Hey America; Take A Look At What Your Tax Dollar Pays For

The Obama administration has okayed funding for Egypt’s military, despite congressional restrictions and objections from human rights and democracy advocates.

For months, the money for Egypt  more than $1.3 billion, with the bulk earmarked for the military has been withheld amid that country’s crackdown on pro-democracy groups, including several U.S.-based organizations with close ties to political parties in Washington.

A law passed by Congress in December forbids funding unless the State Department certifies that Egypt is making progress on basic freedoms and human rights.

Hillary Clinton

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is close to announcing plans to bypass those restrictions on national security grounds, according to senior administration officials and others who have been briefed on the deliberations but were not authorized to speak publicly. The administration believes failure to provide the funds would risk worsening already fraying ties with Egypt’s leaders, most notably the Egyptian military, which still controls the country.

Here's your bread, Dawg

Under the plan, which was announced last week and was first reported Friday by the New York Times, Egypt would not receive the full $1.3 billion all at once, as has been the practice for decades. The administration would instead dole out the funds in smaller portions to preserve leverage over Egyptian authorities, officials said. The plan would also allow for the continuation of U.S. defense contracts that provide American jobs.

Egypt's Future

With a presidential election coming in Egypt, officials said they are especially hesitant to release the full amount until they see what kind of government will be receiving it. The question is, "What kind of leadership will replace the military?"

The plan comes after weeks of crisis caused by criminal charges filed by Egyptian authorities against a handful of pro-democracy workers from the United States and other countries. The charges were condemned by U.S. leaders and provoked heated anti-American rhetoric in Egypt.

The immediate dilemma was resolved this month when Egypt allowed the foreign workers to leave the country after posting bail. But the criminal charges remain against them as well as Egyptian staff employed by the same nonprofit organizations.

According to administration and congressional officials, representatives of the defense industry, who are eager to keep lucrative contracts attached to the annual aid, have been among those lobbying behind the scenes to resume U.S. funding. The Pentagon, which does not want to risk its ties with the Egyptian military, one of its major allies in the region, also has pressed the case.

Tom Malinowski

There’s been enormous pressure from the Pentagon to unfreeze something before payments to contractors go past due,” said Tom Malinowski, Washington director for Human Rights Watch. “But this whole argument that American jobs are at stake just is not appropriate here when we’re talking about human rights. This sends the wrong message that the crisis is over and has been solved.”

This’s not a negligible factor. If contracts can’t be paid, production lines will shut down and jobs will be lost, acknowledged one senior administration official. But those aspects have to be balanced against other factors such as our ability to work with the new government, how much democratic progress has been made and where we still have concerns.

The plan is likely to draw strong criticism from Capitol Hill, which has been highly critical of Egypt’s treatment of nongovernmental organizations and protesters.

Patrick J. Leahy

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the main sponsor of legislation passed last year that tied funding for Egypt to progress on democracy and rights, said he was deeply disappointed. “I believe a waiver would be a mistake,” he said. “The new conditions are intended to put the United States squarely on the side of the Egyptian people who seek a civilian government that respects fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, and to clearly define the terms of our future relations with the Egyptian military.”

Other rights groups, including Amnesty International, also urged Clinton not to resume the aid.

Victoria Nuland

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Clinton has not yet reached an official decision but added: “We want to support a more democratic and a more prosperous Egypt. And we want to see the region stay secure. So those are a lot of things that have to be kept strong and kept in balance.”

The relationship between the United States and Egyptian militaries, Nuland said, “has also enabled us to have influence during this period of transition.”

While Egypt’s generals have lobbied to resume the aid, the country’s new parliament in recent days has discussed the possibility of rejecting it, even though it does not have the authority to do so. “I don’t know that it even makes sense for the U.S. to be pushing aid on Egypt,” said Michele Dunne, an Egypt expert at the Atlantic Council. “Given everything that’s happened of late, we ought to take a fresh look at the whole U.S.-Egypt relationship and the military aid package.”

But just after the United States decided to keep sending $1.3 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian military, a new poll shows that most Egyptians don't want their country to receive American financial assistance. Pollsters say Egyptians suspect that taking money from foreigners will end up impinging on their nation's sovereignty.

