Why the US must declare the Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization

The following column is co-authored by Alan Kornman and Wallace Bruschweiler.

It is time for U.S. State Department to declare The Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

A deadly explosion rocked the Daqahliya Security Directorate in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, Egypt. The bombing, which took place Tuesday morning, resulted in the death of 16, mainly policemen, and the injury of more than 135.

The son of a high ranking Muslim Brotherhood member, 22 year old Adel Younis Rashid, was arrested in connection with the bombing. Mr. Rashid was taken into custody as he was trying to fly to Turkey with his mother and a friend.

The Egyptian government understands The Muslim Brotherhood will spawn and collaborate with terrorist groups when it furthers their objectives. The Brotherhood has all but declared war on the new Egyptian government that ousted their man Mohamed Morsi – this fact is not in dispute.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a franchise of Al-Qaeda, took responsibility for the Mansoura attack. However, the arrest of Adel Younis Rashid ties The Muslim Brotherhood to the attack which prompted the Egyptian government to designate the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

In Washington, the State Department condemned the attack but urged Egypt to have an “inclusive political process”. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “We also note that The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt condemned the bombing shortly after it occurred.”

Jen Psaki’s official comments signals the Obama Administration’s position The Muslim Brotherhood is still a legitimate negotiating partner in Middle East matters despite all the evidence to the contrary.

President Obama is Out of Moves Concerning Egypt

President Obama has only two choices with our Egyptian foreign policy. Back The Muslim Brotherhood or fully support Egypt’s Interim government and General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

If President Obama continues to side with The Muslim Brotherhood there are only two possible outcomes. First, America will likely throw away all future political and military strategic influence in Egypt, and all her neighboring countries.

Second, The United States of America will push the new Egyptian government right into the arms of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation.

If President Obama makes the wrong decisions in the hours and days ahead it will take decades to repair the potential damage to our American foreign policy initiatives in the Middle East.

In 1979, President Carter made a similar disastrous move ousting the Shah of Iran in favor of the fundamental Islamist Ayatollah Khomeini regime. The negative repercussions of President Carter’s Iranian foreign policy are still haunting us today.

Safeguards built into the Constitution were designed to pit Congress against the executive branch making it difficult to make and then conduct a destructive foreign policy. The Foreign Policy Association states, “[T]he President’s most potent weapons for controlling foreign policy, is the power to commit the nation to a particular course of action diplomatically. Once he does so, it can be extremely difficult for the President’s opponents to alter that course.”

If President Obama chooses wrongly and sides with The Muslim Brotherhood it would be a dereliction of duty for John Boehner and the Congress not to exercise their Constitutional authority in opposition.

Egypt Reacts To The Bombing

AP reports, “The interim Egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist organization Wednesday, intensifying its campaign of arrests and prosecutions targeting its members and tightening the noose on the group’s network of charities and businesses. The declaration comes after another sweeping decision Tuesday aimed at draining the Brotherhood’s finances by freezing the funds of more than 1,000 non-government organizations with links to the group and putting more than 100 schools run by the group under government supervision. That directly attacks the grassroots strength of the Brotherhood, where it has much of its power in Egyptian life.”

An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said they will inform other Arab nations who are signatories on a 1998 anti terrorism treaty of the Cabinet’s decision.

The Brotherhood has organizations and political parties operating in other nations within the region. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the regional agreement for combatting terrorism requires Arab countries to hand over Muslim Brotherhood operatives wanted by Egypt.

President Obama In Bed With The Muslim Brotherhood?

President Barak Obama invited 10 Muslim Brotherhood members to attend his 2009 Cairo speech signaling a radical shift in Egyptian/US relations. President Obama demanded these 10 Muslim Brotherhood operatives sit in the front row during his Cairo Speech. It was perceived at that time, President Obama was backing the Muslim Brotherhood over Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Those perceptions were confirmed when the United States backed the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in favor of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi. The Muslim Brotherhood ruled Egypt for a year before the military removed Mr. Morsi for egregious presidential abuses with the backing of the Egyptian people.

President Obama continues to support The Muslim Brotherhood despite the mountain of evidence proving the Brotherhood is a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Conclusion

Why would President Obama not follow the wise decision of the Egyptian government by designating The Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) here at home?

The answer to that question will lead you to examine the Obama Administrations close ties with The Muslim Brotherhood and its franchises operating freely here on United States soil.

The Egyptian government has shown the world The Muslim Brotherhood is willing and capable of executing violent acts by their hands or the hands of their proxies to further their political objectives.

You are either with the USA or with The Muslim Brotherhood – where do you stand?

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