Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution has a piece up called Don't Fear Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Mr. Riedel, you're either ignorant or propagandizing for them, I'm not sure which.
Let's review, one more time. Here's the previous leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
The leader of Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood has joined Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in calling the Nazi Holocaust a "myth" ...
"Western democracies have criticised all those who adopt a view different from that of the people of Zion about the myth of the Holocaust," he wrote on the group's website.
Mr Akef said he wanted to "expose the false American rule which has become a nightmare of a new world order".
"He who announces himself party to their alliance is a 'democrat', while he who opposes their methods in the fight against terrorism is a 'terrorist'," he added.
"I am making these comments to all free people in the world, aiming to wake up the conscience in humanity. The sword of democracy is only unsheathed against those who raise the flag of Islam."
He also criticised the US for backing an international inquiry into the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to "drive a deeper divide between the Lebanese and Syrian people", while not censuring Israel's killing of Palestinian militant leaders Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004.
He was just replaced by the new, "more conservative" Mohammed Badie, who, I presume, actually means this--and anyone who argues he doesn't mean it really has the burden of proof upon him, I'd say:
[The Arab and Muslim regimes] have forgotten, or are pretending to have forgotten, that the real enemy lying in wait for them is the Zionist entity. They are aiming their weapons against their own peoples, while avoiding any confrontation with these Zionists and achieving neither unity nor revival for their nations. Moreover, they are disregarding Allah's commandment to wage jihad for His sake with [their] money and [their] lives, so that Allah's word will reign supreme and the infidels' word will be inferior...
"Today the Muslims desperately need a mentality of honor and means of power [that will enable them] to confront global Zionism. [This movement] knows nothing but the language of force, so [the Muslims] must meet iron with iron, and winds with [even more powerful] storms. They crucially need to understand that the improvement and change that the [Muslim] nation seeks can only be attained through jihad and sacrifice and by raising a jihadi generation that pursues death just as the enemies pursue life."
And here's the de facto spiritual leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
"Understanding the Brotherhood," writes Mr. Riedel, "is vital to understanding our options." Well, we agree on that sentence, at least.
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Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
There's a third option: denial. People are great at looking at enemies and wishing away their hostility. There's always the thought that, well, they can't mean what they say, and certainly, they'll be as reasonable as we. We can talk this all out, right?
Right?
Edited on Jan 30, 2011 at 12:08amRe: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Taxonomically, I figure denial is a sub-species of ignorance. I mean, it's all very interesting to ask why someone otherwise in possession of his faculties wouldn't be frightened by this, but basically, it has to come down to: Somehow this hasn't really entered his consciousness. (Either that, or he agrees with it.)
Jul '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
It is worse than that. Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow at Brookings' Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Haim Saban, an Israeli businessman, being a donor of $12M to establish the place. The center was denounced as a Zionist front in the Israeli Lobby, and Center director Kenneth Pollack has been implicated in the Lawrence Franklin espionage case for alleged actions while he was with the NSC under Clinton.
And what interest do Zionists have in promoting the Muslim Brotherhood? I would love to be a fly on the wall at the editorial meetings. Claire, can your cats arrange that?
Edited on Jan 30, 2011 at 12:25amOct '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Bill Walsh: There's a third option: denial. People are great at looking at enemies and wishing away their hostility. There's always the thought that, well, they can't mean what they say, and certainly, they'll be as reasonable as we. We can talk this all out, right?
Right? · Jan 30 at 12:08am
Edited on Jan 30 at 12:08 am
Yep, Chamberlainism in a nutshell.
May '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
Jul '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
outstripp: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. · Jan 30 at 1:07am
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but keep your eyes open. - Heinlein
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Come on, Outstripp. Writing a dumb article isn't treason. It's competing in the marketplace of ideas with a bad product.
Sep '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Sisyphus:
And what interest do Zionists have in promoting the Muslim Brotherhood? I would love to be a fly on the wall at the editorial meetings. Claire, can your cats arrange that? · Jan 30 at 12:23am
Edited on Jan 30 at 12:25 am
It seems to me that nobody could be less interested in a rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt than Israel. The Brotherhood would be put into a position from where they could aid Hamas like never before, and radically change Egypt's foreign policy towards Israel. After all, Hamas is a product of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Egypt borders on the Gaza Strip and Israel (as an example, read al-Qaradawi on the Egypt-Gaza barrier). Therefore, I'd say a Zionist conspiracy in support of the Muslim Brotherhood is unlikely.
Edited on Jan 30, 2011 at 1:57amJul '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Peter Hintz
Sisyphus:
And what interest do Zionists have in promoting the Muslim Brotherhood? I would love to be a fly on the wall at the editorial meetings. Claire, can your cats arrange that? · Jan 30 at 12:23am
Edited on Jan 30 at 12:25 am
It seems to me that nobody could be less interested in a rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt than Israel. The Brotherhood would be put into a position from where they could aid Hamas like never before, and radically change Egypt's foreign policy towards Israel. After all, Hamas is a product of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Egypt borders on the Gaza Strip and Israel (as an example, read al-Qaradawi on the Egypt-Gaza barrier). Therefore, I'd say a Zionist conspiracy in support of the Muslim Brotherhood is unlikely. · Jan 30 at 1:56am
Edited on Jan 30 at 01:57 am
And yet we have this emission from Mr. Riedel.
Saban was born in Egypt and now splits his time between Israel and Beverley Hills, made his fortune writing scores for children's programming. Inspector Gadget, He-Man, etc. Thinks Bush was a screw up, loves the Democrats.
