Effectively Sinister Lobbying

When we think of the Muslim Brotherhood, we think of Egypt's long resistance against permitting the fundamentalist Islamist movement to freely espouse its values and gain membership. An offshoot of the MB was responsible for assassinating former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for daring to make peace with Israel; it is heartily and vigilantly anti-Semitic. Hamas, ruling Gaza, is a creature of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The motto of the Muslim Brotherhood is succinct and without ornamentation: "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. Allahu akbar!" Resolutely determined to wage battle, but to do it in a covert manner by first misleading people to believe that their mission is a peaceful one without violent intentions, to infiltrate and to quietly gain influence.

And this is precisely what the Muslim Brotherhood has done, spread out its tentacles from Egypt to the surrounding Middle East states, working diligently to broaden their membership and the enthusiasm of their membership to access avenues to power. The Muslim Brotherhood, well organized and extremely patient, is growing ever more influential in turning around Muslim countries' values to reflect their own.

And they do not stop their activities at the borders of Islam. They are well ensconced with active memberships working quietly and determinedly to make the impressions they desire, within liberal democracies, with working units in the United States and in Canada as well. These are affiliates, careful to disguise their close working relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, but they are there, and they represent the aspirations of the Muslim Brotherhood, speaking in their favour and defence.

Now comes news that the Obama administration is seriously engaging in outreach with the Muslim Brotherhood, which has finally achieved official status in Egypt. And U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton loftily declares that there's nothing new there, the State Department has been in "limited contacts" with the Muslim Brotherhood previously. The MB spokesmen themselves clarify the truth, that no such contacts have ever previously existed.

"The Obama administration is continuing the approach of limited contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood that have existed on and off for about five or six years. We believe that given the change of the political landscape in Egypt, it is in the interest of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful and committed to non-violence". Hillary Clinton

With that description, of 'peaceful' and 'committed to non-violence', she cannot honestly be referring to the Muslim Brotherhood. But yet she is, so she and the administration are both deviously dishonest. This is the very same Ms. Clinton who stated months earlier that the U.S. was not in contact with the MB, and who referenced the group as an ideology hijacking the democratic transition in Egypt.

But of course there's an answer of sorts to this seeming confusion. That being that the Muslim Brotherhood has some members in the Egyptian parliament. They simply called themselves something else, knowing the regime of previous President Hosni Mubarak considered them dangerous and violent. And so, U.S. representatives meeting with some Egyptian MPs, included Muslim Brotherhood members.

They have now gained the legitimacy they have long sought, recognized by the United States as partners in negotiations. The Freedom and Justice Party will yet rule Egypt, and it will eventually manage to rise to power elsewhere in the Middle East from all portends. It is as its 1928 founder claimed:

"It is in the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet." Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna