EGYPT'S NEW PHARAOH

Michael Totten has an excellent summary of recent events.  He includes many of his conversations with Egyptians, including some disillusioned with the Muslim Brotherhood.  Mohammad Morsi is leading Egypt down the path of dictatorship and away from democracy under the direction of the Muslim Brotherhood. Many in Washington spoke of the Muslim Brotherhood as democratic, but events are proving them wrong.  But sure, the Brothers threw the word “democracy” around when they were on their way up, especially when gullible foreign journalists were in town.

How the Muslim Brotherhood recruits is interesting and he quotes from an article by Eric Trager in the New Republic.

It begins when specially designated Brotherhood recruiters, who work at mosques and universities across Egypt, identify pious young men and begin engaging them in social activities to assess their suitability for the organization. The Brotherhood’s ideological brainwashing begins a few months later, as new recruits are incorporated into Brotherhood cells (known as “families”) and introduced to the organization’s curriculum, which emphasizes Qur’anic memorization and the writings of founder Hassan al-Banna, among others. Then, over a five-to-eight-year period, a team of three senior Muslim Brothers monitors each recruit as he advances through five different ranks of Brotherhood membership—muhib, muayyad, muntasib, muntazim, and finally ach amal, or “active brother.”  

Throughout this process, rising Muslim Brothers are continually vetted for their embrace of the Brotherhood’s ideology, commitment to its cause, and—most importantly—willingness to follow orders from the Brotherhood’s senior leadership. As a result, Muslim Brothers come to see themselves as foot soldiers in service of the organization’s theocratic credo: “Allah is our objective; the Quran is our law; the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” Meanwhile, those dissenting with the organization’s aims or tactics are eliminated at various stages during the five-to-eight-year vetting period.