More than eight of 10 Egyptians oppose receiving aid from the United States, according to a Gallup poll that finds opposition has grown over the last year. Egyptians are even more strongly opposed to the U.S. sending aid to Egyptian civil society groups, the February poll found.

Protesters in Cairo over US funding

Opposition to outside aid has grown stronger over time, the poll of 1,000 respondents showed.  Egyptian attitudes about assistance from the U.S. soured at the same time the country began accusing Americans working for non-governmental organizations of trying to stir up unrest, Gallup said.

Earlier this year, Egypt sought to prosecute 16 Americans employed by U.S.-funded groups, alleging they were working with Egyptian groups not registered with the government. Authorities claimed the defendants were fomenting unrest and attempting to advance U.S. and Israeli interests.

Most of the U.S. defendants were allowed to leave the country, though they still technically face charges. A lone American has chosen to stay and face charges alongside other defendants.

The murky circumstances and arrangements that resulted in the prosecution, travel limitations and then sudden departure of U.S. citizens facing trial in Egypt has only inflamed Egyptians' sense of distrust and suspicion regarding such organizations and what U.S. funds mean for Egyptian sovereignty.

The case upset many members of the U.S. Congress, leading to calls to stop sending money to the Egyptian military. But the U.S. government decided to continue sending aid despite the ongoing case and restrictions on political rights that ordinarily would bar Egypt from getting the funding.

Besides their wariness of the U.S., Gallup found Egyptians had grown less supportive of aid from international groups or other Arab nations. Only 36% of Egyptians polled were in favor of aid from the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund and 57% favored Arab government aid.

To find funding to help Egypt overcome its challenges, its leaders will need to show outside aid "does not come at the cost of Egypt's sovereignty.

Muslim Brotherhood Poised To Take Egypt In November

Eygptian Political Leader Ahmed Said

Egypt should postpone its first elections following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak so fledgling political parties can gain a foothold in the revolutionized nation, business and political leader Ahmed Said.


Said heads one of those parties — the Free Egyptian Party — and said if voters go to the polls Nov. 15, they probably will support the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.


“The chances of the new parties in general are very slim at the moment, and this is part of the confusion and the struggle that is going on in the Egyptian political scene right now,” he said. “You cannot ask a party that was just formed a couple of months ago to indulge in an election that will shape the Egyptian political life for the next 30 years.”

Egypts Muslim Brotherhood



Said said that the Muslim Brotherhood remains the most active political party and that many Egyptians fear it will dominate the elections if they take place this fall. Many Egyptians want to see democracy flourish.

“People are afraid that because the only faction who is preferred right now are the Muslim Brothers, that if they take part in this election, then if they win majority, it will be very difficult to change the scene again,” he said.

When asked about the overall mood in Egypt since the revolution, Said, speaking from Cairo, described it as “a bit shaky and confusing.”After Mubarak was deposed on Jan. 25, the National Democratic Party was completely dismantled. It had ruled Egypt since 1981.

Twelve new parties have formed, among them, the Free Egyptian Party.


“It was a normal reaction for most of the people who did not actually exercise politics before the revolution to start forming parties,”. “I think it was a normal step for all Egyptians to start getting unified under different political parties.”


The well-established Islamist groups have a strong and active base, while the newer parties have members who are more passive, “Unfortunately, the absolute majority of the people who belong to our faction … who believe in a civilized country … are still passive, and it is our duty now to get them into the street,” he said. “We need some time in order to reach the people.”When asked whether Egypt would turn into a theocratic state, Said admitted some of the Islamist factions are calling for the application of Sharia law.
 

 “These factions are asking to completely ignore the fact that we have a constitution, to draft a new constitution,” he said.Said denied the military is taking steps to limit the influence of those Islamist factions.“The Egyptian people will not accept the Mubarak regime or any remnants of the Mubarak regime anymore,” and he dispelled any notion that Egyptians harbor anti-Israeli or anti-Christian sentiments, I’ll say, maybe not him personally but we all know that the Islamist do.“We’ve not seen any struggle between Muslims and Christians,” he said. “Muslims and Copts are living peacefully right now. A lot of Muslims are against the application of Sharia and standing side by side by their Coptic brothers.”

