First, a note updating my pessimistic view of the Somali pirate hostage taking. I stand corrected, and thank the Navy Seals and others who carried out the rescue operation. Well done!
But, as the the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report (free subscription required) makes clear, the news is not all good.
The Muslim Brotherhood legacy organizations have recently made tremendous strides in occupying positions of influence within the Obama administration, at the same time the FBI and other law enforcement officials have move to cut ties to the very same organization.
The MB has only one political agenda-its own. Its organizations strongly backed George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, (remember the famous picture of Bush hugging the al Arian family?). Hoping for friendlier pastures, the groups switched their support to the Dems in '08. So far, it appears to be paying of. Big time.
The architect is Dr. John Esposito, a long time defender of the MB and the head of the Saudi-financed Georgetown University Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service.
The same Dr. Esposito who maintained prior to 9/11 that radical Islam was essentially a myth and certainly no danger. It is hard to imagine any academic being so consistently wrong in their professed field of expertise maintaining much influence, but there he is, deeply enmeshed with all the major MB legacy groups in the country.
What is fascinating is that all the same small groups appear in every event, and, if needed, new groups are created, but all led by the same small group of people. Recall that the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) hs a paid membership of less than 2,000-a drop of more than 80 percent since 9/11. Yet it continues to cast itself as the premiere voice of Muslim in America, and is often treated as such.
To be clear: these groups have a clearly enunciated and never renounced policy of toppling the government, hollowing out the institutional structures, and imposing the caliphate here, where Sharia law is the law of the land. As I have often said, if they want to openly join the political process and espouse this, they are welcome and they will be marginalized, even within the Muslim community.
It is the fact that these organizations are front groups for a foreign movement that wants to end our political system (while supporting radical Islam) that I object to.
First is the announcement by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), a sort of umbrella organization for many of the MB groups in the United States, that Secretary of State Clinton (along with a senior MB leader from Britain who has been banned from the United States previously will be keynote speakers at their 10th anniversary celebration. My full blog is here.