Jan '11
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Come on, Outstripp. Writing a dumb article isn't treason. It's competing in the marketplace of ideas with a bad product. · Jan 30 at 1:19am
Then Mr. Reidel ought to apply for some Stimulus money to help make his ideas more competitive. Or is it Investment money now? Maybe we should've Invested more in Egypt over the years and we could've avoided this problem altogether. Perhaps they'd be willing to sell us a pyramid or two to help make ends meet in such troubled times. Then we could have them torn apart and rebuilt in upstate New York or Michigan where the flood of tourist dollars would greatly improve the local economy; it'd be a win/win for everyone! Has anyone from the Commerce and/or State Departments even looked at this? What are we paying these people for?
Sep '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Sisyphus
Peter Hintz
Sisyphus:
And what interest do Zionists have in promoting the Muslim Brotherhood? I would love to be a fly on the wall at the editorial meetings. Claire, can your cats arrange that? · Jan 30 at 12:23am
Edited on Jan 30 at 12:25 am
It seems to me that nobody could be less interested in a rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt than Israel. The Brotherhood would be put into a position from where they could aid Hamas like never before, and radically change Egypt's foreign policy towards Israel. After all, Hamas is a product of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Egypt borders on the Gaza Strip and Israel (as an example, read al-Qaradawi on the Egypt-Gaza barrier). Therefore, I'd say a Zionist conspiracy in support of the Muslim Brotherhood is unlikely. · Jan 30 at 1:56am
Edited on Jan 30 at 01:57 am
And yet we have this emission from Mr. Riedel.
Perhaps the presumption that everything that comes from the Saban Center is aimed at supporting Israel is false.
Oct '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
kausmickey Good Gelb but when he wants to convince Beasties of Muslim B'Hood threat, he calls them "Egyptian Tea Partiers" http://bit.ly/eSRkVA Cheap!
27 minutes ago
Jul '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Peter Hintz
Sisyphus
...
And yet we have this emission from Mr. Riedel.
Perhaps the presumption that everything that comes from the Saban Center is aimed at supporting Israel is false. · Jan 30 at 2:31am
Actually, I would say that supporting Israel is very much the aim, but the aim is a bit off owing to the effects of a leftist world view. Saban would be at home with the leftist columnists in the Jerusalem Times. Labor drops by his place for cocktails. Undoubtedly, the Saban Center is following this conga line off the Muslim Brotherhood is nice cliff.
Sep '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
There's a third option: denial.
For a minute I thought Bill was going to make the shopworn quip: Denial: its not just a river in Egypt. I saw the Brookings piece come up in the comment to one of my Member Feed posts, glad to see Claire jumping all over it. I'm also glad MEMRI is still going, I find it hard to keep track of the Middle East holocaust deniers these days without an extensive program guide.
Edited on Jan 30, 2011 at 4:54amSep '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
"Egyptian Tea Partiers"
Who says US diplomacy is a shadow of what it used to be? Why do I have the strange feeling someone egged them on into saying that?
May '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Bill Walsh: There's a third option: denial. People are great at looking at enemies and wishing away their hostility.
...and then branding as enemies those fellow citizens who do see the danger.
May '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Claire Berlinski, Ed.: Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution has a piece up called Don't Fear Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Mr. Riedel, you're either ignorant or propagandizing for them, I'm not sure which.
After reading the article, I'd have to say "propagandizing".
Sep '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Sisyphus
Actually, I would say that supporting Israel is very much the aim, but the aim is a bit off owing to the effects of a leftist world view. Saban would be at home with the leftist columnists in the Jerusalem Times. Labor drops by his place for cocktails. Undoubtedly, the Saban Center is following this conga line off the Muslim Brotherhood is nice cliff. · Jan 30 at 2:55am
Riedel is just following the line of several other Middle East analysts (like Nathan Brown or Shadi Hamid) who have also argued that the Muslim Brotherhood can be negotiated with. They might hold leftist political views, but I don't think they spend their time looking at foreign affairs solely from an Israeli perspective, but actually from a broader Middle Eastern perspective to which they apply their theories on political Islam. Their results and foreign policy proposals might more or less fit into Saban's world view, but until I see actual proof I remain unconvinced that they are directly motivated by him and/or sole concern for Israel.
May '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Claire, did you even read Riedel's piece? This is his conclusion on the Muslim Brotherhood:
"Living with it won’t be easy but it should not be seen as inevitably our enemy. We need not demonize it nor endorse it."
This is exactly right. Riedel has spent a lifetime in the service of national security. Frankly, your potshots at him can do little but ricochet off his career and record.
I expect such behavior at the DailyKos, not here.
Jul '10
Re: Bruce Riedel: You are Either Ignorant or Propagandizing for the Enemy
Harlech: Claire, did you even read Riedel's piece? This is his conclusion on the Muslim Brotherhood:
"Living with it won’t be easy but it should not be seen as inevitably our enemy. We need not demonize it nor endorse it."
This is exactly right. Riedel has spent a lifetime in the service of national security. Frankly, your potshots at him can do little but ricochet off his career and record.
I expect such behavior at the DailyKos, not here. · Jan 30 at 10:30am
Riedel's analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood leaves out 90% of the matter bearing on the discussion. There is no mention of the use of proxies domestically and internationally to intimidate and subvert, or the organization and sponsorship of foreign activist cells, including in the United States. While Iran and Saudi Arabia are the major players on that stage, the Brotherhood is in the game.
And, of course, Riedel soft sells the Brotherhood's radicalism, which Claire calls him on directly. Riedel is either disingenuous here, or behind in his reading.