When asked if future relation“in a post-Mubarak Egypt likely to be hostile to the United States?” Said told the reporter, “I don’t think so at all,” he responded. “The United States is a country that is very well-respected. People look up to the Americans. I don’t think there are any anti-American sentiments. You have to come to Egypt to see for yourself.”

Muslim Brotherhood helping military suppress unrest in Egypt

Muslim Brotherhood operatives have been recruited to attack pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt.

Egyptian opposition sources said the Brotherhood, the largest Islamist movement, has been working with Egypt's new military regime to quell unrest. "Brotherhood operatives were seen working with security forces to quell the recent spate of pro-democracy demonstrations around Cairo".

"We have collected testimony that Brotherhood members, including those that were seen in Tahrir Square, are now helping the police and security forces break up demonstrations," an opposition source, referring to the leading protest site in Cairo".

FormerPresident Hosni Mubarak

The Brotherhood, with which the United States plans to begin a formal dialogue, has been divided over whether to participate in demonstrations in wake of the ouster of the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. The sources said the division has pitted the Brotherhood leadership, comprised of members close to the new military rulers, and the younger rank-and-file.

So far the Brotherhood has ordered its members not to participate in the pro-democracy protests against the military regime. At the same time, the reorganized police and security forces have attacked protests with what the opposition charged was both live and rubber bullets. The Interior Ministry responded that security forces were limited to the use of tear gas.

"We call on all those that supported the revolution to avoid political differences during this critical phase in Egypt," a coalition of five human rights groups said Sunday.

The secular opposition has accused the military regime of failing to implement its promises to introduce political reforms. The opposition also said the regime was refusing to prosecute former Mubarak aides accused of human rights violations.

"We call on all elements to focus on the leadership phase of the democratic process to preserve the purity of the revolution and save Egyptian society from collapse," the opposition said. 

Rifat Al Said



Some opposition figures expressed concern that the U.S. decision for a dialogue would only bolster the Brotherhood's alliance with the military regime. They said the Brotherhood has relayed conditions for such a dialogue, which already included meetings between the U.S. embassy and Islamic members of the Egyptian parliament.

"Every time the Muslim Brotherhood has tried to engage in an alliance with tyranny under the pretext that necessity knows no law, its fingers were burned," Rifat Al Said, head of the National Progressive Union Association said.

$3 Billion in support for Muslin Brotherhood in Egypt

Dr. Abdel Moneim Abul Futouh

One day after making a historic speech in calling for Israel to give up Jerusalem, President Obama is planning on providing $3 Billion in cash and debt forgiveness to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

On May 19th, President Obama laid out a plan to forgive Egypt of over $1 Billion in debt. This debt forgiveness is on top of the $2 Billion additional funds the Obama administration plans to provide in foreign aid to the Middle Eastern nation.

The gesture by Obama is what his administration and certain left-leaning media figures are describing as part of the “Arab Spring” – the hopeful spreading of democracy throughout the Middle East.

The White House unveiled a $2 billion multiyear economic aid package for Egypt, which officials say would largely shift existing funds. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel prepared to arrive in Washington with a package that he hoped would shift the burden of restarting the peace process to the Palestinians.

After the fall of Mubarak in Egypt over a month ago, several political groups in Egypt have been vying to fill the vacuum of power. The one significant group that has risen to potentially take control over the nation in the coming election is the Muslin Brotherhood. This radical Islamic group could possibly win 70% of the seats available in the legislature according to current polls, and even the office of the Presidency.

Though the Muslim Brotherhood will not appoint a candidate, Egypt's first freely elected president could be a prominent member of the once outlawed group: Dr. Abdel Moneim Abul Futouh. Although technically running as an independent and not formally allied with any party, including the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, he is nonetheless perceived by many Egyptians as part of a Muslim Brotherhood juggernaut on its way to dominating Parliament and possibly capturing the presidency in Egypt's fall elections.

The Muslim Brotherhood has proven ties to terrorism, and has spawned many splinter groups that have performed terror activities around the world. In February, the head of the FBI spoke to a Congressional subcommittee on the threat that the Muslim Brotherhood has in the war on terror.

