Muslim Brotherhood Wins in Egypt
 

It'll be very interesting to watch the GOP trying to spin the Muslim Brotherhood's victory in Egypt's presidential election as some sort of mismanagement by Obama. It will probably resonate with the know-nothings in their base, but not with anyone who knows anything about the ongoing internal dynamics in Egypt.

I saw that news move this morning. Obama is attached to this, Finn, however it turns out. Mubarak is gone and his exit was in part ushered along by Uncle Sam. The MB has their guy in the Prez's office in Egypt now, and the MB are not Boy Scouts.

However, it is still way to early to call, and Egypt is still a mess right now. The military is likely not going to sit by and allow a theocracy to bloom in Egypt. And the MB is not likely to let themselves be marginalized and they'll likely want a role in the affairs of the broader Middle East. I think they also have to reconstitute Parliament, which will add another dynamic.

Another 6 months to a year to see how this all shakes out.

I agree with your comments other than the degree of Obama attachment. A suicidal fruit vendor in Tunisia has far more to do with this than Obama.

Next thing you will be telling us wellie is that Obama caused the recent earthquakes in Italy.:rolleyes:

He did,when he tripped and fell on the stairs at a fund-raiser last night. :eek:

The L A Times, and others, disagree. He was never going to use the bully pulpit to tell Mubarek to resign, but there are other avenues to apply pressure.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb...ategy-20110213

That article seems to indicate something much less than complicity in Mubarek's demise. In any event, his departure was a good thing in terms of a possible democratic future in the Mideast. We'll see what happens.

I guess we are anti democratic.

No Don. We just want the best democracy that money can buy for ouselves and others. We're just making the world safe for it....:rolleyes:

The new President will not remain member of the Muslim Brotherhood. he announced. He is wise to understand that once elected he represents all the people.


I'd like to see our Presidents adopt the same philosophy.

Actually put the country first.

Actually, he'll only have as much power as he can wrangle/negotiate away from the military, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Would it be your opinion that potentially the middle east is less stable after the Arab Spring than before?

Good read. I hope it works as well.
Even Turkey has moved toward fundamentalism the last decade.

We'll see. He ran very much as an Islamic fundamentalist early in his campaign. He switched gears late in his campaign to a more "inclusive message" when it appeared he was failing to attract sufficient support. His word and actions smack more of political opportunism than true conviction at this point. Like I said, too early to tell, but it is a situation that certainly bears continued vigilance.

He was educated in the US, after all.:rolleyes:

Less stable. I also suspect it will shortly become even more instable. The one good thing, ironically, that Saddam Hussein did was buffer the region. I can envision multiple civil wars with foreign opportunists, likely China and Russia, lurking to gain advantage over the United States' influence, or rather, lack thereof in the region.

We can export grain, or guns, or fighter planes, but no one can export democracy, so when is everyone going to wake up?

But we lead the world in the export of fuel oil. :rolleyes:

Good post Whell. ;)

Here's the credo of the Muslim Brotherhood:

"God is our objective; the Quran is our law, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations."

Of course the Obama admin felt the need to reopen formal diplomatic relations with this group (which were earlier suspended on suspicions of involvement in terrorism) once it started becoming apparent that they were becoming a serious political player in Egypt and Obama even called to congratulate Mursi last week on his win.

The last time I checked this group has not renounced their credo and still considers jihad as their way and death for the sake of Allah to be their highest aspiration. It just a matter of weeks however before we see a picture of Obama bowing to Mohamed Mursi.

Do you believe that last sentence, or are you trolling?

The Muslim Brotherhood formally renounced violence about 40 years ago during the presidency of Anwar el-Sadat.

Also, you should look up what is actually meant by the term "jihad".

John

The Egyptian people are in the very beginning of a new era. As much as the rest of the world and they want it nothing happens over night. Between the Military suspending the congress and holdovers from Mubarak's government this will take time.

If political parties are allowed to be formed and with polite discussion then good things will happen. The US can not expect an other free country to be or do as we would like all the time. The US must tread lightly right now on influencing the internal affairs in a country in flux as Egypt is now. Sometimes leaving a Hornet's nest along is the best policy.

The people now have a taste for freedom now and there will be growing pains. Much like the US has witnessed over the years and still to this day experiences.

A big step in the right direction was the fact the Military allowing the results in this election to take effect. I will take a wait and see. Hoping for the best to happen.


Barney

There isn't a single definition of "jihad". It typically depends on the context that it is used. Like the similar word "struggle", it can refer to a symbolic struggle of conscience or conviction, it can refer figuratively to an obstacle that must be overcome, or it can refer to an actual, physical conflict. Therefore, you'd need to refer to the entire sentence or paragraph of a statement containing the word to determine how the word it being used.

I continue to believe that this situation in Egypt needs to be watched with caution. There is a lot of talk about what Morsi's victory might mean. Like the use of the word jihad, we'll need to watch as events unfold over there to determine what it really does mean.

Of course. That's only sensible but the ascendancy of The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is not tantamount to bin Laden becoming president of Egypt as the right wing Islamophobes would have us believe.

John

(Interesting. my spill chucker wants me to use "homophobe" instead of "Islamophobe".)

I heard on France24 this AM that the secular Egyptians are blaming the US for the MB win :)

Pete

Sounds like they have learned one of the principal tools of politicians - finger pointing. They are becoming westernized. :rolleyes:

Regards,

D-Ray

Dude, even your spell checker is a flaming lib?! :D;):p

I'm guessing the Muslim Brotherhood is nothing but bad news. But, I also know that Egypt is a sovereign nation and that they elected those freaks of their own choice.

We tried supporting a dictator to enforce our will, in their country for over thirty years........like we have all over that part of the world...........

And, you can just FEEL the love, can't you?

What this boils down to is that the despotic autocrat we propped up (Mubarek) succeeded in crushing all political opposition other than the Muslim Brotherhood. The reason for this is that they organized within the mosques of the country and even a despot in an Islamic country cannot attack people inside of mosques. There were no secular resistance groups whatsoever.

Accordingly, in the election, people had a choice between Mubarek's Prime Minister and a representative of the only organized group that wasn't attached to Mubarek's reign. It was a close call, but the non-Mubarek won.

In a nut shell.

John