Two assertions are simply wrong in the article, and would be unacceptable to the uprising citizens:
1) arguing that Mubarak needs to say long enough to orchestrate a transition that is consistent with the existing constitution.
2) the Vice-President would oversee an independent process of revising the constitution and preparing for new elections, in consultation with independent jurists and constitutional experts.

The anti-regime protesters already have stated that Mubarak has promised reforms many times before, and never delivered. He is totally untrustworthy.

2) The US has already signed on to this asinine arrangement where a transition conference is being run by the head of Egypt's CIA, Suleiman/Soliman the torturer, the happy renditionist, newly appointed by Mubarak (go figure) as the Veep.

The anti-regime uprising will never agree to be manipulated by a consortium of this sort, even worse if it is participated in by the current Parliament, which is completely discredited in their view as part of Egypt's current ruling regime. The USA views people like Suleiman, who never turned down a rendition assignment from US Homeland Sec., as a maintainer of stability. Yes? he actually gives "stability" a dirty name.

Reporters even on CNN are well aware that there are several organised groups within the protesting opposition who are perfectly able to participate in a transition procedure. But the US and Mubarak chose Suleiman. He claims that the regime will dump martial law "some time in the future"! That's hilarious. The anti-regime uprising wants that law annulled NOW. Everything else he's come out with is also for "some time in the future".

If the US is smart, instead of pursuing the same old imperial policies of yore, in order to secure some kind of respect with whatever government Egypt lands up with in future--assuming it's a reform government and not what they've had for 30 years-- then the US had better stop harping about "stability" based on the old regime and start working with the right people-- the real leaders among the uprising--not with the oppressive agencies such as the one Suleiman used to run, not with the 30-year dictator, and not with his regime cronies in Parliament.

Don't worry, there's equal opportunity. Not only has Mubarak been portrayed with Stars of David here and there, he has also been portrayed as a Hitler on some placards. Or do the Egyptians know something?

Journalists operating in Egypt have been portrayed as Israeli spies by Egypt's National TV. Apparently, that's one reason they're being beaten up. That the uprising is a conspiracy concocted by Israel, Iran and Hamas, and of course the Muslim Brotherhood, has also been put forth on State TV. There is a silver lining. Apparently, Fox TV reporters were also beaten up -- had to spend overnight in a hospital.

For fans of Zizek, Al Jazeera did a great segment with Zizek and Tariq Ramadan, entitled The Power of Popular Dissent. Worth a look.

Don't worry, there's equal opportunity. Not only has Mubarak been portrayed with Stars of David here and there, he has also been portrayed as a Hitler on some placards. Or do the Egyptians know something?

Journalists operating in Egypt have been portrayed as Israeli spies by Egypt's National TV. Apparently, that's one reason they're being beaten up. That the uprising is a conspiracy concocted by Israel, Iran and Hamas, and of course the Muslim Brotherhood, has also been put forth on State TV. There is a silver lining. Apparently, Fox TV reporters were also beaten up -- had to spend overnight in a hospital.

For fans of Zizek, Al Jazeera did a great segment with Zizek and Tariq Ramadan, entitled The Power of Popular Dissent. Worth a look.

The hatred is not based on a psychological disorder but rather on the actual behavior of Israel. In the same way, Jewish hatred of Christianity is based on the actual behavior of Christians over the centuries. Basically, not just Muslims but virtually the whole world opposes the Israelis' slow genocide of the Palestinians.

Maybe the MB is a threat to Israel, but not to the US--see what I did there, I demonstrated that the US and Israel have divergent goals. Also, you wrote that the MB is a totalitarian movement--that is meaningless, is that opposed to the Mubarak regime which is authoritarian, not totalitarian. A movement can't be "totalitarian" only a ruler/ruling regime can be.

You write of Jewish and Muslim states, but the fact is that Jews in Iran are better treated than Muslims in Israel. You confuse depictions of Mubarak as a Jew, when you conflate Jewish and a State. You are upset that Mubarak, who you view as a good neighbor to Israel is being ousted. Now, there are long standing grievances between Egyptians and Israelis. It just so happens that Egypt's most controversial neighbor, the one neighbor that places itself above and apart from all her neighbors, their flag has a star of David on it. So, it's no secret that Mubarak serves at the pleasure of the US president--the US is keenly focused on Egypt's Israel policy. This focus is so sharp that we've been essentially uninterested in Mubarak's policies other than Israeli. This has entrenched a tyrant, and it's only natural that the Egyptians would point to this bias that has proved so important to his foreign sponsors.

