After maintaining a low profile in protests led largely by secular young Egyptians, the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition force, appeared to be taking a more assertive role Thursday, issuing a statement asking for President Hosni Mubarak to step aside for a transitional government.
“We demand that this regime is overthrown, and we demand the formation of a national unity government for all the factions,” the Brotherhood said in a statement broadcast by Al Jazeera.
The Obama administration has spoken cautiously about the future role of the Brotherhood, which has long been banned by Mr. Mubarak’s government, saying only that all parties must renounce violence and accept democracy. But one of the few near-certainties of a post-Mubarak Egypt is that the Muslim Brotherhood will emerge as a powerful political force.
It’s intentions are not unclear at all if you were watching Glen Beck the other day: from the Brotherhood’s own website: destruction of Israel and death to all Jews.
What part of that is not clear?
Here’s a vision of Egypt under Sharia/Muslim Brotherhood control:
http://anglicansablaze.blogspot.com/2011/02/11-killed-in-peshawar-car-bombing.html
Human life is cheap. Especially women and children and non-muslims. Women are objects to use, sell, stone and behead. Children may be used for either sex or power.
Their motto is “Allah is our objective, the Prophet is our leader, the Koran is our law, Jihad is our method, and dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” Tha sure sounds pretty vague. Not to mention about an hour ago a leader of the MB said they intend to take over the government and prepare for war with Isreal immediately. That’s pretty vague too. I did a cursory review of them on the net and found out stuff, in about 15 minutes, that will curl your toenails (including a report to the Senate Homeland Security Committee). If anybody in Washington is confused, its only because they want to be. I truly hope that our leaders are merely incompetent.
Did someone forget to tell the Obama administration that it was the secular young people that were at the forefront of the Iranian uprising that forced the Shah out of power? Gosh, how’d that work out for them?
#4–About the same way Hope and Change are working out for you.
Really, the New York Times is becoming a parody. How could they seriously print a headline saying that the Muslim Brotherhood’s intentions are unclear? In Egypt, their goal is an Islamist state. How could anyone not know this?
#2 Peshawar is in Pakistan. It’s kind of like saying American Orthodox Christians are responsible for Serbian genocide. I know they all seem the same, but the geopolitics is a little different.
I’m pretty impressed we have so many scholars of Islam and geopolitics here.
Clearly the Muslim Brotherhood is Anti-Zionist – lots of Arabs are. But they’re Sunni, so they’re organized differently; and they live in a country that has a stronger secular culture. If they think they can impose sharia in Egypt, they must not be that bright.
That they are behind a secular leader diminishes my own personal fears. I have no doubt some have inflammatory rhetoric; but given their behavior during the protests, I think the Police are much more violent.
But most of all, I think that we just need to be afraid of something.