Congress Learns About the Brotherhood. Urge a Ban! July 11, 2018
A subcommittee on national security in the House of Congress is holding a hearing on the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood to the United States and its interests and how to effectively counter it.
As the subcommittee notes:
“The Muslim Brotherhood is a radical Islamist organization that has generated a network of affiliates in over 70 countries. The Brotherhood has been designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The United States has designated multiple Muslim Brotherhood affiliates as terrorist organizations, including Hamas.”
Most recently, the State Department designated two Brotherhood-affiliates — HASM and Liwa al-Thawra — and Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh, as Specifically Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) under an executive order.
By Ryan Mauro, CLARION PROJECT Mar 22/18
Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (Photo: Reuters)
The Muslim Brotherhood’s sigh of relief after being rescued by Secretary of State Tillerson and National Security Adviser McMaster has been replaced by a sweaty panic.
With Tillerson out and Pompeo in and McMaster’s days numbered, it is now probable that the Muslim Brotherhood will finally be designated by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, paving the way for its infrastructure in America to begin being dismantled.
Groups associated with the Muslim Brotherhood network like the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamaat ul-Fuqra are likely to see a similar fate. President Trump’s desire to pressure Pakistan and more closely ally with India adds to the likelihood that these Pakistani-led groups will be blacklisted.
The incoming secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, was one of the earliest cosponsors of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act when he was a member of Congress. Now, as secretary of state, he has the authority to designate Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
The newest version of the legislation is backed by 75 members of the House of Representatives and the Senate version introduced by Senator Ted Cruz has 4 cosponsors.
Now, most of the Trump Administration’s top officials are staunch foes of the Brotherhood, including:
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was one of the few early cosponsors of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act when he was a Senator.
- Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who was forced to withdraw a senior appointment he desired who was a strong ally of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. However, he has articulately made the case for identifying the enemy as “political Islam” and described the negative impact of the Obama Administration’s friendly attitude towards the Brotherhood.
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, who was a cosponsor of the legislation when he was a congressman.
- Senior adviser and chief speechwriter Stephen Miller
- National Security Council’s Deputy Assistant to the President for Strategic Communications Michael Anton
- Senior White House Adviser to the Department of Homeland Security Frank Wuco
- Senior Department of Homeland Security Adviser Katharine Gorka (who is the wife of former Deputy Assistant to the President Dr. Sebastian Gorka)
It is almost universally reported that National Security Adviser McMaster is about to be replaced, despite Trump’s denials (just like his denials before Tillerson was fired).
The leading candidate for his job is former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, another known supporter of FTO designation for the Brotherhood.
Trump’s pick for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, is presumably on the same page because Pompeo recommended her. However, she is expected to have a fight ahead of her to get confirmed by the Senate.
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s position is not known. She previously struck a neutral tone when asked about designating the Brotherhood, stopping short of defending Tillerson and McMaster’s known positions at the time, saying, “That is not something that has been discussed within the administration.”
Outside of the White House, President Trump is back to consulting with his former Deputy Assistant Dr. Sebastian Gorka, a passionate voice for designating the Brotherhood as an FTO.
Pompeo’s appointment represents a stunning reversal of fortune for the Muslim Brotherhood, which previously succeeded in getting plans for such a designation shelved. One Brotherhood official said the Islamist group had spent $5 million to lobby officials and influence the media. Brotherhood apologists even succeeded in influencing CIA assessments that conveniently leaked to the media.
The Brotherhood also deployed its defenders to Washington, D.C. and Qatar went on a spending bingehiring lobbyists, particularly those with close ties to the Trump campaign and the ability to influence Jewish Americans.
Qatar even managed to seduce a former senior staffer to Senator Ted Cruz—the very man who introduced the Senate version of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act—with a contract for $50,000 per month. Even President Trump reversed course on Qatar.
And now—the Muslim Brotherhood network is screaming.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), identified by the Justice Department as an “entity” of the Muslim Brotherhood, is fighting tooth and nail to stop Pompeo from getting confirmed by the Senate. One of the favorite tactics of the Brotherhood, especially CAIR, is deception.
CAIR has predictably labeled Pompeo as an “Islamophobe,” even though he empowered a convert to Sunni Islam at the CIA to fight Al-Qaeda and Iran. Its factsheet uses out-of-context quotes to paint Pompeo as an extremist, while CAIR paints the Brotherhood as “moderate.”
The evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist group is overwhelming, including terrorist activity in the U.S. Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist group, is the Brotherhood’s Palestinian wing. Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 plot had links to the Brotherhood’s network in America.
The terror-funding trial of the Holy Land Foundation proved, in detail, that the Brotherhood’s international leadership runs a Hamas support network on American soil.
The Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood has long been intertwined with Al-Qaeda, just like the Libyan and Syrian branches. The Jordanian branch is essentially a single unit with Hamas. The biggest resistance is in regards to the Egyptian wing, the birthplace of the Brotherhood.
Investigator Patrick Poole’s three-part interview with a former senior Egyptian counterterrorism official connects the dots between the Brotherhood and the terrorists it claims are “rogues” that it should not be held accountable for.
Failing a blanket designation of the Brotherhood, an alternative approach would be to designate several Brotherhood branches where the group’s connection to terrorism is clearer. This approach would meet less political resistance.
The changes within the Trump Administration indicate that the Muslim Brotherhood’s day of reckoning is finally near.
@ Edgar G.:
Edgar he started a whole movement for reformed with others. See the links above to start if you are actually interested. A very interesting person and quite constructive conservative American.
Actually when sending information to mosques about reform he did receive some do not bother us again or else responses.
@ Bear Klein:
That’s a good question…If he’s so hot on reform, why has he not done the very simple thing…..like opening a Reformed Islamic Mosque. His family obviously have plenty of money so he could have ’round the clock top class Security. THAT would be a hood start. It might encourage others who feel the same to do the same thing.. Of course he’s have to live in a cave on an inaccessible mountain top for the rest of his life…….but perhaps the State would keep control.
The true face of Islam would be plainly revealed by the reactions. Which, perhaps, would consolidate the West, still the most powerful, if united, as nothing else would have done..
Also please find the following on a different site for the international Muslim Reform Movement. (These are the people we would hope the majority of the worlds Muslims would become).
https://muslimreformmovement.org/news/bearing-witness/
@ Abdul Ameer:
You obviously know nothing about nor know him as some do. I will provide you info but get a strong hint that you are not going to be receptive. That naturally is your right and choice.
His organization
Attached is the link to his Muslim Reform Movement.
https://muslimreformmovement.org/our-founders/m-zuhdi-jasser/
@Bear Klein: I have never seen or heard Dr. Jasser say that Islam needs to be reformed. There is nothing about reforming Islam on his website even after some fifteen years. Please cite your source for claiming that he says Islam needs to be reformed. The closest he comes is, occasionally, to call for “Muslim reform”, which is quite a different thing. If he is for reform of Islam, then he needs to tell us just which passages in the Koran need to be changed or rejected. He has not done that. If he really believes that Islam should be, or can be, reformed, then let him open a Reformed Mosque. He and his family have helped build traditional mosques but never a reformed mosque. Why not?