It's really hard to come up with the kind of patent sophism on one's own that Anti features. Though, a deluded fool might read some sophistic argument that appeals to his own ignorance, bigotry and fears, and think it's swell logic. Anticlaus has shown is poor reading comprehension, poor reasoning and complete and total selfishness/utter disconcern for anyone not Jewish or Israeli.

I'm sorry Scott, but Jews in Iran are certainly not getting treated better than Arab Israelis living in Israel.

Really, how times are Jews led at sabbath services in weekly chants of "Death to Muslims" by the religius leadership? Because that's what happens in Iran.

How many exhibits has the Israeli government promoted dedicated to "A World Without Islam", like Iran does with commentaries like "A World Without Zionism".

Really, learn a bit more about the Jewish community in Iran before spouting off this claim.

The US DOES consider the MB a threat, and so should all Americans...per the following DoD assessment and Congressional conclusions:

*This assessment makes the point that the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered a threat organization and the affiliated US domestic Muslim NGOs and associations identified in the strategy document should likewise be considered part of the Muslim Brotherhood network, that these are “front” functional organizations operating as links and nodes of the overall network.*

*Exceptionally important in the analysis is the role of the “Truespeak” organization and Jim Guirard who has been arguing in DoD circles and academic institutions that the term jihad should be suspended from the GWOT lexicon to be replaced by hiraba. This analysis demonstrates that “Truespeak” contributors are part of the Muslim Brotherhood threat network, with the implication that this entire communication and lexicon effort is part of a strategic disinformation and denial and deception campaign.*

*Those involved in strategic communication or IO, whether senior leaders, practitioners or analysts should take a close note.*

*This analysis begins to provide clear I&W for domestic threats that DoD, DHS and the USG must come to terms with.*

*LTC Joseph C. Myers*
*Senior Army Advisor*
*Air Command and Staff College*
*Maxwell AFB Montgomery, AL*

*ANALYSIS OF MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD’S
GENERAL STRATEGIC GOALS FOR
NORTH AMERICA MEMORANDUM*

*7 September 2007*

*INTRODUCTION*

*The following is a brief analysis of a Muslim Brotherhood document entered into evidence in the U.S. v Holy Land Foundation trial (Trial) that the U.S. Justice Department is currently prosecuting in Federal Court. Analysis is based on this document as well as other publicly available documents. (For a broad offering of Trial documents, see here ). The attached documents relate to ISNA and the Trial.*

· *The first document is a Muslim Brotherhood memorandum that was accepted into evidence in the U.S. v Holy Land Foundation (HLF) case. The first 16 pages are in the original Arabic and the second are English language translations of the same. It is dated 22 May 1991 and titled “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America” (Memorandum). The document includes an Attachment 1 that contains “a list of our organizations and the organizations of our friends.” *

*Among those noted in the Attachment are ISNA, MSA, AMSS, AMSE, NAIT, IFC, IPAC, IAP, UASR, ICNA (typo in the second listing) and IIIT. ICNA and ISNA are the only two organizations named in the body of the text. ISNA is additionally represented on the list as IFC (ISNA Fiqh Committee – now the Fiqh Council of North America) and IPAC (ISNA Political Awareness Committee).*

*The second document is a signed letter from Members of Congress Pete Hoekstra and Sue Myrick to the Justice Department dated 28 August 2007 formally requesting that Justice stand down from “co-sponsoring” a conference with ISNA due to its very close relationship to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Justice attended anyhow. The Memorandum was admitted into evidence at the same time the Letter was sent addressing Congressional concerns.*

*DISCUSSION*

*(A) ACCEPTED AS EVIDENCE.*

*It should be noted that the Memorandum met evidentiary standards to be admissible as evidence in a Federal Court of law. *

*(B) THE ENUMERATED ENTITIES ARE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.*

*As noted, both ICNA and ISNA are identified and described in the body of the Memorandum in these contexts:*

· *The positive development with the brothers in the Islamic Circle in an attempt to reach a unity of merger.*

