As Egypt goes...so goes the Middle East?

by Clay Bennett

As the world watches events unfolding in Egypt, it is very unclear as to who all the players are and what the outcome will be.  Certainly there are many different interest groups at play.  We as Americans want to believe that everyone in the world longs for some sort of democratic government that will provide for rights and liberty...but this may not be the case.

One of the groups vying for power in this struggle is the Muslim Brotherhood.  The Muslim Brotherhood began in Egypt in 1928 as a reaction to secularization in Egypt that, among other things, gave increased rights to women.  The Brotherhood's credo is “Allah is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.”  The Muslim Brotherhood has ties to many Islamist organizations such as al-Qaeda and Hamas.  The number two man in al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is an Egyptian and has been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood since age 14.


Many observers wish to down play the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, claiming that they are only a  minority of the Egyptian population.  Others see them as just one of the groups who want democracy.  This, I think, is either ignorance of history in general and the stated goals of the Brotherhood in particular...or a willful distortion of the facts.  As far as general history, it does not take a majority to take over a country...the Nazi Party in Germany was only a minority of the German population.  And for stated goals, the Brotherhood's second-in-command, Rashad al-Bayumi, stated in an interview on Japanese television that the Muslim Brotherhood would participate in a transitional government with the goal of canceling the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt because it "offends the Arabs' dignity and destroys the interests of Egypt and other Arab states." 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood to the talks by saying that, "Today we learned the Muslim Brotherhood decided to participate, which suggests they at least are now involved in the dialogue that we have encouraged."  She said that "The Egyptian people are looking for an orderly transition that can lead to free and fair elections. That is what the United States has consistently supported."  But, what is the goal of the Muslim Brotherhood in this regard? Jonathan D. Halevi explains:

• The Muslim Brotherhood does indeed participate in political activity and defend the democratic process. That is not, however, because it has accepted the principles of Western democracy, but rather because the democratic process can be exploited to establish an Islamic regime which will then render democracy unnecessary. 

• The Brotherhood's official website notes that jihad is Islam's most important tool in effecting a gradual takeover, beginning with the Muslim countries, moving on to reestablishing the Caliphate over three continents in preparation for a conquest of the West, and finally instituting a global Islamic state.

So, the goals are not narrowly focused on Egypt, but on world conquest.  Egypt is just one of the first to tumble.  Trouble is also being fomented in Jordan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.  The goal of the Islamists in all of these countries is to eliminate the secular governments and bring about theocracies.  And then to set their sites on the destruction of western culture.  For these reasons, the United States should not participate in any discussions with the Muslim Brotherhood.  This would be akin to sitting down to negotiate with the Nazis for control of Europe in the early 1940s.

Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, offers good insight in this CNN interview.  (sorry for the commercial at the beginning.)