Fear of the Muslim Brotherhood May Be Greatly Exaggerated...Part II

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

Back in February I wrote about how fears of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) were likely greatly exaggerated.  While this post was largely focused on concerns over Egypt, including the conspiratorial ones, fear of the MB is alive and well and often focuses on the threat of the MB within and to the US.  Last week Spencer Ackerman reported that Congressman Allen West (R-FL) will be sponsoring a Capitol Hill briefing on 25 July where a group called Citizens for National Security will present a report on how the MB is in the process of culminating its fifty year infiltration of the US entitled: Homegrown Jihad in the USA: Culmination of the Muslim Brotherhood’s 50-year History of Infiltrating America.  According to the letter from Congressman West that Spencer cites, the highlight of the event will be CFNS's releasing its database of everyone in the US they have been able to identify that is involved with the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as the organizations that they are involved with.  

Given Congressman's West's noted hostility and opposition to Islam his hosting this briefing is probably not surprising.**  Congressman West was LTC West, a battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division, until he was brought up on charges, and subsequently allowed to take his retirement rather than face judicial punishment for mistreating an Iraqi prisoner he had in custody and had chosen to interrogate himself.  When my team mates and I went through the continental replacement center (CRC) in FEB 2008 LTC (ret) West was the poster boy example of what not to do in the Rules of Engagement (ROE) and Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) briefings.  So five years after his "incident" in Iraq, the Army was still using his as the case example of what not to do and how not to behave towards the host country nationals in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially those in custody.  As for Citizens United for National Security, if you have never heard of any of these folks before, I do not think you are alone.  These folks appear to be part of the security consulting community that COL Lang, Professor Brenner, I, and several others have remarked about here at SST in both posts and comments: people you have not heard of, whose previous careers do not seem to indicate why or how they would have any expertise in counter terrorism or Islam or the Middle East.  And if you take a close look at the "Leadership Team", you find an IT specialist, a former trade specialist, and an USAF vet who spent his career in the apparel industry (I feel so much safer already...).  I have heard of two of the members of the "Advisory Committee", one a noted neo-conservative who spends most of his time baiting Muslims and funding other people to do the same and the other a former professor of conflict resolution, who had to admit in Federal Court, while serving as an expert witness in a case involving alleged Muslim terrorists, that he actually did not know anything about Islam who works for a noted neo-con think tank.  So break out the comfy chairs and pass the popcorn, this summer's version of A Time to Freak Out: The Muslims are Coming to Get Us and they're Already Here is about to start. (hat tip on the hearing to Justin Elliott at Salon.com's War Room)

* Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College.  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Army War College and/or the US Army.

** Here's a link to the google search using terms "Congressman West Islam", you all can wade through all the video, blog references, etc if you like: http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&source=hp&q=Congressman+West+Islam&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=a9a33ca5edf74ef8&biw=1280&bih=664

Comments

[Cameron]

This is obscene, particularly "releasing the database," which I think translates to a smear campaign.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. If somebody in our great nation is able to run for - and win - office based on his record as a war criminal (which is what West did, if I recall correctly), he's entitled to bring as many clown cars full of ignorant freaks in front of Congress as he likes.

[Matthew]

Just as Joseph McCarthy was an embarrassment to Catholics everywhere, Congressman West is a shame to African-Americans. It's nice to see that the prior victims of discimination seem to have learned nothing from that collective experience.

[R Whitman]

In my misspent youth we had such things as Martin Dies of the House Unamerican Activities Committee, Joseph McCarthy in the Senate, the John Birch Society and the Christian AntiCommunist Crusade(kill a commie for Christ.)

It is good to know that American kooks and wierdos have survived and are trying to resurect themselves. This time they might find a home on the Comedy Network.

[Basilisk]

It's just anohter profit center for the lunatic fringe. If it's not the Muslim Brotherhood, it's the "creeping threat of Sharia Law," P.T. Barnum was so right.

Thanks for the details, Adam.

[Patrick Lang]

basilisk

Unfortunately, a former director of DIA has signed up to cheerlead for this collection of clowns. pl

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Thanks, Adam, for this informative post. Instead of the Red Menace that I and my contemporaries grew up with in the 40s and 50s, my grand children must now endure politicians bloviating about the Green Menace of Islam.

When passing along a Google search statement, such as the one that took two and a half lines in your second footnote, you might consider using one of the free URL shrinking services, such as http://tinyurl.com or http://bit.ly. These will condense a URL of several hundred characters into one of no more than about two dozen. bit.ly is especially handy since, if you have an account, it maintains a record of past shrunken URLs you have generated for future reference. It would also be appropriate for users of this blog, since "dot ly" is the national top level domain of Lybia. To the best of my knowledge it has no connection with the country's government other than perhaps the money its owners pay for the use of the domain.

[Babak Makkinejad]

All:

I think it is a really really bad idea for prejudging the Muslim Brotherhood or to take a politicized position on Sharia.

Such partisan positions by non-Muslim who have no skin in the game will almost certainly degenerate into an anti-Islam position that would further poison the relationship of the United States with the broader Muslim World.

I am aware of the argument that prophesizes the elimination of representative government if MB or other such formations gaining a majority in the state’s governing structures.

I find that argument to be weak because:

1 - Almost always there is no prior representative governing structure any way

2 - We do not know if the fear is justified and the prophesy will be fulfilled – there is no empirical evidence that justifies the prophecy

3 - Even if the prophesy be true, foreigners cannot rescue other polities from reaching a dead-end; "You cannot live their history for them."

Whether Muslims live within Sharia legal structures or not should be irrelevant to the people and the government of the United States; in my opinion.

[Basilisk]

Pl,

"Unfortunately, a former director of DIA has signed up to cheerlead for this collection of clowns. pl"

I am so acutely aware of that.

An exalted former title lends no credibility. This is nothing but a shill-for-cash role, IMHO. It makes me sick, but this is not the first thing the individual has fronted without the slightest amount of substantive knowledge. Sad.

[Patrick Lang]

Basilisk

One of his personal worthwhile attributes was a modesty born of the knowledge that th eprefessionals were "carrying" him. That, evidently, is gone. pl