29 January 2011

Don't Fear Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

In fact, embrace and engage.

The secretive Islamic opposition group has long renounced violence and may be the most reasonable option.
If it were one of the Daily Beast regular morons, I would have hardly dedicated a post to that crapola. The problem about the author:
Bruce Riedel, a former long-time CIA officer, is a senior fellow in the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution. At Obama’s request, he chaired the strategic review of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009.
Yep.

Hat tip: Blazing Cat Fur.

6 comments:

Dick Stanley said...

One's comfort with the Muslim Brotherhood is probably best measured by the distance been you and them. As in, the farther the better.

GW said...

This from a 2009 WSJ Article on Obama's newly minted moderates, the Egyptian chapter of the MB:

The Brotherhood has long insisted it holds no prejudice against Christians. Yet an Islamic state -- based on faith, not citizenship rights -- remains the group's core belief. . . .

Later in 2007, the Brotherhood attempted to clarify its vision by distributing a draft program for a political party it aims to establish. The document stated that a woman or a Christian cannot become Egypt's president, and called for the creation of a special council of Islamic clerics to vet legislation. . . .

The latest controversy surrounding the Brotherhood stemmed from its behavior during Israel's Gaza war, a campaign initially seen as a boon to the Islamist movement. Harnessing widespread popular feelings of sympathy with the Palestinian cause, the Brotherhood organized two massive street demonstrations in Alexandria and Cairo during the war, attacking President Mubarak's regime for failing to help Gaza's Hamas rulers.

But these protests soon fizzled. Calls by some Brotherhood leaders to send fighters to Gaza alienated many Egyptians who have no desire to see their own country, at peace with Israel since 1979, embroiled in war once again. . . .
So in short, should the Muslim Brotherhood attain power in Egypt, one could reasonably expect that they would try to create something akin to Iran's theocracy and that they would take an aggressive, military posture against Israel.

That the MB in Egypt is today "non-violent" is a tactic, not an ideological principal.  Let's hope there are some adults in our government that understand the threat it poses.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

In our case they (if they get to manage Egypt) will be on the border. And in Gaza. Not a very nice situation.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Thanks, GW. Yes, it matches what I know and think about this specific gang. I hope Obama has by now somebody better than that ex-CIA dork to advise him on Middle East realities.

Yitzchak Goodman said...

Did you see this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2NAjwmM_jM

If the Ikhwan comes to power, the reasonable guy will be in big trouble.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Thanks Yitzchak, I think I shall post it too.