Middle East Overview

In the last week the Egyptian Military announced that the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate has been elected President with 51% of the votes. Not a mandate by any means but a real milestone. Of course the military has rewritten the constitution to weaken the presidential authority, but there are other encouraging signs. The new president has announced he will pick both women and Christians as Vice Presidents, whether this happens or not remains to be seen but the mere announcement of intent is encouraging. It has been feared that if the MB gained power they would immediately turn Egypt into an Islamist state. Of course that still might happen but with only 51% of the votes it seems that perhaps the MB will actually attempt to establish a unity approach. While Egypt is the very foundation of Islam it is not alone in the Middle East and what happens there can signal changes throughout the region. For example during this same period Palestinians fired 55 rockets into Israel from Gaza, a Turkish Military jet was shot down by Syrian air defenses, three Syrian air force officers have defected to Jordan including one with his aircraft, and Syria has finally spun into an outright civil war. All of these things are interesting but they must be viewed in their totality. Within the Middle East Turkey is the only truly secular government with an Islamic majority, but that majority has been moving toward an Islamic government and a less secular one. Turkey would like to be a larger influence in the Middle East because they need more political stability and less violence throughout the region. The current regime in Syria has lost control as it spends out of control and into civil war, Turkey needs to see a new regime there. After all Turkey is bounded by Iran with its radical Islamic government and Syria whose government is heavily influenced by Iran via Hezbollah, so with a new regime in Syria, Turkey could work with the new government to expand its influence throughout the Arab world and counter the influence of the radical Islamist elements on its borders. The Muslim Brotherhood has been struggling to gain a legitimate political presence since the 1920’s. For much of that time it has been an outlaw regime similar to the IRA in Ireland. It was the MB that claimed responsibility for the assassination of Sadat in Egypt. Now for the first time they are recognized as a legitimate political party with control albeit tenuous control, of Egypt. Now that they have control of Egypt the MB must find a way to not just deal with the military but to reduce its power, reduce its power without violence. What happens now remains to be seen but without doubt Hamas sees the MB and Egypt as an ally in its war against Israel. The Israeli’s are holding back for the time being while the new Egyptian government stabilizes. For the moment it seems that Hamas is escalating its war on Israel on the belief that the MB will abandon the Egyptian – Israeli peace treaty and join in the general Arab war on Israel. However, it seems that the Saudi’s along with several other nations have condemned Israel publicly and played along with Hamas and Hezbollah by giving them lip service but without actively working against Israel. Therefore the probability is that Egypt will seek some sort of Modus Vivendi with Israel and lean on Palestine and Hamas to find a political solution and cease their stupid little war that has achieved nothing, not likely to achieve anything, while reducing the credibility of the entire Arab world. Turkey may be the key to the whole area although it seems they are trying to determine what to do next without actively supporting the Syrian rebels. If those rebels can get organized and show they are not dominated by Iran, Hezbollah, or radical Islamic forces, then Turkey and other nations might come to their aid and end the Assad regime.

The Nation of Islam

The recent attempt by yet another Arab terror group to break the Israeli embargo has served to highlight the problems that Israel faces but more importantly it acts as a reminder of how fragmented Islam is. This issue of Islamic infighting was covered in great detail in a strategic report which I have digested in the following comments and added my own editorial observations.

There is little doubt but Israel is once again losing the battle for public opinion but that was the objective of the entire flotilla exercise from the outset, even the selection of the contraband was intended to further the case for public outrage. But when you look behind the blather what do you see? What you see is very little action, lots of talk, and interestingly enough no calls for military action against Israel other than the usual Hamas terrorism.

The reality of the situation is the powers outside of the Middle East will continue to blather away against Israel but any significant action by the Islamic nations in the area is unlikely because they are so divided among themselves and have such divergent relations with Israel and each other that any effective coalition against Israel doesn’t exist and is unlikely to exist in the near future. Of course the nuclear threat from Iran exists but that threat is mitigated somewhat by the world at large. Consequently while the tide of public opinion rises against Israel it is unlikely that little action will be taken and the Israeli’s will continue their policies unchanged.

Since it was the “humanitarian” effort to bring aid to the Palestinians it is probably best to examine the relations between the factions within the Palestinian community. There is of course the Palestinians themselves who can be classified as victims – not of the Israeli’s but of their own political groups, Fatah and Hamas, neither of which seem to care about the plight of the people. These two groups are at war with each other and with Israel. Fatah dominates the West Bank while Hamas dominates the Gaza Strip and Israel occupies the middle ground. The result is that these two Palestinian groups operate as if they were separate and hostile countries – countries with distinctly different ideologies.