With this evidence in hand, there is no equivocation that President Obama is intending to provide financial support to known terror groups, and to a government that is more than likely to be run by members tied to a terrorist organization after the coming October elections.

President Obama has done two things with his historic speech Thursday on the Middle East. His goal to force Israel to give up Jerusalem and move back to pre-1967 borders is a massive sea-change to US-Israeli relations, and his programs to provide $3 Billion in foreign aid through cash and debt forgiveness to Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood change the scope entirely on who we are now acknowledging as allies in the Middle East, and the ongoing war on terror.

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan



U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan told Neil Cavuto of Fox news that the U.S. is “absolutely wrong” to give Pakistan another $3 billion in foreign aid after Osama bin Laden was found there.


Buchanan said the U.S. needs to re-examine its financial aid to both Pakistan and Egypt given how much debt the U.S. government is in.

“We can’t continue to buy our friends around the world,” Buchanan said in an interview on FOX Business Network.

Buchanan tells Cavuto all U.S. foreign aid should be re-assessed.



The amazing events in Egypt this year, despite rough sledding for other popular uprisings in nations whose populations are also seeking reform in the Middle East, remain viable for a long march to democracy, a member of the group of 100 that will begin crafting a new constitution for the country said in an exclusive interview.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat



Dr.Zaher, a prominent professor of urology at Ain Shams University in Cairo, has been in Washington, D.C. attending a medical convention. In a meeting arranged through friends he has known since childhood, Dr. Zaher, once an adviser to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, said that the main thing now threatening the progress toward democracy in Egypt, and throughout the region, is economic lack.

"Egypt will be bankrupt in six months," he said. The revolution has brought the domestic economy to a standstill as throughout the nation in every factory and business, workers are taking up the spirit of democracy and free speech to suddenly prefer speaking out to working.

As a result, Dr. Zaher said, the transitional Egyptian government has had to dip into its reserves to the tune of $3 billion per month, and at that rate, the reserves will be exhausted in six months. At that point, the population, already deep in poverty, will face starvation, as the government will be unable to continue its program of subsidizing basic food costs.

"Egypt is key to the entire region," he said. "All the rest of the Arab world will imitate what happens in Egypt." He said a successful transformation to democracy there will ensure that democracy eventually comes to the entire region.

He suggested that if the U.S. decided to launch an economic Marshall Plan for the region, that democracy throughout would thrive. Short of that, he said, he hopes the U.S. will come to the immediate aid of Egypt with economic resources, even large donations of basic wheat and bread.

He said that the revolution has been, as reported, a legitimate uprising of the people, led by the young who organized through the social media, including Facebook.

It was not instigated by the Egyptian Army, as some have claimed, in order to prevent Mubarek's son from succeeding him. But the Army took advantage of the opening created by the uprising to achieve that result. When Mubarek ordered the Army to put down the uprisings, the Army refused to obey.

Now, Dr. Zaher believes, the Army has a vested interest in helping to move the nation toward a stable democracy.

By that means, he said, the Army feels it can insure that a small minority of extremists, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, do not seize control of power. Already, he noted, while the Muslim Brotherhood represents less than 10 percent of the population, it is seeking 75 percent participation in drafting the new constitution.

With so much of the population poor and uneducated, a group like the Muslim Brotherhood could wield inordinate power unless firm guarantees of a lawful process toward fair elections and the rule of law are put into place.

Chosen to participate in the group of 100 that begins meeting this weekend to draft a constitution, Dr. Zaher said that he has submitted three progressive proposals modeled on the German constitution, which he said, is very similar to the U.S.'s.

Mubarak and sons' detention a victory for Egypt's opposition



Mubarak



Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons detained Wednesday for 15 days for corruption investigations, in what appeared to be a response by Egypt’s military rulers to escalating pressure from protesters to see their former ruler behind bars.


Mubarak and sons'


Egyptian state television reported that Mr. Mubarak’s son Gamal, who just six months ago was widely seen as being groomed to take power, and his older brother Alaa were transferred to Cairo to be detained in Tora prison after the public prosecutor ordered them held as the investigation unfolds.

