James Clapper (photo at right) is the Director of National Intelligence for the United States. And it is Clapper's contention that the Muslim Brotherhood is a "largely secular" organization of Arabs, one that has thus far "eschewed violence." Clapper also explained to a Congressional committee that the Muslim Brotherhood had "pursued social ends" and a "betterment of the political order." Hello?
Has no one ever told Clapper about how the Muslim Brotherhood describes itself as an Islamist group? Or how they openly demand the implementation of Sharia law? Or its links to Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda and Hamas? Conn Carroll writes, "In reality, the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, is the Middle East’s oldest and most influential Islamist movement." It has been "outlawed in Egypt since 1954, when it attempted to assassinate former President Gamal Abdel Nasser..."
Peter Brookes of the Heritage Foundation (who was once a deputy assistant secretary of defense) writes, "Though Clapper's office has reportedly 'clarified' his remarks, the damage has been done. The DNI's testimony makes it appear that the US government either doesn't know the facts on the ground in Egypt or has mistakenly concluded that we shouldn't be concerned about the Brotherhood being large and in charge of that strategic Mideastern country. Either case is troubling."
Also quite troubling were the remarks made by CIA Director Leon Panetta -- first, the incorrect prediction of Hosni Mubarak's resignation and second, the admission that his public prediction had not been informed by intelligence sources at all but by listening to the news!
Shane Vander Hart weighs in:
Wow, first we have CIA Director Leon Panetta who testified that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would step down by the end of the day yesterday. He was wrong. Mubarak seems to thumbing his nose at the President, and I’m sure he has been emboldened by the Saudis. Obviously this makes President Obama extremely happy.
These types of things do tend to turn on a dime, so I’m willing to cut Panetta some slack if it weren’t for him coming back to say he was referring to media reports. What? You are going to make an assertion in a Congressional testimony saying there is a “strong likelihood” that Mubarack was going to step down based on media reports?
Wow, I can do that...
(By the way, Panetta must now know that Mubarak did end up resigning. His source? The Drudge Report.) this morning.)
Carroll concludes that this fumbling by key intelligence personnel (as well as Barack Obama's own dithering, inconsistent and slow response to the Egyptian situation) "shows an Administration that has far too much faith in the power of the President’s rhetoric and not nearly enough concern about our enemies in the Middle East.
The worst possible outcome of the present crisis would be to replace President Mubarak’s authoritarian regime with the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a totalitarian Islamist agenda. This would ultimately be a disaster for freedom in Egypt as well as for American interests in Egypt and the wider Middle East. Washington should work quietly behind the scenes with the leadership of the army and leverage its $1.5 billion in annual aid to Cairo to ensure the emergence of a government that respects the freedom and human rights of its own citizens, complies with Egypt’s international obligations to fight terrorism, and carries out its legal obligations under Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel."