· *We have the seed for a “comprehensive Dawa’ educational” organization: We have the Dawa’ section in ISNA.*

*The enumerated recognition suggests that ISNA and ICNA, as elements of the entity that drafted the Memorandum, are likewise elements of the Muslim Brotherhood. Additionally, the Memorandum refers to the entities designated in Attachment (1) as currently held possessions:*

· *What encourages us to do that – in addition to the aforementioned – is that we possess “seeds” for each organization from the organization we call for [See attachment (1)].*

*(C) MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN CHARGE IN NORTH AMERICA.*

*The Memorandum expressly recognizes the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikkwan) as the controlling element. For example, the first authority identified as the basis of the Memorandum is the Muslim Brotherhood:*

· *The general strategic goal of the Group in America which was approved by the Shura Council and the Organizational Conference for the year 1987 in “Enablement of Islam in North America, meaning: establishing the effective and stable Islamic Movement led by the Muslim Brotherhood which adopts Muslims’ causes domestically and globally, and which works to expand the observant Muslim base, aims at unifying and directing Muslims’ efforts, presents Islam as a civilization alternative, and supports the global Islamic State wherever it is.”*

*Next, the Memorandum expressly identifies the Muslim Brotherhood as the leadership element in implementing the strategic goals:*

· *Also, we must summon and take along “elements” of the general strategic goal of the Group in North America and I will intentionally repeat them in numbers. They are:*

*(1) Establishing an effective and stable Islamic Movement led by the Muslim Brotherhood.*

*The status of the Muslim Brotherhood as being in charge of all Muslim organizations in North America is reinforced in a statement asserting that establishing Islam as a part of America is to be done through a civilization level Jihad:*

· *In order for Islam and its Movement to become “a part of the homeland” in which it lives, “stable” in the land, “rooted” in the spirits and minds of its people, “enabled” in the lives of its society and has firmly-established “organizations” on which the Islamic structure is built and with which the testimony of the civilization is achieved, the Movement must plan and struggle to obtain “the keys” and the tools of this process in carry out this grand mission as a “Civilization Jihadist” responsibility which lies on the shoulders of Muslim and – on top of them – the Muslim Brotherhood in this country.*

*An analysis of the entities designated in Attachment (1) of the Memorandum, along with those entities that can be reasonably assessed to have spun off from them since 1991, should be assessed to see what organizational presence they represent.*

*(D) CIVILIZATION-JIHAD: THE STRATEGIC GOAL OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.*

*Having established its leadership, the Memorandum states the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America:*

· *The process of settlement is a “Civilization-Jihadist Process” with all the means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.* *Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim’s destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is not escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack. But, would the slackers and the Mujahedeen be equal.*

· *As part of the process is “[the] conviction that the success of the settlement of Islam and its Movement in this country [America] is a success to the global Islamic Movement and true support for the sought after state [caliphate] God willing.”*

*The first bullet is a clear threat statement of hostile intent while the second speaks to foreign agency to a transnational movement with stated objectives that overlap with al-Qaeda’s. When assessing members who belong to organizations known to be identified with the Muslim Brotherhood, the inference should be that their designated leaders have knowledge of its identified roles and missions. It is not reasonable to do otherwise.*

*The strategic goal of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America is multifold: the destruction of Western civilization through a long-term civilization-killing Jihad from within (“by their [our] hands”) and through sabotage (“the hands of the believers”) and, secondly; to support the global Islamic movement to establish an Islamic super-state, the caliphate.*

*When conducting outreach with organizations identified as being a party to the “strategic goals” identified in the Memorandum, the gain/loss assessment of associating with them should be undertaken in light of their clearly stated hostile intent that includes the subversion of American institutions through outreach, strategic deception and perception management. To undertake outreach with known identified organizations without knowledge of their objectives is to run the extreme risk of strategic manipulation by declared Jihad entities in ways that fulfill stated Muslim Brotherhood objectives as enumerated in the Memorandum.*

*(E) ENUMERATED MB ORGANIZATIONS AND TRUESPEAK.*

*As part of a presentation designed to change the lexicon of the GWOT (hiraba not Jihad), Jim Guirard explains that his proposed terms and definitions come from a group of “moderate” Muslims and other experts. He provides a list of contributors as part of his handout. Cross-referencing the names from his TrueSpeak list with the list of organizations provided in Attachment (1) of the Memorandum gives cause for concern:*