Mubarak himself was reportedly being interrogated in the Sharm El Sheikh hospital that admitted him Tuesday after he reportedly had a heart attack after questioning began at his residence. Local media reported that he would be transferred to a hospital in Cairo for the investigation.

While there is scattered sympathy for Mubarak, public anger far outweighs it. Last Friday, tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square to demand their former president, his family, and his cronies be put on trial for allegedly using state funds for personal gain.

Mubarak and his family have been under house arrest in the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh since he was forced from power by a popular uprising Feb 11. The thought of the former president staying in a luxury villa on the beach had infuriated many Egyptians. Recently, they had begun to direct that anger toward the military council ruling Egypt until new elections are held.

The head of the military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, spent years as Mubarak's defense minister. Many accused the military Friday of shielding Mubarak from prosecution, and of giving him time to cover his tracks and hide bank accounts and assets. The sentiment at the protest was more directly and widely critical of the military, once seen as the protector of Egypt’s revolution, than it had ever been.

“This is a direct response to the protests,” says Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid, political science professor at the American University in Cairo, of the detainment order. “There has been a sort of ultimatum. Unless the president was interrogated by Friday, there would be another escalation of protests.”

An audio recording broadcast Sunday on Saudi television station Al Arabiya, in which Mubarak denied having been involved in corruption or abusing his position for personal gain, only increased the popular anger. It was the first time Egyptians had heard from their former president since his ouster on Feb. 11.

But as they heard the news Wednesday morning, many Egyptians smiled broadly. “I’m so happy – we’re all so happy,” says Abdullah, a student at Ain Shems University in Cairo. Yet after 30 years under Mubarak, many said it was hard to believe he was detained and his sons in prison. “Mubarak behind bars? I can’t even imagine it,” says Abdullah. He said he would find the image difficult to process until he saw a photo as proof.

May God speed the investigation and bring us swift justice,” says Fatima, a Cairo street vendor who grinned and congratulated her customers on the news as she sold them soft drinks. Many expressed the view that Mubarak’s reported sickness was only a ploy to escape questioning.

Some on Cairo’s streets particularly reveled in the news of the detainment of Mubarak’s son Gamal, who was widely unpopular.

Seen as his father’s choice of successor, he had held a top post in the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). He had directed Egypt’s economic liberalization and privatization project, which many Egyptians saw as only benefiting the rich and leaving behind the large segment of Egypt’s population that struggles to get by. Many Egyptians believe he abused his position to profit handsomely on the back of the public.

The Mubarak sons join several top regime figures already in detention while investigations unfold. The much-hated former head of the NDP, Safwat el-Sherif, was detained Monday.

According to Professor Sayyid, the detentions of top figures represent a victory for the secular groups that had organized renewed protests to press the issue. While the Muslim Brotherhood had announced it would take part in last Friday’s protest, it had not supported a similar protest the week before that laid the ground for the huge gathering.

“This is also a response to the pressure of secular groups of young people,” he says. “This shows a new relation of power in the country, with the secular groups deciding what should be done and the Muslim Brothers are left out.”

With one of their main demands met, some Egyptians may now turn their focus to the next battlefield: parliamentary and presidential elections slated for September and November.

Political parties, heavily repressed under Mubarak’s rule, will have to scramble to match the organizational capacity of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has grass-roots support. Though dozens of new parties have sprung up since Mubarak was toppled, political organization has not yet become a priority for many protesters.

At Friday’s protest, Amira Said nearly screamed out chants calling on the military to bring Mubarak to justice. When asked about her political affiliation, the protester said she had none. “I don’t know yet,” she said. “I haven’t taken the time to study all the new parties.”

"Islamist role rising" in post-Mubarak Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood has role on committee redrafting constitution

Post Mubarak Egypt

The Muslim Brotherhood begins its own post-Mubarak transition, after deliberately downplaying its religious message during the uprising, waiting to make its move.

They know they have the support of so much of a population that is already highly receptive to a Sharia regime: a poll published just over two weeks ago showed Egyptians at once largely think democracy is the most preferable form of government (59% of participants), but also want to see stonings (82%) and a death penalty for apostasy (84%).

