As noted in earlier blogs, there’s no war like a good old-fashioned religious war. When one side believes God is one their side, it’s Katy-bar-the-door in an all out brawl to the death. I have suggested that a major problem in US policy has been the failure to recognize the Middle-East situation as fundamentally a war between Sunni and Shiite Muslim elements. We keep getting in the middle of their fight, thinking we can impose democracy and all will be okay. President Bush unintentionally demonstrated the opposite in Iraq. Sorry. The idea didn’t work.
The Muslim Brotherhood remains a good case in point for understanding why violence continues across the region. The Brotherhood’s position is straightforward. They will impose their Muslim beliefs and Shari’s law by all means. Violence if necessary.
Two months ago, an Egyptian court banned all activities by the Brotherhood. Since the movement began in Egypt and has evolved there, who should know better than the Egyptians? They want them gone. Egypt has long history of struggle with this group. President Gamal-Abdel Nassar became a target of one of their assassination attempts and consequently tried to eliminate the Brotherhood by having their leaders executed. When Anwar Sudat came to power he attempted to use the group to help purge the Soviet element that existed in the country. He wound up being executed by them. Again forbidden, during the Murbarak era the group attempted to advance its cause through nonviolent means.
Documents seized in the West have revealed a strategy to infiltrate the Western world with a devious intent. They attempt to undermine governments like England and America by using those country’s inherent values and freedom of speech against them. While clever, the scheme is diabolically.
For example, Muslims got the acceptance of Sharia law on the state ballot in Oklahoma. The citizens of Oklahoma overwhelming voted against the idea of Sharia ever being introduced in the state. The negative vote was overwhelming. Muslims then turned around and took their loss to court claiming it violated freedom of speech. Not surprisingly, they won because freedom of politic ideals is a basic right in this country. They had used the law against itself to obtain their religious convictions.
The Moslem Brotherhood brought Morsi to power. Despite his claims to the contrary, he set out to create a religious state which would have eventually functioned under Shari’s law with all of it prohibitions against women’s rights. The military responded partially because Morsi was attempting to create a religious dictatorship. While this idea sounds extreme in the Western world, it’s simply the way the Brotherhood has always functioned.
Unfortunately, to its own peril the West has failed to grasp that a terrorist group like the Brotherhood exists as a challenge to their ideals and beliefs. The result is an increasing vulnerability to Muslim ideas and militant actions.
Dr. Robert L. Wise 