The Muslim Brotherhood Goes To Washington

Less than two years ago, the Muslim Brotherhood was banned in Egypt and now, after Obama affirmatively shoved Mubarak under the bus, they’re in control of Egypt, making the rounds in Washington D.C. on a diplomatic charm offensive. And we’re obligated by treaty to give them the time of day, not to mention billions of dollars. WTF happened here and where’s the outcry of international sanity?

Muslim Brotherhood officials aim to promote moderate image in Washington visit

Members of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood began a week-long charm offensive in Washington on Tuesday, meeting with White House officials, policy experts and others to counter persistent fears about the group’s emergence as the country’s most powerful political force.

The revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak has rapidly transformed the Brotherhood from an opposition group that had been formally banned into a political juggernaut controlling nearly half the seats in Egypt’s newly elected parliament.

With its rise, however, have come concerns from Egypt’s secularists as well as U.S. officials that the Islamist group could remake the country, threatening the rights of women and religious minorities. Such fears were only exacerbated by the Brotherhood’s recent decision to field a candidate in upcoming presidential elections, despite previous pledges that it would not do so.

See also:
The Muslim Brotherhood courts Washington
The Muslim Brotherhood comes to Washington
Muslim Brotherhood seeks U.S. alliance as it ascends in Egypt
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood seeks ‘bridges of understanding’ with Washington
Egypt’s Brotherhood launches U.S. diplomatic push
Muslim Brotherhood envoys met with White House officials in DC
White House meets with Muslim Brotherhood in effort to engage Egypt’s political actors
White House downplays meeting with Muslim Brotherhood
White House Defends Meetings with Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood Attempts To Charm U.S. Skeptics
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Woos Washington
Muslim Brotherhood US charm offensive belies domestic reality
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Woos Washington
Muslim Brotherhood Delegation Visits D.C.
Muslim Brotherhood Delegation Visits Washington
Delegation from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Visits Washington

Moderate, charm offensive?

Allah is our objective.
The Prophet is our leader.
Qur’an is our law.
Jihad is our way.
Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.

/if you don’t see the problem here, you don’t know taqiyya like they know taqiyya

Smart Diplomacy Comes Home To Roost

Remember when Obama was all about shoving long time U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak under the bus? Well, apparently, he and his State Department didn’t think through the consequences very well. Or, if they did, they’re really dumb or naive or both.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood names Khairat al-Shater as presidential candidate

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood announced on Saturday it will field its deputy chairman, Khairat al-Shater, as a candidate in the upcoming presidential election.

The Brotherhood’s supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, announced Shater’s nomination in a news conference and read out a brief statement from Shater, who was not present.

“After it was decided to field my name in the presidential elections, I can only accept the decision of the Brotherhood. I will therefore resign from my position as deputy chairman,” Shater’s statement said.

The Brotherhood’s political arm, the Justice and Freedom Party (JFP), also announced the decision on its Facebook page on Saturday.

See also:
Egypt Brotherhood candidate stirs unease
Egypt’s Brotherhood candidate stirs unease, even on Facebook
Revolution’s Spearhead?
Egypt Brotherhood candidate: sharia is main goal
Egypt Brotherhood candidate says sharia is main goal
Muslim Brotherhood candidate alters Egypt’s election race
Why the U.S. May Be Secretly Cheering a Muslim Brotherhood Run For Egypt’s Presidency
Muslim Brotherhood Finally Takes it a Step Too Far
Brotherhood defends Al-Shater’s nomination, Abdullah Al-Asha’al backs him
Profile: Egypt’s Khairat al-Shater
Egypt’s “Engineer”: A Look Under the Hood
Egypt candidate: Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat al-Shater
Khairat El-Shater
Justice and Freedom Party
Freedom and Justice Party (Egypt)

Seriously, what informed person in their right mind didn’t see this coming? The Muslim Brotherhood already controls a majority in the Egyptian parliament and now they’re going for the political jugular to solidify their power. If they’re successful, it won’t bode well for Christians, women, or relations with Israel and the United States and it certainly won’t resemble anything close to what the West calls democracy.

/was this impending ugliness the change the feckless, Utopian Obama Foreign Policy Clown Posse was hoping for?

Miss Mubarak Yet?

How’s that Arab Spring working out?

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood holds anti-Semetic rally, draws thousands at Cairo’s top mosque vowing to ‘one day kill all the Jews’

A Muslim revival at Cairo’s most prominent mosque Friday that drew 5,000 worshippers reportedly turned into a hate-fueled rally, complete with repeated vows to “one day kill all the Jews.”