· *For example, along with ICNA and ISNA, Attachment (1) also lists the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT), the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).*

*If one were to list all of Guirard’s contributors who are associated with, for example, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), one might be able to glean a web of Muslim Brotherhood associations. From the TrueSpeak list, it turns out that the following CSID members are also members of identified Muslim Brotherhood entities:*

· *Muqtedar Khan (AMSS, IIIT), Akbar Ahmed (AMSS, IIIT), Anthony Sullivan (AMSS, IIIT), Robert Crane (UASR, IIIT), Asma Afsaruddin (AMSS), and Layla Sein (AMSS, IIIT).*

· *Other CSID members listed in the TrueSpeak brochure are John Esposito and Radwan Masmoudi.*

*If one accepts the Memorandum statement that “the big challenge … is how to turn these seeds or ‘scattered’ elements into comprehensive, stable, ‘settled’ organizations that are connected with our movement,” then it appears that the Muslim Brotherhood succeeded in getting CSID to “fly in our orbit and take orders from our guidance.”*

*Other notables on the TrueSpeak list of “moderate” contributors:*

· *Shaykh Taha Jabir al-Awani. Chairman, North America Fiqh Council (in 1991 the IFC and still an ISNA affiliate) and was a co-founder and President of IIIT. He was also un-indicted coconspirator number 5 in the al-Arian trial.*

· *Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi. [US designated supporter of terrorism] Co-founder of ISNA’s HQ in Boston along with ISNA founder Alamoudi (convicted and incarcerated for material support to terrorism related offenses).*

· *Dr. Aboul-Hakin (Sherman Jackson). Trustee of NAIT and the MSA (Muslim Student Association), Board Member of the Fiqh Council of North America (ISNA affiliate)*

· *Jeremy Henzell. Executive Director AMSS, published by IIIT.*

· *Sayed Syeed. President of MSA, cofounder ISNA, General Secretary AMSS, Director of Academic Outreach IIIT.*

*It is worth noting that when Mr. Guirard “cites” to authority for the terms and definitions he uses, it is to these individuals and not to reviewable published authoritative sources. This is hearsay.*

*Based on the Memorandum, it turns out that many of the individuals that provide TrueSpeak with the terms and definitions – that Guirard would have us use to conceptualize and orient to the enemy – are known to be associated with threat entities that believe “their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.” There are sound reasons to question the uncritical adoption of TrueSpeak’s uncritically accepted war on terror lexicon.*

*(F)[1] THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD FOLLOWS THE MILESTONES.*

*As a Muslim Brotherhood document, it should not surprise that it follows Sayyid Qutb’s Milestone formula based on progressive revelation (revelation in stages) as first experienced by Muhammad and the first most perfect generation of Muslims. (For a more detailed explanation, see Appendix C [Abrogation and Progressive Revelation] of Thesis) Hence, Part Four, Section 3 “Understanding the historical stages …” lists 8 stages of development that emphasizes the need for a “gradual and balanced ‘time-frame’” approach that is patterned after the revelation in stages that reflects the “role during the time of Allah’s prophet” who was “the first pioneer of this phenomenon.”*

*Because the Memorandum is understood to be a Muslim Brotherhood work, the lexicon used to define the terms it uses (for example jihad, dawa’, dar al-arqam and Usras) should likewise come from the Muslim Brotherhood dictionary (the “threat vocabulary”).*

*CONCLUSION*

*The HLF Trial is turning up primary source threat documentation and information that provides new insights into global jihad organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood.*

· *These documents are beginning to define the structure and outline of domestic jihad threat entities, associated non-governmental organizations and potential terrorist or insurgent support systems.*

· *The Memorandum also describes aspects of the global jihad’s strategic information warfare campaign and indications of its structure, reach and activities.*

· *Consequently, outreach strategies must be adjusted in the face of credible information that seeming Islamic humanitarian or professional non-governmental organizations may be part of the global jihad with potential for being part of the terrorist or insurgent support system.*

