The media is basically AWOL:
Suppose knowing in 1932, months ahead of time, that the Nazi Party would dominate Germany’s government or that the Bolsheviks would gain power in Russia. How about knowing in early 1978 that Iran was going to have an Islamist revolution led by the kind of people who would take hostage the entire U.S. embassy staff and seek to spread anti-American revolution and terrorism throughout the region? Might that have sparked some discussion and action?
The Brotherhood is a radical Islamist group that supports genocide against Israel and violence against the United States. It is anti-Christian and wants to keep women as second-class people. It favors killing homosexuals. Here is Egypt’s foremost politician predicting that they will be to a large extent in control of the country, making its laws, and writing its constitution.
But that doesn’t fit the happy narrative of the “Arab Spring.”
Rand, there are all sorts of Muslims and all sorts of active Muslim organizations. Very few agree with the Al Qaeda extremists. The MB in Egypt have been a non-violent organization for decades, and condemned the 9/11 attacks in public. Their current leader has been free from jail since 1974 because he never engaged in any violent conspiracy or action.
Another factor is: it’s very unlikely that any one party will dominate the new democracy in Egypt. The people there are very excited to be recovering their freedom. (Egypt is one of the few Arab nations with experience in parliamentary democracy.) So the most likely result will be a series of coalition governments, focussed on Egypt’s very real domestic problems.
They have a huge population of underemployed people, mostly under 30.
I do agree that we should keep a close eye on what happens in Egypt. But panic ahead of proof may be unjustified.
“Another factor is: it’s very unlikely that any one party will dominate the new democracy in Egypt.”
How many parties are there? The MB is the dominate party. Nothing about the political philosophy of the MB in encouraging.
“I do agree that we should keep a close eye on what happens in Egypt. But panic ahead of proof may be unjustified.”
The MB held a protest with something like 100k people chanting death to Israel. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
If the MB were to rebuild the churches burned down after the revolution. then I might think they really were peaceful. Instead they seem to be partnered with the Salafists.