Doubtless the Brotherhood tweets too...

Truthtriumphs

This is what the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, that paragon of objectivity and integrity, had to say about the Muslim Brotherhood:-
Unlike the jihadis, it does not believe it is at war with the West. It is conservative, moderate and non-violent.
Tells you all you need to know about the BBC.

Truthtriumphs

The West will wake from its deep slumber when Saudi Arabia, the Brotherhood's next port of call, goes the same way as Egypt.
Then it really will be over the barrel, or should one say, billions of barrels?
Ironic, isn't it, that Saudi was always the main purveyor of the Brotherhood's ideology, albeit by the back door?
Classic case of reaping the whirlwind.

Nick

Fascinating to watch the events unfolding in Egypt. Mubarak certainly has to go, and all credit to the Egyptians for taking to the streets to make their collective voice heard.

Credit to the BBC also; its coverage of this story has been exemplary. British journalism at its finest.

Michael

Where is the evidence for this?

Augustus

Ah, the Muslim Brotherhood! The trade union of the caliphate, literally, because it was founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna and six workers of the Suez Canal Co. It's credo: Allah is our objective, the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, Jihad is our way, and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations. The Egyptian Ikhwanis still form the heart and soul of what has now become a worldwide movement with branches in Europe and the USA.
Their fundamental objectives have not changed with time, and the movement remains tied to the belief that Islam is the solution. There are reformers in the movement who even accept the principle of free and fair elections, but even they say that the Ikhwanis will strive to change the laws, purify them,
and bring them in line with the principles of Sharia. There is certainly some flexibility of thought amongst the Brothers internationally, for example, Rashis al-Ghannouchi, the Tunisian who moved to Britain, and who is preparing to return,
regularly clashed with his Brothers in Egypt, but even in his concept of Islamic democracy
Sharia is paramount. Whatever the revolution brings forth in Egypt in the coming months and years ahead, it is pretty safe to assume that the masses in this overpopulated country will become increasingly susceptible
to the ideological utopianism of political Islam.

The Grunting Colonel

The West - or this part of it at least, by which I mean Britain, is only interested in supporting perceived winners. Led on by the fantasically irresponsible and doltish 24 hour news channels.

Iran's "uprising" always looked born to lose while Eygpt's looks likely to go the other way. Hence the giving of support in the way described in the article. It has nothing whatsoever to do with rights and wrongs of the situation.

Carlos Perera

An old Spanish proverb, the quintessence of a pessimistic world view, says, "Think the worst and you'll be right." Well, I'm thinking the worst about the developments in North Africa; I hope I'm not right.

Valentine Rossetti

It seems inevitable that President Mubarak will step down, even more so as the army has now refused to use force against the protesters. If and when Mubarak is replaced with el Baradei the prospect of what the future will hold for Israel is chilling, particularly as this man and his pals the Muslim Brotherhood will have access to the 7th largest army in the world. Israel will be ever more the sitting duck and the Western world be as indifferent as ever!

Frank P

Has Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi put his head above the parapet yet? Haven't heard him mentioned once since the coverage of the current crisis began.

He even got a free pass from Glenn Beck tonight, who went just a tad OTT with his chalkboards and graphics, setting the whole bloody world on fire with magnetic plastic flames on a map of the earth. He was close to hysteria. I turned off my coal-effect electric fire during his broadcast lest I got included in the plot. His heart's in the right place, but I wish they would send him on an Anacapa Intelligence analysis course. I hope he doesn't read your post Melanie; if he does they'll have to sign out the strait jacket for him, he's very close to the edge.

He's mostly right of course, but it's the way you tell 'em!

Sorry to be facetious as western civilisation teeters on the brink, Melanie. I agree entirely with your take; but it's so serious now that all we can do is sit back and watch the finale. We did try, gal. There's none so deaf ....

ahem

I don't know, Mel. It's like watching your house burn down while the fire department's on strike. It's like that. It's a disaster, and it will be a disaster for decades to come. The Obama administration, ultimately, will be held responsible for untold evil, destruction and heartache. It's a fire.

CD

It's not madness, Melanie. Its "rational" minds at work. Though I sympathize with your emotions.

