 mexicans were also injured (hurt).

apache: enough fire power to a picnic

written by daniel hernandez had this headline

Egypt To Mexico After Tourist Killings: Shit Happens in War

shit happens is a popular, philosophical shit expression.  it’s used when something undesired happens and indicates that some negativity in life is inevitable. shit in this context should be understood as stuff or things.

a popular t-shirt but not a great justification for

vice’s headline was in response to comments from egypt’s foreign minister sameh shoukry who wrote in an open letter that

it would defy reason to think that egypt’s law enforcement authorities could ever deliberately harm innocent tourists. in fact, egypt’s prosperity and the very livelihood of its citizens depend enormously on the tourism sector

defy means go against, resist. livelihood is how people make a living, a job.

harm means danger or injure. in harm’s way is a common expression used to refer to being in a dangerous place.

is it a good idea to have a picnic in harm’s way? (roger motzkus)

shoukry also compared egypt’s war on terror to mexico’s issues with violence resulting from a war on drugs

the drug war in mexico has killed tens of thousands of innocent people, a large portion of them law enforcement officials. if anything, this shows that egypt and mexico face similar challenges. we are all together in the same boat, sailing in a stormy ocean.

all in the same boat is an expression used to indicate shared problems.

a visual for  all in the same boat (dreamstime.com)

not everyone in egypt feels like it’s one big, collective boat, though. brigadier general mohamed samir, a spokesman for the egyptian military stated

when it comes to tourists, it is a ministry of interior issue, not ours. this incident has nothing to do with the army even if the army and police carried out the operation together.

carry out means do, complete.

could this tragedy have been prevented? or shit just happens? share your opinion under leave a reply