Fatah is secular and springs from the socialist movement started by Nasser in Egypt and aligned with the old Soviet Union. Fatah was the dominant faction in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) which was an umbrella group headed by Yasser Arafat until his death. But upon his death the PLO was left with a corrupt bureaucracy but no leader, no coherent strategy, and worst of all – no agreed upon ideology. The result was the PLO ceased to exist and fragmented into the Hamas and Fatah factions. Hamas is an Islamist (Shia) organization supported and subsidized by Iran. Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist but the “liberation” of Palestine is not the paramount objective – the objective of Hamas is to establish an Islamic state, which makes it hostile to Fatah.

Fatah is Islamic but secular at its base. While it preaches the destruction of Israel it is much more pragmatic and seeks a true country of Palestine and is much more willing to negotiate with Israel. But Hamas and Fatah are irreconcilable in their ideologies and Hamas views Fatah as corrupt making both groups easily manipulated by Israel as well as other outside forces. Hamas sees any set back to Fatah as a victory just as Fatah views any failure of Hamas as a win for their side. Currently the world focus is on Hamas and their clear public relations victory so it is only a matter of time before Fatah will find some way to undo these gains by Hamas. It is this deep division between the Palestinians that makes Israeli efforts to pit one against the other as almost unnecessary since they are at war with each other.
But the Palestinian situation is actually a microcosm of the Arab states surrounding Israel which have issues of their own. Jordan, Syria, and Egypt surround Israel and publicly condemn Israel, the Israeli Embargo, and support the Islamic cause – at least publicly but underneath things are much less clear.
Egypt may be the oldest country in the world and while essentially an Islamic state it is a secular country and totally hostile to Hamas. Hamas is an intensely religious organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood – a semi-secret organization responsible for the assassination of Anwar Sadat among others. The Muslim Brotherhood is considered by the Egyptian government to be its greatest domestic threat and President Mubarak has moved against Islamic extremists and sees Hamas and their ideology as a threat since it could spread to Egypt. Thus Egypt has maintained its own blockade of Gaza and remains much closer to the Fatah whose secularism derives from the Egyptian secularism. Consequently Hamas (supported by Iran) distrusts Cairo which is secular and Sunni.
Jordan on the other hand doesn’t trust Fatah since Arafat attempted to overthrow the monarchy. This effort by Fatah cost 10,000 Palestinian lives and Fatah has never forgot this massacre – initiated by them but in typical fashion blamed on Jordan. The idea of an independent Palestinian State in the West Bank is not popular with the Jordanians, especially since so much of their population is Palestinian. But the Jordanians are not enthusiastic about Hamas either since they have such close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood which has caused problems in Jordan. So while Jordan acts as an Islamic state and gives lip service to the condemnation of Israel the reality is both Jordan and Egypt have peace treaties with Israel which remain in place and apparently unthreatened.
And that brings us to the more interesting and complicated issue which is Syria. Syria supports the Palestinians but that seems to be more rhetorical than real. Syria is focused on Lebanon and along with Iran a sponsor of Hezbollah, which is anti-Israeli rather than pro-Palestinian. Hezbollah is a Shiite Organization supported by Iran that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel not to the creation of a Palestinian state. The Palestinians are little more than a casus belli for Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel. The Syrian government is focused on Lebanon and when Hezbollah becomes aggressive against Israel the Syrians become upset with Iran whom they see as responsible. But there are other issues here because Hezbollah is a Shiite organization but the Palestinians are generally Sunni so it isn’t clear that the Palestinians would want Hezbollah to establish a regime in Palestine. So Syria is playing a complicated game as it tries to balance all of these conflicting goals that only have one common one which is the destruction of Israel, when their goal is the domination of Lebanon. But these aren’t the only countries that make up Islam
Turkey is a secular Islamic country with aspirations to join the EU but it is also dealing with an insurgent Kurdish issue and a rising Islamic fundamentalism fueled by radical clerics. The Turkish government is condemning Israel at the moment but that is probably the government’s attempt to mollify the radicals. Then you have the threats the PLO gave to the Arabian states. Like all Arabs the Saudi’s and other Arabian peninsula states are long on memory and short on forgiveness so it is unlikely they will rush to the aid and support of the Palestinians in any meaningful way. Of course Iran would like to influence if not dominate the Palestinians as they pursue their objective of the destruction of Israel but Fatah doesn’t trust the Iranians and Hamas is Sunni while Iran is Shiite so there is not a lot of trust there either. So all of these convoluted relationships are fragile and not built on trust.
Given these conflicts in policy, religion, and political goals among the Islamic states, it renders the anti-Semitism of Europe and hostility to Israel as more of a diplomatic issue than any significant threat to Israel. To the Israeli’s Gaza represents a dagger at their throat and it is unlikely they will loosen their grip and from their perspective Fatah ultimately supports their suppression of Gaza and Hamas. More importantly Egypt participates with Israel in this suppression of Hamas through their own embargo, Jordan is relieved by the Israeli policy, and Syria is indifferent to it but may continue their blather. In effect these divisions among the Islamic states render them ineffective and thus Israel has no reason to reduce their pressure on Gaza and Hamas.
To confirm this assessment it is worth noting that as the Israeli Navy intercepted this Turkish Flotilla, not one Egyptian aircraft threaten the Israeli’s nor did any Syrian or Turkish warship approach or make any effort to intervene with the Israeli’s. The threat of rocket attacks and suicide bombers from Gaza remains but any significant deterrent threat from the other Islamic states is unlikely to go beyond rhetorical condemnations.