Democracy focuses on the interest of the nation, not the world (just like capitalism means you focus on your own interest, not others').

Likewise, there is a premium on the here and now in democracy, just like the time value of money in capitalism.

What we see today is a result of self-centered short-sighted interests at work by powerful "rational" western democratic governments over that last century or more.

The root cause: forgetting and forsaking the underlying foundation of the faith and Reformation which helped them build this superstructure of rationality, prosperity and power.

Mladen Andrijasevic

Your penultimate paragraph is the most concise and precise analysis on the Egyptian crisis I've read so far. Should be disseminated across this lethally ignorant western civilization of ours. Here it is once again:

The west’s reaction to this crisis shows how moral confusion has rotted its collective brain. When the people of Lebanon made their genuine pitch for democracy, which would have helped in the defence of the free world, the west was totally indifferent. When the people of Iran made their genuine pitch for democracy, which would have helped in the defence of the free world, the west was totally indifferent. But when the Egyptians look like they may be about to repeat the pattern of the 1979 Iranian revolution and bring about another Islamic theocracy which would further threaten the free world, the west cheers them on.

Bob From Virginia

You have to see the humor in all this, screaming for freedom while building a tyranny, complaining about the economy while laying the groundwork for its devastation, promoting violence against Israel, the US and the west while these are the best placed to help Egypt. Using technology from the cultures they damn (half invented in the US, the other half in Israel)all to achieve a life they will utterly despise.

If history repeats itself the second time as a farce what does this make the revolution in Egypt, stand up comedy?

benjamin

Surely Ms. Phillips, of all people, would support the obvious desire of the Egyptian and Tunisian peoples to get rid of corrupt dictatorial regimes? Not so, apparently. In order to protect the "good" Western culture, your idea is to continue to support and arm despots, with the great mass of the population living in misery? Very compassionate and generous Western idea. The world is entering a new phase where peoples will be capable of getting rid of tyrannical leaders. The advent of new technologies means that regimes cannot react by simply massacring large numbers of people - bad publicity. The Egyption army has announced that it will not fire on the people. Nobody knows how it will turn, but things can't stay as they are. The ambiguous responses of the Western govts is due to the fact that they simply don't know what to do - you can't go on spouting about freedom and democracy and how great we in the West are, and at the same time continue to support tyrants.

steve

So Melanie what should the west be doing? Should the west encourage Mubarak to use the military to launch a bloody crackdown and have the tanks and soldiers kill thousands of peaceful demonstrators? Please explain what the west should do to support the "tyrant".

tiki

With 'friends like OBAMA, who needs enemies? Since he got in power, the 'axes of evil are not only 'roaring but acting!How this man screws (sorry) his friends & allies (and the US in the end) is staggering. This useless and therefore dangerous US president is giving the West away on a silver platter. Very, very frightening.

Gary

Eisenhower ruined Iran.

Mossadegh was secular, pro-American, and democratically elected, and, unlike Western politicians, did not sponge off of taxpayers.
The Americans and British replaced him with a moronic puppet dictator, the thuggish and greedy Shah.
That tells you the stupidity and utter moral bankruptcy of Western foreign policy; smashing democracy purely to line the pockets of the oil cartels.
US foreign policy is guided entirely by corporate profits.

Speaking of Brothers, Melanie, what about the Dulles Brothers? A pair of fascist corporate crooks who ran the CIA like a United Fruitcake Company.
The Dulles brothers were big fans of Hitler, too.

Videla the Child Snatcher, Pinochet the Rapist, Saddam, Garcia, Mont, Papa Doc & Baby Doc, Dumbo Diem, Idi Amin, Batista, Bastard Banzer, Stroessner, Sadistic Suharto, Money-Bags Marcos, Trujillo, Fat Fahd, Branco, Abacha, Kai-Shek, Franco, Seko, Pol Pot...the US sure knows how to pick 'em.

James Coleman

Mubarak is a son of a bitch... but he's our son of a bitch..,I think that sums it all up.