There will be a rude awakening for the many in the West who have come to assume democracy and human rights by any standard they would recognize are a package deal. "Islamist role rising as Egyptians plan victory march," by Sherine Madany and Patrick Werr for Reuters, February 17:

Egyptian youth leaders moved to set up a new political party on Thursday as the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood played an increasingly important role in preparing for post-Mubarak elections promised within six months.

The Brotherhood has a member on the committee redrafting the constitution, is on a council set up by activists to protect the revolution and has said it will set up as a political party as soon as laws are changed to let it and others do so.

The Brotherhood's spokesman appeared on state television a few days ago, a first for a movement banned in the Mubarak era. Having been timid in the early days of the revolt, it clearly thinks it is safe to come out.

And on February 2, it saw its shadow, and there will be six more weeks of stealth jihad the world over.

The Brotherhood is viewed with suspicion by Washington but is seen as the only truly organized bloc in Egypt and reckons it could win up to 30 percent of votes in a free election.

In another sign of the transformation of Egyptian politics, al-Gama'a al-Islamiya (Islamic Group), which took up arms against Mubarak's administration in the 1990s and was crushed by security forces, held its first public meeting in 15 years.

"Our position is to turn a new page with the new regime," said Assem Abdel-Maged, a group member who spent years in jail for his role in the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat. "We will perform any positive role we can to help society."...

We are Witnessing the Collapse of the Middle East

If Egypt should fall, it will mark the beginning of the end for what little remaining stability there is in the Middle East. Jordan is facing similar unrest, as is Algeria and Yemen. Lebanon and Tunisia fell in January. It is highly unlikely that these events are unrelated. A combination of leftist and Islamist forces provoked the protests, and we are likely looking at a ring of radical Islamic states rising up to surround Israel.

Once their power is solidified, they will combine forces to attack Israel. In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood has already said that Egypt should prepare for war with Israel. If Israel falls, the United States will stand alone in a sea of virulent enemies and impotent allies.

So who does Obama support, Mubarak or his enemies?

Obama wasted no time in telling us. He supports Mubarak’s opponents, and probably has been all along. The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that the Obama administration favors a role for the Muslim Brotherhood in a new Egyptian government.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest extremist Muslim organization, is behind practically every Muslim terrorist organization ever formed. And while they may have publicly renounced violence as the LA Times article claims, internal documents tell a completely different picture.

And if that weren’t bad enough, Obama’s latest comment to Egypt’s leader is that “…an orderly transition …must begin now.”

Must begin. Now.

Simply stunning.

Juxtapose Obama’s statements toward our allies with his reaction to the genuine uprising that occurred last year in Iran. Tunisia: “Reform or be overthrown.” Egypt: “…an orderly transition …must begin now.” Iran: “It is not productive… to be seen as meddling." Meanwhile, candidate Obama claimed the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah have “legitimate claims,” and we all remember his mindless Counterterrorism Czar, John Brennan, out to “moderate” Hezbollah members last spring. Hezbollah moderates?

The seeming inconsistency is astonishing. Unfortunately, there is a consistency. Obama uniformly sides with our enemies, but rarely, if ever our friends and allies. His administration is packed with far left radicals and vicious anti-Semites. And therein lies the rub, because what we are witnessing in reality is this President’s un-American, anti-American, treasonous ideology in full play.

Perhaps this is the real reason for Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin and Jody Evans’ trips to Egypt in 2009. Following those trips, these same people made visits to the White House.

Obama’s breathlessly arrogant answer? Not the same Ayers, Dohrn, Benjamin and Evans. Sure.

A few years back it was quoted by Lynn Stewart, the Guild attorney jailed for helping blind Sheikh, Omar Adel Raman, foment terror from his New York jail cell. One thinks that atheistic radical leftists would be foursquare against a political movement that tramples women’s rights, murders homosexuals and enforces strict theocratic mandates. No such luck Stewart said:

They [radical Islamic movements] are basically forces of national liberation. And I think that we, as persons who are committed to the liberation of oppressed people, should fasten on the need for self-determination…My own sense is that, were the Islamists to be empowered, there would be movements within their own countries…to liberate.