Led by the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest and best-organized political party, the crowd that gathered at the al-Azhar Mosque chanted “Tel Aviv! Tel Aviv! Judgment Day has come!” according to Israeli website Ynetnews.com.

Palestinian guest speakers and spokesmen for the Muslim Brotherhood roused the crowd with speeches aiming to incite Jihad directed at Israel, specifically promoting a “battle against Jerusalem’s Judaization.”

See also:
Cairo rally: One day we’ll kill all Jews
Muslim Brotherhood activists vow to ‘one day kill all Jews’
Islamists Chant “One Day We Will Kill All Jews” at Cairo Rally
‘One day, we’ll kill all the Jews’
Cairo rally: One day we’ll kill all Jews
Ruthless men hide behind veil of religion
ANALYSIS-Islamists strong ahead of Egypt poll, unrest seen an asset
New Clashes as Egypt Prepares for Elections
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Versus Army: Disastrous Elections or Bloody Civil War?
Obama Administration supporting objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

Call Mubarak a dictator, a thug, call him whatever you want, at least he was able to keep a lid on the Muslim Brotherhood and, for the most part, order in the streets. What Egypt has now is rioting in the streets and the Muslim Brotherhood openly advocating genocide against the Jews.

/oh and Parliamentary elections in Egypt are supposed to start Monday, what if the Muslim Brotherhood does well?

Open Season On Christians In Egypt

With Mubarak no longer in power to keep the social lid on, Egypt’s Muslim majority is doing what it does best, practicing their religion of peace and tolerance by attacking and killing Christians and burning down their churches.

Christians: Egypt allows attacks

Egypt’s Coptic church blasted authorities Monday for allowing repeated attacks on Christians with impunity as the death toll from a night of rioting rose to 26, most of them Christians staging a peaceful protest in Cairo over an attack on a church.

The spiritual leader of the Coptic Christian minority, Pope Shenouda III, declared three days of mourning, praying and fasting for the victims, starting today. He also presided over funerals for some of the Christians who were killed. Sunday’s sectarian violence was the worst in Egypt since the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The clashes Sunday night raged over a large section of downtown Cairo and drew in Christians, Muslims and security forces. The violence began when about 1,000 Christian protesters tried to stage a peaceful sit-in outside the government-run television building along the Nile in downtown Cairo. The protesters said they were attacked with sticks, and the violence then spiraled out of control after a speeding military vehicle jumped onto a sidewalk and hit some of the Christians.

There was no breakdown available of how many Christians and Muslims were among the victims, but the 26 are believed to be mostly Christian. Officials said at least three soldiers were among the dead. Nearly 500 people were injured. Egypt’s official news agency said dozens have been arrested.

See also:
Anger boils over church attack in Egypt, at least 24 killed
Row over Coptic village church puts Egypt on edge
Christian, Muslim clashes rock Cairo
After Deadly Clashes, Egypt’s Christians On Edge
Egypt Violence Piles Pressure on Army to Hand Over Power Faster
Analysis: Situation only getting worse for Egypt’s Christians
The Copts Will Fight But they won’t win
Egypt’s Anti-Christian Violence: How Things Got So Bad
Vatican treads carefully on Egyptian violence
Siddiqui: Chill breeze in Arab Spring
Egypt riots reveal brutal reality behind ‘Arab Spring’

Remember, Obama and Hillary Clinton publicly called for Mubarak’s ouster and hailed the Egyptian “revolution” as an exercise in free democracy. Well, how’s that working out?

/also notice that, now that Christians are being killed in the streets and their churches burned down, Obama and Clinton are silent and nowhere to be found regarding the ongoing persecution by Muslims

About Those Libyan “Rebels”

Be careful what you wish for, because it probably won’t turn out the way you’d hoped it would.

Islamic law at heart of new Libyan constitution

The Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) has issued a draft of a new constitution which has Islamic law as its foundation.

According to the document issued by the TNC, Islam will be the state religion and the principal source of legislation will be the sharia (Islamic law).

See also:
Libyan Draft Constitution: Sharia Is ‘Principal Source Of Legislation’…
DOCUMENT: Libya’s Draft Constitutional Charter
Draft Libya Constitution Puts Sharia Front and Center
Libyan Draft Constitution: Sharia is ‘Principal Source of Legislation’
What Will Libya Look Like?
Sharia In Libya
Libya Made Safe for Sharia?
Did NATO help pave the way for Sharia law in Libya?
New Constitution for Libya to Enforce Sharia Law?

Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya, three countries the United States has made safe for the constitutional dominance of Islamic law through force of arms. These are also three countries where Christians are routinely persecuted and killed just for being Christians living under Muslim rule.