Victoria Williams

Your blog has frequently cited Israel as being the only 'democracy' in the Middle East and along with the neo-cons you have oft promoted and predicted the domino effect of a democratic Iraq - despite the fact that this has not yet happened why are you now rubbishing the shoots of democracy as they emerge in Egypt. Surely a little inconsistent? Your blog begs the question: what do you expect the West to do? Are you seriously suggesting that the West should be supporting Mubarak? The reality of the situation is that we have for whatever reasons financed a tyrant and accepted a regime that runs counter to all the West evidently believes in. Jeremy Bowen's views of the Muslim Brotherhood are a solid interpretation based on the what we know - promoting then as islamic extremists is both wrong and seems to be an attempt raise fear and alarm.
As for the BBC, their coverage of the crisis in Egypt has been of the highest quality.

logdon

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose?

Or be careful what you wish for.

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/01/muslim-brotherhood-1948-john-roy.html

Graeme Thompson

@ Victoria Williams.

Only a fan of the modern BBC can regard an organisation that has declared Jihad against the West as 'moderate'.

stephen maybery

Here we go again, the americans turned their back on their ally the shah, and what replaced him was far worse, and we are still living with the consequences. When will they learn that they who ignore the lessons of history are condemned to live with it's mistakes, and unfortunately it is we, who more will be called upon to pay the price.

Seamus

' This is indeed astounding. Sure, Mubarak is a tyrant – but if anyone thinks that the current upheavals will lead to a kinder, gentler, freer Egypt they must be out to lunch.'

This isn't about 'a kinder, gentler, freer Egypt'.

It's about who will rule Egypt in the next days or weeks.

Whoever wins, the US wants to be on the right side.

Realpolitik, Ms. Phillips. C'est tout.

And no, it doesn't look good for Israel: a ring of Islamic/Islamist states, an Egyptian MB-Gaza Hamas union, Hizbullah in the north.

But, short of nuclear genocide, there is not much Israel can do about it (and, for all Israel is a nuclear power, her arsenal isn't a vast strategic one like the US's: the majority of Israel's weapons really are tactical, in the kiloton range).

pete

yes been some nonsense about the M Brotherhood on the beeb
some better coverage too.
ex. good debate on democracy, egypt,mubarak &(thanks to an excellent first caller), muslim brotherhood, includes D Murray.
on iplayer - 7 days
5live breakfast
31/01/11-9am

Michael White

Of course there is a third potential outcome. That is that Egypt’s President Mubarak clings on to power - and this in fact is quite likely. With the help of a few ostensible cabinet reshuffles, illusions of concessions, a few public promises combined with a show of strength, and so on, the demonstrators will eventually find themselves fizzling away. In these circumstances, he will probably emerge bruised but healing, and maybe promote himself as a wiser and more able President. If that happens, the West will covertly breath a collective sigh of relief on the basis that the MB will not take over their strategic shipping lanes, or bring any (elevated) threat to the middle east, and hope that the Egyptian president can be worked on to be more 'democratic'. The fact that a dictator is being supported by the West will leave with many a sour taste, and with good reason. But in the real world, the ability to impose a democratic leadership in another nation acceptable to the West and critically to the indiginous population is a luxury which is scarce. Instead, the West are often left to manage their interests on the basis of support for ‘the lesser of two evils’; a code which it has utilised successfully for decades. It departs from this code on occasion but always at its peril, notably in Vietnam, Somalia and Iraq.

Jez

Here's the facts;

Mubarak has lost control of the streets.

There is a wedge between the mobs and Mubarak, in the form of the Egyptian armed forces.

The heads of the Egyptian armed forces do not want to be held accountable for any bloodshed in a prospectively new liberal Egypt- the hangings / executions of Baathist members in Iraq are still fresh in their minds probably.

To coincide with the riots there has been mass breakouts from the prisons- which has released all available Muslim Brotherhood members.

The MB have been around for nearly a century and have not once attempted to violently seize power.

They are not Al Quaeda.

They are a Hamas type entity.

The security / army will be more focused on the streets right now as the Muslim Brotherhood will be consolidating its numbers, structure and agenda- probably with more freedom to do so for the first time in 50 years.

Those are the facts that may lead to;

MB will most probably will be part of a coalition of parties where the pro-western personalities to start off will be the faces we see on BBC, CNN etc, etc.