*The Memorandum identifies ISNA as an element of the Muslim Brotherhood that the Justice Department already designated as an unindicted coconspirator that Congress has given formal notice that it has knowledge. Outreach as an end in itself can cause those responsible for its success to so narrowly focus on the outreach relationship that they miss the surrounding events and lose perspective. This could undermine unity of effort in Homeland Security, lead to potential for embarrassment for the USG and legitimize threat organizations by providing them domestic sanctuary. In light of unfolding events, disregarding a Congressional request to suspend attendance at the ISNA conference may result in some uncommonly uncomfortable public testimony.*

[1] From the ‘Umdat al-Salik, Islamic law defines jihad as “war against non-Muslims … signifying warfare to establish the religion.” Qur’an Verse 9:5 is among the most pre-eminent and it states: “But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them and beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war; but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them.” Islamic law recognizes no authority except that which comes from Allah (Islam is not just a religion but a complete way of life governed by Islamic law that comes from Allah Who is alone sovereign).

The Muslim Brotherhood is the name of a world-wide Sunni Islamist movement, which has spawned several religious and political organizations in the Middle East, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, dedicated to the jihadi credo:

"God is our objective, the Quran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, struggle is our way, and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations."

It should be noted that al Qaeda’s number two, Ayman al-Zawahri, joined the Muslim Brotherhood at age fourteen. It should also be noted that the Muslim Brotherhood was responsible for the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

The Muslim Brotherhood was conceived in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna, a 22-year-old elementary school teacher, as a fundamentalist Islamic movement in the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent ban of the caliphate system. Al-Banna believed that Islam was not only a religious dogma but an all-inclusive way of life. Al-Banna based his fundamentalism on the tenets of Wahhabism, supplementing the radically fundamentalist Islamic education for the Society's male students with jihadi training.

As stated in the organization’s charter and on its website, the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to install an Islamic empire ruled under Sharia Law and a Caliphate across the Muslim world and ultimately the entire world, through stages designed to “Islamisize,” incrementally, targeted nations. We can witness this very action taking place in Europe today.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been active in the United States since the 1960s. Its goals, both stated and as perceived through their actions, have included propagating Islam and creating havens for and integrating Muslims into the US. One of their main strategies for achieving these objectives has been dawah or Islamic renewal and outreach. In the 1960s, groups such as US military personnel, prison inmates and African-Americans were specifically targeted for dawah.

The Muslim Brotherhood has succeeded in setting up numerous US front groups since the 1990s that should be regarded as hostile and a threat to the United States, according to Stephen Coughlin, a lawyer and military intelligence specialist on the Pentagon Joint Staff.

Islamist activists involved with the Muslim Brotherhood have started organizations in the US including the Muslim Students Association in 1963, North American Islamic Trust in 1971, the Islamic Society of North America in 1981, the American Muslim Council in 1990, the Muslim American Society in 1992, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought in the 1980s.

In a September 2007 memorandum, Coughlin explains that many US Muslim aid and civil rights groups viewed as moderate by the Justice Department and other government agencies are linked to the pro-jihadi Muslim Brotherhood. The groups are also engaged in influence and deception operations designed to mask their activities and the overriding goal of their organization, that being the advancement of Islamofascist doctrine within the United States.

In December 2001, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control joined the European Union in designating the Holy Land Foundation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.

In July of 2004, a federal grand jury in Dallas, Texas, returned a 42 count indictment against the Holy Land Foundation. The charges levied against the organization included: conspiracy, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, tax evasion and money laundering. The indictment alleged that the Holy Land Foundation provided more than $12.4 million to individuals and organizations linked to the terrorist group Hamas from 1995 to 2001.

The ensuing trial has exposed a direct connection between the Holy Land Foundation and the Muslim Brotherhood in the release into evidence of several documents, one of these documents being the "Ikhwan in America."

The “Ikhwan in America” is essentially a 20 point plan to replace the American Democratic Republic with an Islamist State ruled under Sharia Law. This document reveals that the Muslim Brotherhood engages in activities ranging from going to camps to do weapons training (referred to as Special work by the Muslim Brotherhood), to engaging in counter-espionage against US government agencies such as the FBI and CIA (referred to as Securing the Group).

One key excerpt of this 20 point plan is as disturbing as it is revealing:

"The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process.' The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

Recently, the Justice Department participated in a conference held by the Islamic Society of North America in Chicago. The ISNA, directly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, is one of 300 unindicted co-conspirator groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, named in the Holy Land Foundation indictments.