And then there’s Egypt, where the U.S. encouraged the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and downplayed the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood gaining power. Well, now Egyptian elections are coming up soon and it looks like the Muslim Brotherhood will, indeed, dominate the next government of Egypt. While Mubarak was in power, Egypt was Israel’s strongest partner in Middle East peace. Now, after Mubarak, the majority of Egyptians are calling for an abrogation of the peace treaty with Israel, weapons are being freely smuggled to Hamas through Egypt, and terrorist attacks are being launched against Israel from Egyptian soil.

/is this the type of “democracy” and “freedom” the United States is looking to spread throughout the Middle East region?

From Mubarak To The Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood motto:

Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Quran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.

Sure, let’s talk to them, great idea, what could possibly go wrong? At least with Mubarak, we had someone committed to peace in the region and peace with Israel.

U.S. to expand contacts with Muslim Brotherhood

The U.S. government has decided to expand contacts with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, officials said Thursday, a shift that reflects the Islamist group’s growing role since the pro-democracy uprising in the key Arab country.

“We believe, given the changing political landscape in Egypt, that it is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful and committed to nonviolence, that intend to compete for the parliament and the presidency,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in Budapest. “And we welcome, therefore, dialogue with those Muslim Brotherhood members who wish to talk with us.”

See also:
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood welcomes US talks
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood welcomes US talks
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood welcomes U.S. talks
Wiesenthal Center angry over US, Brotherhood talks
Wiesenthal Center slams US position on Muslim Brotherhood
Key US lawmaker condemns Muslim Brotherhood talks
Muslim Brotherhood to U.S.: Stop Backing Israel and We’ll Talk
Will Hamas be the next extremist group to be engaged by the U.S.?
The U.S. may be heading toward talks with Hamas

So now the United States is going to enter into formal diplomatic relations with Israel’s sworn enemies, how cool is that? Whoever in the Obama administration thinks this is a good idea is high on drugs or clearly on the wrong side of Middle East peace.

/one thing they surely are not is a friend of Israel

How’s That Egyptian “Democracy” Working Out?

Hey Obama, thanks for throwing Mubarak under the bus. Say hello to the next government of Egypt.

Brotherhood’s party officially declared

The Committee of Parties’ Affairs on Monday gave a final and official nod to the Freedom and Justice Party, which was created by the Muslim Brotherhood, to become the first party declared after the fall of Hosni Mubarak regime.

See also:
Muslim Brotherhood’s party officially registered in Egypt
Egypt’s Brotherhood declared legal
Egypt approves new party of Muslim Brotherhood
Brotherhood party legal in Egypt for first time
FJP Receives Approval
MB Chairman congratulates FJP’s Acceptance
Secular groups and Brotherhood argue over constitution
Brotherhood dismisses poll suggesting it has little support

I’m sure, when they take control of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood will maintain secular harmony and peace with Israel, right?

/or will it be one man, one vote, one time Sharia and war on the Jews?

Egypt Votes, But For What Exactly?

Egypt had a free and fair vote to amend the Egyptian constitution, that’s a good thing, right? Not so fast.

Egypt Approves Amendments

Egyptians voted in overwhelming numbers to approve a set of constitutional amendments, setting the stage for Egypt’s first truly contested parliamentary and presidential elections in decades.

Saturday’s historic referendum on the amendments saw millions of enthusiastic Egyptians wait patiently for hours to cast ballots in what for almost everyone was a novelty—a vote in which the result wasn’t effectively predetermined.

The largely peaceful and fraud-free vote was a marked contrast to past elections and a glimpse of how much has changed in Egypt in the weeks since President Hosni Mubarak stepped down amid widespread unrest, ending decades of single-party, autocratic rule.

Yet Saturday’s referendum also offered early clues into the rifts likely to shape Egyptian politics in the coming months and years. Many of the largely secular liberals who led the revolution that ousted Mr. Mubarak were opposed to the amendments, strongly suggesting the protest leaders have fallen out of sync with the vast majority of Egyptians.

Protest leaders criticized the amendments as part of a rushed and problematic timeline for establishing democracy; approving the changes started the clock on a race they said they are unprepared to run because they are still setting up parties.

Almost alone among the political groups in support of the amendments were the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group outlawed under Mr. Mubarak, and the National Democratic Party, the former president’s ruling party. Both hope to capitalize on their already strong organizations in summer elections for parliament, which will then be charged with writing an entirely new constitution.
. . .

Journalists covering the announcement abandoned any pretenses of objectivity and yelled “Allahu Akbar!”—”God is Great!”—when the tallies were read out by officials.