The Muslim Brotherhood

THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
Recently I was asked about the veracity of an article that cited connections between Nazi Germany, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Qaeda. The contents of this article seemed so outrageous that it couldn’t be true – or so I thought. I was particularly struck by the allegation that Adolf Hitler had formed a Waffen SS Division composed exclusively of Muslims. Surprisingly this turned out to be true and in reality there were two divisions who fought Tito in Yugoslavia. As an interesting sidelight Bernard Lewis in his book “The Middle East” covers the rather cozy relationship the Arabs had with Nazi Germany without once mentioning the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a highly secret society whose actual membership is closely guarded.

Background
The "Al-Ikhwan Al-Moslemoon" (Muslim Brotherhood) was founded in 1928 as a movement in Egypt. But soon after it began to have several branches outside Egypt and began spreading the principal Islamic idea that Islam is "Creed and state, book and sword, and a way of life" These principles were not common among many Muslim "scholars" who believed that Islam is restricted within the walls of the mosque. Members of the Brotherhood were banned and tortured in most of the Muslim countries but the movement continued to grow under the leadership of Hassan Al-Banna. The Brotherhood now has branches in over 70 countries all over the world – including the United States. The movement is organizationally flexible meaning that the Brotherhood works under multiple names – including Hamas, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Islamic Jihad, and virtually every known terrorist organization. However, all of the Brotherhood groups, in all countries are characterized by a common set of principles, which seem innocuous enough but buried within these principles and guidelines we find:

Political Activism: By putting political programs for "Islamising" government in different countries (after realistic studies), and establishing these programs thru the convenient ways which do not conflict with Islam

Building the Muslim state.
Building the Khilafa (basically a shape of unity between the Islamic states).
Mastering the world with Islam

I think these items really announce the true intentions of the Brotherhood more than the high flown phrases that surround them but if you still have any doubts this is the announced theme for the Brotherhood
· Allah is our objective.
· The messenger is our leader.
· Quran is our law.
· Jihad is our way.
· Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.

It is virtually impossible for anyone raised in the Judeo-Christian ethos to comprehend these principles. The problem is that many Westerners will see these and not see any difference between them and a Christian or Jew trying to live by their religious principles. Unfortunately these are not parallel philosophies because under the “law” and the “Qur’an” killing infidels – meaning non-Muslims is expected.

The Muslim Brotherhood believes (http://www.ummah.org.uk/ikhwan/) that they must prepare a country or society for accepting Islamic Law prior to taking over the government because taking over a “corrupt” (meaning non-Muslim) government poses a great risk to the Brotherhood. They believe that Muslims should be trained to administer all aspects of a government and society but they should rule “Islamically”. I think we witnessed what this means when we saw the Brotherhood in action as the Taliban. It is worth noting that the Brotherhood professes to not want power themselves but they support any leader who wants to establish a TRUE Islamic government (Think Mullah Omar).