Congressman Peter Hoekstra of Michigan and Congresswoman Sue Myrick of North Carolina wrote to then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to express their concern over the Justice Department's attendance at the ISNA conference describing their participation as a "grave mistake" as it would serve to legitimize a group with "extremist origins." The Justice Department’s response was that its participation at the weekend meeting was part of an "outreach efforts...to educate the public about how the department works to protect religious freedom, voting rights, economic opportunity, and many other rights."

When one reconciles this statement from the “Ikhwan in America:”

“The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands...”

Wiith this statement from the Justice Department’s response to Congressmen Hoekstra & Myrick:

“...participation at the weekend meeting was part of an "outreach efforts...to educate the public about how the department works...”

One can successfully argue that the US Justice Department was walking into – and continues to facilitate – information gathering activities by an organization whose goal is to replace the sovereignty and authority of the US Constitution with Sharia Law in their quest for a global Caliphate.

The Muslim Brotherhood, an ideologically radical and fundamentalist jihadi group, is, in essence, the ideological association that binds all Islamist jihadi groups together. It is global, it has massive financial means and it is targeting Western Civilization.

Poor boy thinks there's this vast Zio-Jew conspiracy spreading lies for the Evil Lesser Satan, Israel. Take your meds and all will be better! Don't be afraid of the truth...Muslim Brotherhood Bad/Israel good. Now, don't you feel better?

Gazans have higher per capita nutrition, income, high school graduation, and literacy rates AND lower child mortality rates than neighboring Egypt! Guess those Israelis really suck at the genocide business, eh? Perhaps you can give them some pointers!

Now, the destruction of all the Jews in Hebron during the Arab riots in the 1920s, now that was a genocide.

Here is the link to an excellent study from a short time ago coming out of West Point, NY. The author notes that while there is a chance for Egyptian democracy, the MB and other radical salafi groups are a real threat that have only been kept down by Mubarak's oppressive regime. If the transition is not handled deftly, they could come to power and represent a real threat first and foremost to the Egyptian people. Of course, 9/11 taught us that threats originating overseas find their way to our homeland eventually.

http://ctc.usma.edu/publications/pdf/Egyptian-Salafi-Activism.pdf

I, as my screen name suggests, live in Dallas. I am very familiar with that trial. I know that the "HLF" consisted of a couple of brothers who's dealings seemed as earnest and above board as one could expect. In the case of the two computers, they applied/appealed to the gov't before sending these, waited and thought they had clearance. With regard to Hamas support, Hamas' status changed such that they were added to the terrorist list after much if not all of these activities. Those threatening acts consisted of giving money, books and supplies to schools. All of these schools operated in under served areas and received aid from the UN, the PA and Hamas. In fact, in every instance they only donated to schools that were approved by Israel.

Never the less, there were witnesses that came to the stand that no one got to see, not even the jury. The court house was cleared, the witnesses shrouded. These were intelligence operatives that entered evidence that the HLF's atty's were not allowed to review, or ever see. The witnesses were given extraordinary latitude and substantial cross-examination was limited. So, I find it funny that you would point to such and arcane source of information, I know you don't have any critical understanding of where that came from, but I will reiterate a charge I make often; you are presenting sophistic arguments, that means you are listening to fools, or are being taken for one.

want to see the Muslim brotherhood overrun the political scene, but it's not a threat to the US. It may well represent a threat to Israel. Don't conflate these two. You may wish to argue that we should do everything to support Israel, or that the Muslim brotherhood represents a threat to Israel. That begs the question, should we try to keep them from influencing the political discussion/debate/landscape. If they indeed represent 30% of the population, and they are hostile to Israel, that doesn't mean they will attack, will be able to convince the country to attack, or even have the ability to do anything. It is ultimately folly, and antithetical to the principle of democracy to disenfranchise 30% of the people. I bet you could get 30% of Americans to support invading Mexico, but I don't think it is on anyone's radar. It was devastate Egypt to attack Israel. Anyway, Israel isn't threatened by guns, but by democracy. "The Battle of Algiers" just played on TV, Israel too can win every battle and lose the war.

They might not be mad at us, stranger things have happened, but can you link to some supporting data?

Thanks for the link. I hadn't visited 538 much since the election.