What the West needs to understand about the Muslim Brotherhood
“It is maddening to see Western reporters get the Muslim Brotherhood so very wrong.
The MB publicly eschewed violence in the 1960s, but it was a tactical move (and a response to Nasser’s crackdown on them), not a sea change in their methods.
The MB is now saying that they do not seek an Islamist state and that they will not field a candidate for President - and these are tactical moves as well.
The question that Western observer need to be asking is: what are their goals?
They are very explicit in answering that question. Their main goal is to restore the caliphate, creating a single state run according to Islamic precepts that would stretch from Spain to Indonesia.
Once you know what their goals are, it is shortsighted to accept their statements made today as indicating anything opposing those goals. In fact, everything they are saying is consistent with their overarching goal of overthrowing not just Egypt but the governments of dozens of states with Muslim majorities or that were once under Muslim conquest.
The goals of the Muslim Brotherhood are exactly the same goals as their offshoots Hamas and Al Qaeda. At this time, their methods are different, but that does not make them any less of a long-term danger to world peace…”