The United States and United Kingdom continue to support feudal monarchies throughout the Gulf region and spreading the power of the Muslim Brotherhood throughout the Levant and North Africa. Not surprisingly, the disunity between Israel and Turkey meant that two regional powers which could help to topple the secular government of Syria was a serious obstacle. Therefore, President Obama during his visit to Israel resembled the underhanded approach of John Kerry whereby more money and patching up regional divisions became the order of the day.
This reality led to major secular forces in Egypt snubbing the new US Secretary of State during his recent visit to this country. Many secular Egyptians are disillusioned by the strings of the Muslim Brotherhood turning this once proud nation into a rubber stamp. At the same time they fear clerical rule whereby the rights of individuals will be crushed and in time the very real possibility that democracy will be swallowed-up by Islamist indoctrination. Despite these genuine fears in Egypt and the ongoing demonstrations, it is clear that just like the crisis in Bahrain, that these realities are being sidelined because America, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and powers in the Gulf, have a different Islamist vision.
France is the one nation which appears to be stuck between past secular thought patterns and jumping on the bandwagon. After all, France is involved in the murky dealings against the secular government of Syria. However, the same France is alarmed by Islamist forces in Algeria, Mali and Tunisia. In the past the nation of France had a more independent foreign policy but the current leader of France, just like the last leader of this nation, is now taking the “Washington road” when it comes to foreign policy in the Middle East. Yet when it comes to Africa then France is mainly following its own independent foreign policy despite the debacle of Libya.
Obama and Kerry are now trying to strangle Syria by creating a new forged unity between Israel and Turkey, while also putting pressure on Iraq to close down any corridors which may be assisting the government of Syria. At the same time, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is to be given further funding and a non-entity American Muslim Brotherhood member is now a major figurehead of the so-called Syrian opposition. The one clear binding factor is the link between the American government, Qatar, Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood and if this doesn’t wake up Syrians, Egyptians and the international community on the whole – then what will? Similarly, Qatar is increasingly trying to utilize its petrodollars in Gaza in order to put Hamas “in its pocket.”
The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report states that “U.S. media is reporting that Ghassan Hitto, known to have been a leader in several U.S. Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas support organizations, has been elected by the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) as head of an interim government in Syria.”
Further down it states that “In 2002, U.S. media also identified Mr. Hitto as a “friend of the Elashi family” and who appeared to be acting as their spokesperson. In 2009, Ghassan Elashi was sentenced to 65 years in prison for his role in financing Hamas as part of the Holy Land Foundation.”
“In 2002, U.S. media identified Mr. Hitto as the Vice-President of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Dallas Fort-Worth Chapter (see Note 1). A Hudson Institute report identifies CAIR as part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas support infrastructure in the U.S.”
“According to the Texas Secretary of State, Mr. Hitto is a director of the Muslim American Society(MAS) Youth Center of Dallas. He has also been listed in the past as the contact person for the Dallas chapter of the MAS. The Hudson Institute report also identifies the MAS as part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and close to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.”
Ghassan Hitto falls into the support mechanisms of the Muslim Brotherhood, the CIA, Hamas, Qatar and the last piece in the jigsaw applies to him moving to NATO Turkey. This anti-Syrian alliance alongside France, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom, is involved in a very murky alliance whereby Islamists are in the vanguard of crushing secular powers throughout the Middle East. Iraq is also faced by the duality of Gulf powers and the infringement of its sovereignty by Turkey but other areas are different from the destabilization of Syria. Therefore, Iraq is extremely worried by anti-Syrian forces which are supporting sectarianism, terrorism and sedition against Syria in order to create the downfall of the government of Syria.
Kamal al-Labwani who is a dissident and opposed to the government of Bashar al-Assad is also equally scathing about the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar control mechanisms within the Syrian National Council. He states that the fostered “government is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Qatar government…We will be against this government and will not give it legality. Democracy is from the land and from the people (and) not from a council that is composed by the government of Qatar.”
David Ignatius, Washington Post, comments that “The regional tension splitting the Syrian rebel movement is between Qatar and Turkey, on one side, and Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Emirates on the other. The former group would like to see an Islamist government headed by the Muslim Brotherhood after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. The latter group opposes any expansion of Muslim Brotherhood influence into Syria, fearing that the movement could spread from there to endanger Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E.”
He further states that “Hitto’s appointment was sharply rejected by the Syrian opposition leadership the U.S. has been cultivating. First came the resignation Sunday of Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib, the head of the opposition coalition and seemingly a U.S. favorite when he met in Munich early last month with Vice President Joe Biden. Then Gen. Salim Idriss, who claimed the title of commander of the Free Syrian Army last December, told colleagues that he and his commanders couldn’t support Hitto until a broader array of the opposition had agreed to back him.”
