Leaping Toward The Past

So, how're things turning out for the Muslim Brotherhood, thanks to the Arab Spring?  They've done all right in Tunisia, the lead country to be transformed.  And they've triumphed in Egypt, becoming the government, while breathing hard behind them, jostling for attention are the Salafists.

They have some allies in Gaza, since Hamas is an offspring of the Egyptian Brotherhood.  And in Syria, behind the motley tribal Sunni protesters who have galvanized themselves into an army of rebels, the Muslim Brotherhood lurks awaiting its opportunities.

In Libya, which has just relieved its democratically elected president of his dutie, a mere month into his mandate, the Muslim Brotherhood is also a shadow figure awaiting its turn.  There, it is allied with al-Qaeda forces and together they made news in the West, dismaying even many Libyans when their planned, violent attack on the Benghazi U.S. consulate succeeded in assassinating the Arabophile American ambassador to Libya.

The Jamal Network, set in place by Egyptian Muhammad Jamal Abu Ahmad who was granted release from prison by the newly ascendant Brotherhood, likely masterminded the attack.  His connection with al-Qaeda is through its Egyptian leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.  Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi pledged himself to the release of another Egyptian.

"I will do everything in my power to secure freedom for ... detainees, including Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman" - the blind cleric held to be responsible for the initial, 1993 World Trade Center bombing.  That attack and the 2001, 9/11 attacks against the World Trade Center represented an attack against America's financial power in the world economic order.

And where does Egypt now hope to obtain a bridging loan from, to rescue it from its frail financial situation brought about as a result of the revolution that struck fear in the hearts of foreign investors, and halted the lucrative travel and tourism industry the country had formerly enjoyed, but no longer in an environment hostile to the presence of foreigners?

Why, the generosity of the United States which has helpfully handed over billions in support of Egypt's military machine, that's where.  And the IMF for a $4.8-billion bailout of its flailing economy.  Which the IMF withholds without the promise of a halt to subsidies.  Those are the food and fuel subsidies that Hosni Mubarak attempted to cut back when Egypt's economy was in fairly good shape, and which caused mass riots.

The now-ruling Muslim Brotherhood would far prefer to deter a mass protest reaction to the pulling of state subsidies for critical fuel and food for the country's vast indigent population hugely dependent on those subsidies.  It is where, after all, the Muslim Brotherhood garnered many of their votes that placed them in power.

And of course it is the sterner view of Islamic sensibilities under the Brotherhood that restrains Western tourists.

"In the past three months, Egypt has experienced increased power cuts that sometimes last for hours, while a fuel and diesel crisis has at times paralyzed the country, with mile-long queues forming outside petrol stations."
Gulf News

So then, enter the 21st Century and cultural renewal and investment enrichment and greater employment opportunities under governments led by the Muslim Brotherhood?  In countries seen by the monied Western tourists as exotic and intriguing and worth dropping cash into, no longer quite so welcoming with its newer penchant to harass improperly clad tourists imbibing spirits in public.

Where an atmosphere hardly conducive to welcoming the outside world into the xenophobic world of fundamentalist Islam has lost its appeal, with foreign investors no longer lingering at the thought of shoring up an economy of a country whose population cannot be relied upon to respect foreign diplomats in recognition of the Geneva Convention, much less protect foreigners from the nefarious plans of jihadists.

Oh, right; the matter of the rage of the Arab street, righteously supported by the Muslim Brotherhood to express its collective rage over the penchant from time to time of foolishly outspoken Western-based attention-seekers who proclaim it is their right under freedom of speech and act to desecrate symbols of Islam to illustrate yet again how volatile and brutally immune to common sense that Arab street is.

So much for progress on that score.