See also:
How Egypt’s historic referendum could now bolster Islamists
Big majority vote for constitutional changes in Egypt
Egypt Backs Constitutional Changes That May Aid Brotherhood, Mubarak Party
Egypt: Constitution changes pass in referendum
Egyptians approve constitutional amendments in referendum
Egyptians overwhelmingly approve constitutional changes
Egyptians set for summer elections
Egyptian voters say ‘yes’ to speedy elections
Egypt’s Historic Referendum: Rushed But Moving
Egypt referendum results: 77.2 per cent say ‘Yes’ to the amendments
Egypt approves amendments, prepares for next step
Egyptians get taste of democracy in post-Mubarak era
Egyptians approve constitutional changes, clearing way for elections

Egypt has zero recent history of democracy or diverse political parties. So, obviously, whatever groups are already the most organized will benefit the most from the early elections just approved. And what’s the most organized group in Egypt? The Muslim Brotherhood. What happens if the Muslim Brotherhood comes to dominate the democratically elected parliament after this summer’s elections and, therefore, gets to write the new Egyptian constitution?

/it could very well turn out to be “one man, one vote, one time”

Algeria Circling The Drain

First there was political upheaval in Pakistan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and now Algeria is the latest Muslim country domino to teeter on the edge of open revolt.

Thousands in Streets of Algiers Demanding Change of Government

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Algeria’s capital and other main cities demanding the government’s ouster, mirroring protests in fellow North African countries Egypt and Tunisia.

A day after pro-democracy protesters drove Egypt’s longtime leader Hosni Mubarak from power, Algerians were in the streets demanding their own President Abdelaziz Bouteflika leave office.

Protesters chanting, “No to the police state!” and “Bouteflika out!”. News reports say crowds were in the thousands but far out numbered by riot police.

Protests also took place in other cities, including the Mediterranean hub of Oran, also against government orders.

See also:
ALGERIA: Clashes, arrests reported at banned anti-government demonstration
Thousands protest in Algeria, defying government warnings; 400 arrested but ‘the fear is gone’
Thousands Defy Ban To Protest In Algeria
400 arrested in Algeria at rally demanding reforms
Thousands rally to demand Algerian leader resign
Hundreds arrested as Algeria defies protest ban
Police and protesters clash in Algeria
Algerian opposition says 5,000 people participate in demonstration
Algeria: Police And Protesters Clash
Algerian police crack down on protesters
Algeria begins crackdown on pro-democracy demos
Algerian Riot Police Break Up Protest

I’d sure like to believe that the anti-government demonstrations in all these countries, one after the other, represented a wave of Western democracy marching through the Muslim world, but color me skeptical. None of these countries has any democratic history and their populations are decidedly non-secular. Even the countries held up as models of Muslim “democracy”, such as Turkey or Indonesia, have societies heavily steeped in Islamic law, antithetical to Western values.

/one thing’s for sure, whatever becomes of these Muslim countries currently embroiled in various stages of popular rebellion, the end result, in the aggregate, is likely to be decidedly less secular and less friendly to the West

Your Tax Dollars At Work In Egypt

Seventy billion, with a B? For comparison, Forbes lists the world’s richest person as Carlos Slim with $53.5 billion.

Mubarak family fortune could reach $70bn, say experts

President Hosni Mubarak’s family fortune could be as much as $70bn (£43.5bn) according to analysis by Middle East experts, with much of his wealth in British and Swiss banks or tied up in real estate in London, New York, Los Angeles and along expensive tracts of the Red Sea coast.

After 30 years as president and many more as a senior military official, Mubarak has had access to investment deals that have generated hundreds of millions of pounds in profits. Most of those gains have been taken offshore and deposited in secret bank accounts or invested in upmarket homes and hotels.

See also:
How much Is Egypt’s President Mubarak Worth? Some Say $70 Billion And Counting
The Mubarak Family’s Wealth
Hosni Mubarak richest man in world: Report
Hosni Mubarak richest man in world with estimated 70 billion dollar fortune: Report
Egyptian President Mubarak Is Richest Man In The World
Experts Say Mubarak Family’s Net Worth is Billions
Hosni Mubarak family’s $70 billion fortune
Mubarak’s wealth could reach 70bn
It Pays Well to Be Egypt’s Dictator
Egypt’s Mubarak Likely to Retain Vast Wealth
How did Egypt become so corrupt?

This is just beyond all ridiculousness. I mean, how the [expletive deleted] was Mubarak allowed to amass all this ill-gotten gain? The U.S. government must have known where all this money was going, how could they let this travesty happen?

/all I can say is that before Mister World Record Corruption Person gets to go anywhere and retire, he needs to be forced to disgorge every last [expletive deleted] penny of misappropriated U.S. taxpayer money