Some nations involved in the alliance against Syria may be worried about the Muslim Brotherhood but this doesn’t mean that Saudi Arabia doesn’t support an Islamist government. Saudi Arabia may be worried about the growing power of the Muslim Brotherhood – or not. Either way, it is abundantly clear that the government based in Riyadh is behind much of the funding which is going to Islamist terrorist groups which have a sectarian angle. The only split within the regional coalition against Syria is that each government favors a different proxy. This in itself is clear evidence that the Syrian government is the only player in Syria which is truly Syrian because all other factions are tainted by their foreign backers which seek a proxy government.
The demise of Mubarak in Egypt was mainly an internal affair despite long-term planning behind the scenes in case this scenario would happen. Likewise, the mass demonstrations in Bahrain and other political developments in other nations have occurred because of the grass roots. However, Libya was about outside meddling which tapped into discontent and then magnified the crisis beyond recognition. Syria was a different ball game because of the Russian Federation, Iran and Hezbollah angle in Lebanon. This meant that Syria was a geopolitical ambition for some nations and for others it was about addressing the Sunni-Shia imbalance after the changed power mechanisms of Iraq. Turkey appears more opportunistic because the “Ottoman” dream lives on within the Erdogan government and the same political leader cares little about dismantling the legacy of secularism.
Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, told the House in America that Ghassan Hitto is “more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood.” Not only does this highlight the blindness of America to the Muslim Brotherhood but it shows that manipulating the House means little to Robert Ford. After all, if Ghassan Hitto is“more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood” then does this mean that Texans support the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas?
The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) highlights the role of the American government and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. It is reported by the IPT that “… a Sept. 20, 2011 State Department cable obtained by the IPT reports on a Muslim Brotherhood representative telling the U.S. embassy in Cairo that the “MB (Muslim Brotherhood) was not the extremist organization the West feared.”
“Such assurances have been reflected in comments from Obama administration officials, including the Secretary of State and Director of National Intelligence.”
“In an April 15, 2010 cable, U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson reported that Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie had “reaffirmed the MB was a non-violent” movement.”
“Director of National Intelligence James Clapper similarly described the Muslim Brotherhood in February 2011 as “largely secular” and said that it “eschewed violence.”
The IPT comments that “In the wake of renewed street protests after Morsi’s November (2012) decree seizing extrajudicial power, and amid reports of violence and intimidation during last month’s constitutional vote, Clinton and other Obama administration officials have issued tepid and general statements about nonviolence and protecting the rights of all Egyptians.”
However, for America the main concerns are protecting its political leverages in Egypt and maintaining the accords signed between Egypt and Israel. Therefore, issues related to pluralism, religious freedom and democracy are not high on the agenda just like it is unimportant in the Gulf region. Instead, America is continuing to develop its powerful links with the Muslim Brotherhood and this applies to Egypt and Syria respectively.
Roger Cohen from the New York Times commented that “Perhaps the most radical change in U.S. foreign policy under President Obama has occurred here in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood, long shunned as a collection of dangerous Islamist extremists, is now the de facto object of American support….. Not only that: Ultraconservative Salafist politicians, who make the Brotherhood seem like moderate pragmatists, are now regular visitors to the U.S. Embassy and, on the theory that it is better to have them inside the tent than out, they are able to visit the United States to learn how things work in the land of Jeffersonian democracy.”
In another article published by Modern Tokyo Times it was stated that “…while Islamist Mursi (Morsi) will sit down with Kerry, the main leaders of the National Salvation Front (NSF) have said no based on America’s meddling in the internal affairs of Egypt. This applies to America providing a helping hand to the beleaguered Mursi despite major demonstrations frequently breaking out in this nation. Therefore, with Kerry meeting the nationalist and Islamist Erdogan in Turkey and the Islamist Mursi in Egypt, alongside America maintaining great relations with feudal monarchies in the Gulf; then where does this leave America within the Middle East when it comes to progressive forces?”
The Hamas link between Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Turkey, and the United States, is further cemented by Ghassan Hitto – after all, why pick a member of the Muslim Brotherhood who resides in Texas? Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh stated over one year ago according to The Independent news group that “I salute all the nations of the Arab Spring and I salute the heroic people of Syria who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform.” He stated this in Cairo outside the al-Azhar mosque whereby the crowd reportedly chanted “We are marching towards Syria, with millions of martyrs…No Hezbollah and no Iran.”
Since this period many Palestinians have gone to Syria in order to kill and links between Qatar and Hamas continue to grow because of petrodollars. At the same time, despite ongoing fears about a future theocracy in Egypt the United States continues to bankroll the Muslim Brotherhood. Therefore, recent developments firmly point to a major link between America and the Muslim Brotherhood within the domestic affairs of Egypt and Syria whereby democracy, religious pluralism and liberty are far from the agenda.
In the meantime Islamist terrorists continue to kill and create havoc in Syria and even murdering people in mosques is being sanctioned by their powerful backers. The latest farce is another meeting being held in the Gulf whereby feudal monarchs are somehow concerned about the rights of people in Syria despite crushing all freedom at home. This is the sad reality of Syria whereby the last major Arabic speaking nation – which is secular and independent – is facing a daily terrorist onslaught by a powerful axis of evil which involves many nations and terrorist organizations.
