I’m with the always-sagacious Fouad Ajami: He argues in the Wall Street Journal that the new Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, ought to be given a chance to show what he can do. Perhaps he will turn out to be as bad as numerous critics suspect, but it’s also possible that he could turn out to be better than expected. If he concentrates on instituting free-market reforms to get Egypt’s sclerotic economy moving rather than concentrating on issuing decrees to ban such “immoral” behavior as drinking and wearing bikinis, he might well win over even secular Egyptians.
It is doubtful that the worst fears of his American and Israeli critics will come true, at least not in the short term–given how much power the army has kept for itself, Morsi would not be able to abrogate the Camp David Accords even if he wanted to. It may well be the case that he will provide more aid to Hamas and adopt a more belligerent tone toward Israel, but remember that even under the Mubarak regime, the Egyptian state pumped out a steady diet of disgusting anti-Semitic propaganda and looked the other way at massive smuggling into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Ajami suggests the Brotherhood’s model is not Iran but rather Turkey, which is showing how Islamist rule can be combined with free markets and a a form of democracy (however flawed, limited, and imperfect). This may not give much comfort to Israelis who have come to loathe Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has effectively ended his country’s close relationship with Israel and has become a steady source of anti-Israel vituperation.
But for all of his flaws, Erdogan is not building nuclear weapons and he is not sponsoring Hezbollah, as Iran is doing. (One can argue he is indirectly benefitting Hamas by sponsoring a Gaza aid flotilla and denouncing the Israeli “blockade” of Gaza–but he is not, as far as I know, providing Hamas with weapons as Iran has done.) His Turkey is a nuisance for Israel; it is not a mortal threat like the Islamic Republic of Iran. That may be the best we can hope for, at least in the immediate future, from Egypt.
While I tend to listen to Dr. Ajami I think he is too wishful in this case and quite frankly not thinking things through at all to their final conclusion. Iran is the example for Morsi on how to eventually gain control of a nation. The Brotherhood has worked for almost 100 years to create an Islamic caliphate. They are on their way in Egypt. With the fall of Assad in Syria(in time) which also means the control of Lebanon, the Islamist takeover of Libya, the rise of the Brotherood in Jordan (and yes they will subsume that misbegotten spoiled brat of a hashemite), Hamas in Gaza and the rise of the Islamists in the West Bank (of course the Palestinians didn't really need any excuse to parse out Jew-hatred, secular or Islamists its still the same), then they can join with the Wahhabis in the gulf. If you think that they will war against the Shia before both forms of Islamism Shia and Sunni join to try to take out Israel you are wrong. n nMorsi like Hitler will bide his time; strengthen his nation and his army while playing the west for the fools that they are. When it is right the Islamists will strike. The only difference is that Israel is not the Sudetenland and knows how to fight back.
It is wishful thinking to expect any true 'moderation' by the Muslim Brothers now that they are in charge. Any appearance of such moderation will be purely tactical and for the benefit of those trying to put the best face on a bad situation.
That's interesting Max, do you have any examples of Islamist leaders turning out better than we expected?
He's doing much for Hamas that falls under the radar because the (drive by) media have been told to give him a pass, they were underground for long enough to know how to operate clandestinely, and they want US aid. There really is little differance in what they intend for not just the middle east the whole world. Just read what they post on their sites when they think no outsiders will read it
Generally Fouad Ajami is worth listening to, but not in this case. This new Egyptian president is a disaster and should be overthrown if possible. n nAnd, speaking of Moslem presidents, with the overthrow of the secular governments in Egypt and Tunisia as well as the bringing to power of Islamists in Libya perhaps the Democ-rat Party might, in the interests of truth in packaging, want to change its name to the Moslem Brotherhood.
” Ajami suggests the Brotherhoodu2019s model is not Iran but rather Turkey, which is showing how Islamist rule can be combined with free markets and a a form of democracy “r nr nMaybe he should then explain all those journalists in jail in this democratic form.r nAs for ” not a threat to Israel” wait until it gets its MB associates into power in Syria to start sqeezing Israel from both sides.r nr nAbout the Muslim Brotherhood the article is naive if it expects “free-market reforms” because the MB, after which Hamas is modeled, the modus operandi is like the protection mobs of the Mafia.r nNot for nothing that Hamas destroyed the industrial areas on the borders of Gaza with violence, designed to provide the Palestinians with work close to home after the Oslo Accord was signed, but to keep its “social network” in control of the proletariat.r nr nBy the way Jordan is already starting to feel the pressure from the MB and Egypt true to Arab behavior will speak in tongues while permitting escalating violence on the Sinai border that will pressure Eilat and force the Israelis into a large military engagement in Sinai; Camp David be damned because your media will continue with its agenda in misrepresenting the Israeli position.
Pfff… Turkey and Israel had a healthy relationship together until Israel kill 9 Turkish civilians, why did you leave that part out of the article? n nStupid biased reporting.