Posts Tagged ‘Muslim Brotherhood’
Monday, January 31st, 2011
Hosni Mubarak seems to have adopted an interesting strategy to deal with the unrest gripping his country: Let the worst of it rage with a minimum of reprisals and crackdowns, and then slowly but surely reassert his control using the police and the military. Such a strategy walks the fine line between appearing weak enough to let the revolution push him out of power, and a Tienanmen-type crackdown that leaves thousands dead. So far it seems to be working: Despite some blips and waivers, the army still appears to be following Mubarak’s orders. If they continue to do so, it’s hard to see how the called-for general strike can be total enough to paralyze the nation. And if gas and food continue to make it through, it’s hard to see the general masses being radicalized enough to join the call to oust Mubarak.
Also, National Review reminds us that the Muslim Brotherhood is bad news.
Tags:Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood, strike, unrest
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad | No Comments »
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
Or so say their sources:
The Egyptian military and internal security forces have coordinated a crackdown for the hours ahead in an effort to clear the streets of the demonstrators. The interior minister has meanwhile negotiated his stay for the time being, in spite of widespread expectations that he, seen by many Egyptians as the source of police brutality in the country, would be one of the first ministers that would have to be sacked in order to quell the demonstrations. Instead, both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and al-Adly, the two main targets of ire for the demonstrators, seem to be betting that they can ride this crisis out and remain in power. So far, the military seems to be acquiescing to these decisions.
Tags:Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Jihad, Middle East, Muslim Brotherhood, Stratfor
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad | No Comments »
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
Haaretz reports that military men are taking off their helmets and being hoisted by the crowd in Cairo, chanting “the people and the military are one.” (Hat tip: Belmonst Club.)
All the protest factions (including the Muslim brotherhood, who seem quite content to stay in the background for now) have settled on Mohamed ElBaradei as the leader and presumptive transition President should Mubarak fall. ElBaradei is reported to be at Tahrir Square.
Stratfor analyzes the Egyptian military, and the possibility that Islamist sympathizers exist within its ranks.
Here’s a Wall Street Journal report from two years ago on the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s (generally successful) attempts to suppress it.
Once again, the live update sources have changed:
NRO
BBC
The Atlantic
Al Jazerra
Tags:Egypt, Jihad, Mohamed ElBaradei, Muslim Brotherhood, unrest
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad | No Comments »
Saturday, January 29th, 2011
Not a lot of news coming out. The longer it takes things to happen, the more likely Mubarak is to hold onto power. Yesterday brought scattered reports that the army may be wavering in support of Mubarak. Today? Not so much. There are sporadic reports of gunfire, and lots of reports that citizens groups are banding together to prevent looting.
The old links down the page stopped updating at the end of the day. The new links are:
The BBC.
The Atlantic.
Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey’s Twitter feed
As for what an actual popular Egyptian government might look like, Michael Totten reminds us that the answer might be pretty ugly:
In Egypt, 82 percent want stoning for those who commit adultery; 77 percent would like to see whippings and hands cut off for robbery; and 84 percent favor the death penalty for any Muslim who changes his religion.
Asked if they supported “modernizers” or “Islamists” only 27 percent said modernizers while 59 percent said Islamists.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, there are reports of unrest in Yemen. Conversely, yesterday’s reports that Syria had also taken down nationwide Internet access appear to have been false.
Tags:Egypt, Islamist, Jihad, Michael Totten, Middle East, Muslim Brotherhood, Syria, unrest, Yemen
Posted in Global Warming, Jihad, Media Watch | 1 Comment »
Saturday, January 29th, 2011
This is not good news.
It would be great if the current unrest lead to a free, democratic government in Egypt. However, it is just as likely that events will lead to widespread Islamization of regional governments and another Arab-Israeli war.
Tags:Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad | No Comments »
Friday, January 28th, 2011
Protests spread across Egypt, the Internet is cut off, the military is mobilizing, and Nobel Peace prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei under house arrest.
Some sources for live updates:
NRO’s updates.
Here’s a constantly updated BBC news page.
The Beeb’s updated compilation of eyewitness accounts.
Live blogging from the Christian Science Monitor.
Some people have been linking to Al Jazeera for live footage, but that requires installing RealPlayer, and there are some things I just won’t do…
Is this revolution a good or bad thing for Egypt? Depends on who comes out on top. Hosni Mubarak probably isn’t on the list of the ten most brutal and corrupt world leaders, but he probably does make the top twenty. Replacing him with a real Democratic government would be great. Replacing him with the Muslim Brotherhood would be like replace the Shah with Ayatollah Khomeini, only possibly a lot worse.
Tags:Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Iran, Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad, Media Watch | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Though I’m going to be concentrating heavily on election coverage the next three weeks, the rest of the world doesn’t stop just because the U.S. is having an election. Here’s a roundup of this week’s problems with Jihad, Islamists, Sharia, Islam, and the Middle East in general. (You might also have noticed that I’ve added a Foreign Policy/Jihad links section.)
So here’s a week’s worth of (mostly depressing) developments:
- Michael Totten notes (by way of the the Gloria Foundation) that The Muslim Brotherhood has declared war on the United States. (If you’re not familiar with the Muslim Brotherhood, they are, if not Patient Zero, then Patient One or Two of the modern Islamist movement, founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna.) Here’s the text of the declaration via MEMRI. As Totten notes, the Muslim Brotherhood has “one hundred times more activists than al-Qaida.”
- The Jawa Report on a homegrown Jihadi who recently defected to al Qaeda in Yemen.
- Advice Goddess Amy Alkon recently got in touch on Facebook via a mutual (non-political) friend. (Yes, I’m on Facebook. No, I don’t take friend requests from people I don’t already have some sort of personal connection to, which excludes most political figures; as one friend put it, “I don’t friend anyone on Facebook who couldn’t pick me out of a police lineup.” I also don’t post political links on my Facebook feed. What would be the point?) Anyway, she’s been doing a lot of coverage on the Jihad front. This week she links the complete text of this Geert Wilders speech that’s well worth reading.
- Thinking of eating at a Washington, DC restaurant? Congratulations: you’re now a Jihad target.
- Not this week, but I only recently became aware of the honor killings of Amina and Sarah Said, teenage sisters, by their own father in Irving, Texas. Updated: Dwight emailed to note that not only was the father/killer Yaser Said still at large, but that he’s been featured on America’s Most Wanted.
Tags:al Qaeda, America's Most Wanted, Amy Alkon, Facebook, Geert Wilders, honor killing, Irving, Jawa Report, Jihad, MEMRI, Michael Totten, Muslim Brotherhood, Texas, Yaser Said, Yemen
Posted in Crime, Jihad, Texas | 1 Comment »