The Muslim Brotherhood today is not what it was at its birth in 1928. The Brotherhood quickly lost control to more radical elements led by Sayyid Qutb (and later al-Qaeda’s second in command, Zarqawi), who I think can be labeled as one of the founders of radical Islam. Specifically his doctrine was one of literal interpretation of Qur’an, exporting Islam, and the establishment of a state under the provisions of sharia. That’s not to say that no progress could be made. Many leaders of the Brotherhood, such as Hassan al-Banna, believed that while a state would be better off morally, technological advances could still be made under an Islamic state.

What most fail to recognize is that Islam was such an attractive outlet merely because of the lack of political freedoms removed by the despotic governments. What began under Nasser, continued under Sadat, and presently in effect under Mubarak, has led to a rebellion calling for a moral and people-led government. Compound all of that with economic doldrums and you have a perfect storm. Now where are these people going to find a safe place to speak about their political ideas? The one place available to them was, and to a certain extent still is, the mosque. Precisely because of the iron-fisted ruling of Nasser, Sadat, and, of today, Mubarak, we see that the MB has been somewhat pacified (not to excuse the measures they took) — the more radical elements have long established ties with more violent and remorseless fanatical groups. The Brotherhood might remain on the more religious side, but I do not doubt that their intentions, at the very least in Egypt, are to create a more democratic state and to reform Egypt’s political system. Such attempts can only be welcomed and praised by the Obama administration.