Hamas will be sharing a border with a (in parts) government that is friendly, if not outright allied with them.

The absolute regional shock at how the Obama regime has handled this at one point localised street demonstration in Tunisia- to now uncontrollable sweeping tidal wave of revolution within prospective hotbeds of Islamic fundamentalism, cannot be underestimated.

This will destabilise the region.

To stop a creeping Hamas type seizure of power then the moderate posterboy leaders parachuted in by the Obama admin' to take control of Egypt may have to employ the same crackdown on militants Mubarak has done for the last decade.

The MB will be the default powerhouse to take over when the initial moderate figure heads hits trouble...... in the form of a cash strapped US unable to bankroll them out of the interim.

michael

Bring on hydrogen and turn oil back into a fossil.

Wayne Tavitt

According to the Jerusalem Post:
"A leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt told the Arabic-language Iranian news network Al-Alam on Monday that he would like to see the Egyptian people prepare for war against Israel, according to the Hebrew-language business newspaper Calcalist."
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=206130

Solomon2

I've met some of Egypt's democracy activists. The Muslim Brotherhood was a distant thing to them. Mubarak's trick of jailing or expelling democrats while enabling anti-Semitism and the Brotherhood was sufficient to cause the Bush Administration to yield, but I'm not sure the Egyptians will continue to be so easily snookered. The gloves are off, and the democrats can reach for prominence - maybe very quickly. The joint defense of the Egyptian Museum by demonstrators and Army against Islamist vandals strikes me as a very good sign.

Solomon2

So what is needed now isn't instant elections, for that would give only the organized parties - the M-B and Mubarak's gang - a chance to win at the polls, even if the elections are honest (which hasn't happened in Egypt in a long time, if ever.) What is needed now is a government, maybe of a caretaker sort, of increased human rights so that minorities can be protected to organize, debate, and grow before the election of a new Parliament or Convention. That would require an alliance between Mubarak's gang - which wants to keep its wealth in safety - and the democrats, who seek the people's voice and good governance. The Muslim Brotherhood might end up sidelined, for a time.

Simon

Does Miss Philips believe that the west should somehow help President Mubarak hold on to power and if so how? Does she think the President of the United States should publicly declare his support for Mubarak even if the security forces start shooting unarmed demonstrators in the street?

Derek Pasquill

The twentieth century was a walk in the park compared to what is on the horizon ...

Wyn

Victoria Williams, February 1st 2011. Your remarks about quality coverage by the BBC cannot possibly be a serious view. Surely your observations were meant ironically? Regarding events in the Middle East, it seems, as I have mentioned before, that these have reached Biblical proportions and have taken on a momentum of their own. Perhaps a study of the Bible would give us a more accurate prediction of the outcome than Jeremy Bowen ever could?

Augustus

Truthtriumphs - Jeremy Bowen's remarks are just another typical left-wing liberal example of their desire to see the world as they want it to be, with no difficult choices.
And as for el Baradei, what about the succession of various Western oriented moderates that
had a nominal leadership role in
the Iranian revolution before the mullahs showed who had the real power? They were either all killed, or fled.

Interestingly, both Iran's regime and its opposition are both trying to identify with Egypt's protesters. Iran has a strategic interest at stake in the turmoil in Egypt: It is weakening Iran's biggest archrival in the region, the secular pro-western Mubarak.

Ian G

And King Abdullah of Jordan has just sacked his cabinet. I fear a ring of jihadists around Israel and across North Africa mad enough to start a war and not just a war against Israel.

Celato

Victoria Williams:

What a relief to hear a rational voice amid all this apocalyptic howling. Please don't go away!

Herzen

It's been an awkward few days on the propaganda front.

Those tyrants whose human rights abuses came in so handy to distract from Israel's doings - we now have to admit what was clear all along, that it is we have kept these same tyrants in power, to further our interests, and we want them to stay in power. These countries are to be run in the interests, not of their people, but of the US and its satellites.

And this just days after it was confirmed that any "Generous Offers" came, as ought to have been clear all along, from the Palestinians, not the Israelis.

Seldom has it been so clear what the cant is intended to hide.

