Dr. Dennis Cuddy -- The Power Elite and the Muslim Brotherhood, Part 15

THE POWER ELITE AND THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
PART 15

By Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D.
August 20, 2012
NewsWithViews.com

A key agent of the Power Elite (PE) has been Zbigniew Brzezinski (ZB). In previous articles, I have explained his facilitation of the Ayatollah Khomeini's replacement of the Shah of Iran almost 25 years ago. And in keeping with the PE's long-range plans, ZB in a recent interview with NEWSMAX (July 18) warned that "a war (with Iran) in the Middle East, in the present context, may last for years. And the economic consequences of it are going to be devastating for the average American---high inflation, instability, insecurity. Probably significant isolation for the United States in the world scene...."

The PE's plan is not for a massive war in the region, but rather a gradual takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Relevant to the MB, on June 12, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and 4 other members of Congress sent letters to the Inspectors General at the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and State, and the Director of National Security requesting information regarding the influence of the MB inside the U.S. government. One of the individuals about whom there is concern is Huma Abedin (Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton), whose mother, father and brother have connections to organizations with ties to the MB.

The State Department's own guidelines regarding security concerns includes the following: "contact with a foreign family member....If that contact creates a heightened risk of foreign exploitation, inducement, manipulation, pressure or coercion," and "connections to a foreign person, group, government, or country that create a potential conflict of interest between the individual's obligation to protect sensitive information or technology and the individual's desire to help a foreign person, group, or country by providing that information...." The word, "potential," here is important.

Rep. Bachmann et al have been criticized for their efforts not only by President Obama and Hillary Clinton, but also by some leading Republicans (Sen. John McCain and House Speaker John Boehner). It is a fact, though, that Huma Abedin as recently as 2008 was an assistant editor of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs' journal, and the Institute published a book by her mother, Dr. Saleha Abedin, who is a member of the Muslim Sisterhood.

In Egypt, the next important event is the writing of a new constitution, which will deal with the powers of the president, parliament and military, as well as the role of Islam. On July 30, a court deferred until late September a decision on whether to disband the 100-member Islamist-led constituent assembly which is charged with writing the new constitution. This is considered a victory for the MB, as the assembly can now continue to work on the constitution.

What seems to be occurring is what I predicted---a temporary accommodation between the MB and the military. One by one, the older members of the military leadership will retire (in luxury, perhaps to the Riviera), and the MB will gain more and more control. Signs of such an accommodation are that President Mohammed Morsi's new Cabinet sworn in on August 2 included Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as defense minister, and 2 other generals were minister of the interior (which covers the police) and minister of local government.

Even when Tantawi resigned a few days later, he and his chief-of staff, Lt. Gen. Sami Anan, were given the nation's highest medal (the Nile Medal) by Morsi. Then Morsi on August 12 replaced Tantawi with Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who had been chief of Egyptian Military Intelligence and, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on August 14, "expressed his unwavering commitment to the U.S.-Egypt military-to-military relationship."

As TIME (August 27) noted, Morsi's dismissal of Tantawi and Anan "may not be the dawn of a new era that it appears. Many analysts say the President (Morsi) and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood Islamist party that backs him are not so much cleaning house as just lining up new allies. 'Morsi doesn't want to undermine these institutions (e.g., the military). He wants them to be loyal to himself and the Brotherhood,' says Robert Springborg, an expert on the Egyptian military and a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in California."

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces also was exercising legislative powers instead of parliament (which was dissolved by the court), as well as drafting and passing bills in cooperation with President Morsi until he canceled the constitutional declaration that had given the military legislative and other powers.

As Amr Adly wrote in AHRAM ONLINE (August 3): "The process drafting Egypt's new constitution seems to be subject to the same logic of cohabitation between the old interests and the rising Brotherhood elite. Articles and clauses have been leaked guaranteeing a special status for the military in the new post-Mubarak order. Talk has spread about accepting the existence of the National Defense Council to be the de facto ruler on issues of national security and foreign policy. What appears to be actually happening is that the post-Mubarak order will be no more than the rules of mutual accommodation and co-existence between the old powerful interests composed of, on the one hand, the military council, the intelligence and the business oligarchs, and on the other, the Muslim Brotherhood."

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However, Adly warns that "if the Brothers strike a deal with the old interests as the basis for the post-Mubarak order, then very little room will be left for them to deliver any meaningful change. The Brothers reached power in the aftermath of an overwhelming popular uprising that enfranchised broad constitutional yearning for socio-economic and political change. Change and meeting the revolution's demands were the basic theme of Morsi's campaign in the second round against Ahmed Shafiq, who was branded as the representative of the old regime. If such a scenario materializes, the Brothers will be bound to lose credibility and popularity to more radical actors, be they to the right or to the left."

That is why I didn't believe the situation would remain static for long, as evidenced by Morsi's recent replacement of Tantawi and Morsi's cancelation of the constitutional declaration giving the military legislative and other powers. Therefore, one can expect the MB initially to focus on improving Egypt's economy, then noticeably gain more power over the next several years as the older military generals retire, and finally implement Sharia law.

Click here for part -----> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,

Dennis Laurence Cuddy, historian and political analyst, received a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (major in American History, minor in political science). Dr. Cuddy has taught at the university level, has been a political and economic risk analyst for an international consulting firm, and has been a Senior Associate with the U.S. Department of Education.

Cuddy has also testified before members of Congress on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice. Dr. Cuddy has authored or edited twenty books and booklets, and has written hundreds of articles appearing in newspapers around the nation, including The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He has been a guest on numerous radio talk shows in various parts of the country, such as ABC Radio in New York City, and he has also been a guest on the national television programs USA Today and CBS's Nightwatch.