“…movements within their own countries… to liberate.” Given recent developments, her statement was prescient. But I think it had a special meaning. The words “liberate” and “national liberation” hit the sweet spot for leftists everywhere. Because when movement leftists like Stewart talk about “liberation,” they are really talking about communism.

It has been my longstanding assertion that Muslim terrorism is simply a false flag operation, managed in the background by our main enemies, Russia and Red China. This is in no way intended to suggest that radical Muslim movements are not a threat. They are. But almost since the beginning, these organizations have been supported and nurtured by the Soviet Union or their Middle Eastern surrogates. They remain behind the scenes, plausibly deniable, yet are the puppet masters pulling the strings, a fact of which even many of the terrorists are unaware.

Yasser Arafat’s PLO is a prime example. Created by the KGB, the PLO was always about providing a Soviet counterweight to Israel in the Middle East. They were uninterested in the Palestinian cause, and said so! Rather, the Palestinian fight for “statehood” was a PLO invention, created to provide an excuse for aggression against Israel. They said so! Alexander Litvinenko, the KGB defector poisoned by Polonium 210 in what was assumed to be a KGB hit, claimed in his book, Allegations, that al Qaeda’s number two man, Ayman Al Zawahiri, was a Soviet agent. And while today Hezbollah is the defacto ruler of Lebanon, the real power is Ba’athist Syria.

David Horowitz wrote of the alliance between Leftists and Muslim terrorists in his seminal book: Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left. He describes in detail how the Left and Muslim radicals work together to achieve their mutual ends: the destruction of America.

It is incomprehensible that President Obama does not recognize the strategic significance of what is happening, and if he does, then his support of Egypt’s sham “democracy movement” is a naked betrayal of our Middle Eastern allies, and by extension, our own country.

Unfortunately, his view is shared by republicans who are so in love with the idea of “democracy” that it doesn’t appear to matter to them that the “democrats” in this case are fanatic mass murderers. At best, it can only be seen as incredibly myopic and ignorant to support Mubarak’s enemies.

People make the same mistake Carter did with Iran and Nicaragua: they commit the logical error of assuming that just because a country’s current leadership is flawed and “undemocratic,” that automatically someone else would do better. Newsflash, they can do worse, and almost without exception, they do, because people who take power by street riot have no interest in “democracy.”

If their street revolutions are successful, these Middle Eastern countries will rapidly degenerate into radical Muslim thugocracies, allied with our communist enemies. Israel will be the first target and with Obama’s radically anti-Israel orientation, they will stand alone. We will be next. One is left to wonder if Obama will then stand to defend the country he swore to, or if he will be out in the streets with his fellow radical leftists burning American flags.

My bet is he will be in the street.

Islamic jihadists support Egyptian protesters

The Future Of Eygpt

The Muslim Brotherhood is best situated to take power in Egypt after Mubarak's fall, and to impose Islamic law. Thus this story should come as no surprise, except to those learned analysts who are sure that the Egyptian protesters are a gathering of earnest Jeffersonians.

"Islamic militants support Egyptian protesters," from AP, February 4:

Islamic militants took to the Internet to call on Muslims to unite behind Egyptian protesters and not to "waste the chance" to topple President Hosni Mubarak and claim power in the North African nation.

"On Friday, huge crowds should emerge from mosques and the Islamists should unite and work together with other parties and leaders of the protests," said a statement posted on Muslim.Net, a website associated with al-Qaida.


The Muslim Brotherhood, which is officially banned and calls for rule by Islamic law in Egypt, has joined the protesters in calling for Mubarak's ouster.


"We call upon the Islamists to support the Muslim Brotherhood because it is the most organized group to lead the Islamic movement and to take power," the statement posted by a commentator on the Muslim.net website said.

One writer called upon the mujahedeen, or holy warriors, to "reap the fruits" of revolutions that will weaken the control of the government and security forces, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites.

"Jihadists may then leap on that throne if they work on the ground and create the factors for this, and a benefit of this is the loss of the striking iron fist from the security services of the government and others that is oppressing the jihadi movement," the posting said.