Frank P

Hertzen

"Seldom has it been so clear what the cant is intended to hide."

It seems quite clear that the cant is desperately trying to hide the $25b dollars he has filched off American aid before passing on a few crumbs to the Egyptian people and desperately trying to find a bolt hole. Let's hope his local grocery doesn't become Harrods (he owns a mansion next door).

eeore

"The alternative to Mubarak is the Muslim Brotherhood."

Really?

A country that was controlled for 500 years by the Mamluks?

Remind me why Gordon was in Khartoum?

Derek BLADES

Wyn. You say "Perhaps a study of the Bible would give us a more accurate prediction of the outcome than Jeremy Bowen ever could?"

That is a fascinating thought. Details please.

Herzen

Frank P
February 2nd, 2011 1:17am
The aid is granted to the proxy leader, in this instance, to Mubarak. The proxy leader gives it in grant to his loyal military. The military place orders with the US arms manufacturers. At each step, the intermediaries take their cut. It is payment for their services. This has always been the way. The cant and hypocrisy is all of a piece.

It is also why the most likely outcome (although not certain) is that the military instal another tyrant, whether democratically elected or not (the Vice President, a notorious torturer, is their current candidate).

david elder

Gary at 9.02 am: have you ever heard of the Marshall Plan? Your hysterically flagellated US made massive donations to the defeated nations of WWII, an extraordinarily generous action.

Frank P

Hertzen (4.44pm)

I was - as is my wont - being facetious. It's a nervous tick I have, when the horns of a dilemma are prodding my jacksie.

Though I agree with the gist of your description of the circle of corruption (which ever was, is - and ever will be), the prospect of ousting a west-friendly (albeit faux-friendly) ruthless dictator who is prepared, for his cut of the corruption, to act as a stanchion against a giant leap by Islam toward a new Caliphate, in favour of a cobbled together rag-tag-and-bobtail regime, antithetical to the west and Israel, that will fall rapidly to the mullahs in the blinking of an eye in the historical time-frame of that country, is horrifying.

Let’s face it, Obama has thrown Mubarak under a bus – and, unless Israel nukes the bus – it will be next. What’s more I don’t fancy the aged and ‘bus mangled corpus of Mubarak turning up in Knightsbridge with all the concomitant security problems that it would bring for Britain. At the moment he is as hot as hell and who wants him? He must be having difficulty finding a bolt hole. If he had one, I guess he would have gone already.

As for what comes next: for the past 9 days or so I have read and watched as much I could assimilate of the TV and dead tree media on the crisis and filled in the interstices with googling the interweb. My conclusion is that the experts have no idea what’s going to happen next and nor do any of the main players. Everybody has a horse in this race, but the MB distance runner and jumper is the odds on favourite; it’s the one with staying power. G-d help Israel! After that .....?? G-d only knows!

DEREK BLADES

For years generous US aid and military equipment has propped up the Mubarak regime in order to safeguard Israel's southern border. Israel repaid America by thumbing its nose at US efforts to bring peace to the region.

Several good things may come from the spread of democracy in the region including a chastened Israel now eager to make peace with the Palestinians.

Linda

The west's moral confusion? Well let's not be too damned hasty to blanket everyone in the West . The left wing is your culprit. They are the ones with moral decay. You don't really think the Obama administration really gives a farthing for them do you? NO. They are strictly for what They can get out of this. They will kiss Muslm Brotherhood butt until the cows come home. This administration is keenly for Islamic domination. You will not find help among the left for democracy.

Linda

The west's moral confusion? Well let's not be too damned hasty to blanket everyone in the West . The left wing is your culprit. They are the ones with moral decay. You don't really think the Obama administration really gives a farthing for them do you? NO. They are strictly for what They can get out of this. They will kiss Muslm Brotherhood butt until the cows come home. This administration is keenly for Islamic domination. You will not find help among the left for democracy.

Herzen

Frank P.
I'm sorry, I didn't pick up that you suffer from variant Naughtie spoonerism. The facetiousness is appreciated even by slow-wits like me, when we eventually get there.

Wyn

Derek Blades, 2nd February. Read and digest: I don't need to feed you, surely.