A ‘Cosmic Wager’ on the Muslim Brotherhood
President Obama’s outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood began three years ago in his famous June 2009 speech in Cairo.
Ten members of the Brotherhood were invited to listen to the address, and they heard a passage crafted especially for them:
“America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments — provided they govern with respect for all their people.
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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak didn’t attend the speech, but there was a message tailored for him, too, when Obama said: “Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.” Obama certainly had that right.
The Obama administration has made what might be described as a “cosmic wager” on the Muslim Brotherhood’s peaceful intentions. By courting them in 2009, the United States helped legitimize their political aspirations; by refusing to come to Mubarak’s rescue during the Tahrir Square protests a year ago, the United States all but guaranteed that the Brotherhood would emerge as a dominant political force in a new Egypt.
The Brotherhood is now ascendant, with its “Freedom and Justice Party” having won nearly 50 percent of the seats in Egypt’s post-revolutionary parliament. Its officials have issued soothing statements and pro-free-market position papers. There’s even a Muslim Brotherhood rap video on YouTube, with a catchy beat and this benign refrain: “Freedom we will protect, and justice we will maintain.”