United States Playing with Fire - Egypt

The Obama administration is playing with gasoline near an open flame. With violence and lawlessness spreading rapidly throughout Cairo and nearby cities, senior White House and State Department officials are inexplicably signaling a willingness to work closely with the Muslim Brotherhood to reshape the political future of Egypt, now that President Hosni Mubarak has signaled he won’t run for re-election later this year.

* The Los Angeles Times reports, “The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a reformed Egyptian government…..White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that a reformed government ‘has to include a whole host of important nonsecular actors that give Egypt a strong chance to continue to be [a] stable and reliable partner.’”

* The New York Times reports: “White House staff members ‘made clear that they did not rule out engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood as part of an orderly process,’ according to one attendee [to a meeting of Mideast experts with three officials of the National Security Council], who like others interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to talk publicly about the meeting. The Muslim group had been suppressed by Mr. Mubarak, and Bush administration officials believed it was involved in terrorist activities. It renounced violence years ago. Several times, two other attendees said, White House staff members said that Mr. Obama believed that Egyptian politics needed to encompass ‘nonsecular’ parties: diplomatic-speak for the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Few moves could be more disastrous. Does the administration not understand who they are dealing with?

* The Muslim Brotherhood’s stated mission is as follows: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”

* According to a blue-ribbon group of national security experts that include former CIA Director James Woolsey, former Delta Force commander Lt-Gen (ret) Jerry Boykin, and former Defense Dept. official Frank Gaffney, a group convened by the Center for Security Policy and called ”Team B-II”: “The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928. Its express purpose was two-fold: (1) to implement shariah worldwide, and (2) to re-establish the global Islamic State (caliphate). Therefore, al Qaeda and the MB have the same objectives. They differ only in the timing and tactics involved in realizing them.”

Note: A big post on Egypt's next possible leader will be coming soon. Stay tuned.

-Image from Al Jazeera.net-