Achievements
During WW II everyone was amazed at how Heinrich Himmler was able to get so many people to accept his propaganda as true. He stated quite openly that if the lie was big enough and told often enough many people would believe it. We see this in the various conspiracy theories that abound but for the most part these are harmless but when you look at the Muslim community you see the concept of the “Big Lie” in its highly developed state. For example this quote;

Throughout their history, the ikhwan (aka Brotherhood) have had many accomplishments. However, their philosophy is that they prefer action and work over words and propaganda. The ikhwan have played and continue to play a major role in the struggle to liberate Muslims lands. The ikhwan's bravery in the 1948 Palestine war has been recorded by all sides. The total number of volunteers from the ikhwan in 1948 numbered 10,000 from Egypt, Syria and other countries. In addition to participating in the battle to liberate Palestine, they served to raise the consciousness of Muslims all over the Islamic World and restore to them the spirit of struggle and dignity. The ikhwan have played a role in liberating Muslim lands from colonialist powers in almost every Muslim country. The ikhwan were active amongst Muslims in Central Asian Muslim republics since the '70s, and their involvement can be seen recently in such republics as Tajikistan. More recently they had a major role in the struggle for Afghanistan and Kashmir.

Notice that nothing is said about the failures of Arab attacks on Israel in every single instance or how the Israeli’s crushed the combined Muslim Armies and would have occupied all of Egypt had it not been for the Americans. This is very typical of how the Brotherhood operates. It convinces the ignorant tribesmen that constitute most of the Muslim countries that they are winning, thus these crushing defeats are shown here as triumphs. It would seem that any thinking person would see through these blatant lies but the Brotherhood is more subtle than that. They are using our very laws and freedoms against us. Anytime the US Government attempts to stymie the Brotherhood there is an immediate outcry about racism and racial profiling. These attacks on our government are aided and abetted by the ACLU and the Press who are so blinded by political correctness that they fail to see the dangers. But while the danger is very real in the United States, Canada is not only under attack but are losing. If fact Canada may be so far gone that it may be impossible to reverse their slide into an Islamic state.

The Muslim Brotherhood and Canada
The Muslim Brotherhood in Canada is right on schedule in their drive to control the government and convert Canada into an Islamic State. Overblown rhetoric you think – think again and consider these events in terms of a global strategy. (http://www.shariahprogram.ca/)

Muslims are currently demanding uncensored Al Jazeera on Canadian Dish Services
Muslims are demanding shariah law for Muslims
The Canadian Government is considering the implementation of a separate Islamic Court
The Saudi Government is funding the web site http:www.shariahprogram.ca, which is spreading Wahabbism throughout Canada
CAIR states that Canada needs Quranic Law to be humane and just.
CAIR now endorses the Hijab since the Canadian Civil Liberties Board is now headed by a Muslim
Canadian Universities must have prayer rooms and Muslims must be seen by Muslim Doctors
Schools must have Halal menus
The Muslim Brotherhood now brags that the Muslims now have the largest prison population in Canada (does this sound familiar)

The Al Quaeda and Osama bin Laden have made it clear that the Christian Nation of Canada is guilty for the high standard of living found in the West while Islamic countries suffer. Canada has no military and so is quite vulnerable to a takeover from within. This is especially easy because Canada is very left leaning whose politicians spend most of their time and effort attacking the US and denigrating President Bush.

The Muslim Brotherhood and America
This quasi-secret society is active in America and is largely unknown to many Muslims. Bernard Lewis who is a leading authority on Islam and has written various books on the topic makes no mention of the Muslim Brotherhood. The conclusion must be that either he is a member of the Brotherhood or oblivious to it. This Brotherhood is active in America but not all Muslims support it and it has become a divisive force within the Islamic Community. The basic tenet of the Brotherhood is that “Muslims come first, not humans come first”. Since many Muslims in this country were born here they don’t accept this radical viewpoint but many do. The separation of Church and State is fundamental to American Government the Muslim Brotherhood preaches that religion and politics can’t be separated and that all governments should be Islamic. In order to achieve this they teach martyrdom and jihad. Increasingly the Mosques in America are being infiltrated and taken over by the Brotherhood.

Once you understand the goals and objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood and recognize their fundamental beliefs then it is easy to see how they can see murdering innocent children as well as any infidel or Muslim who gets in their way, can be justified. We are engaged in a global war one that is rooted in religion and one that we are losing. We are losing because we are free and tolerant while our enemy is not. It is time we wake up because we are losing. Spain is already lost, France is on the downward slope as is Canada.