Wither Egypt?

I've been both a supporter and a detractor of the "Arab Spring" in Egypt. I understand the frustrations of the Egyptian people, having to deal with the dictatorship of Mubarak and a horrendously crappy economy. I am happy that they want peace and democracy, and are willing to achieve it peacefully. But at the same point, I know that it isn't as easy as 1, 2, 3 to reach for a viable democracy. I fear that this revolution (for lack of a better term) has more in common with 1789 rather than that of 1989.

This problem is readily apparent in this transcript of a meeting with Michael J. Totten and a senior member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. You can read that here: Hanging with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Read on after the jump.



In short, the MB are nuts. But I already knew that. This is mere confirmation of just HOW nuts they are. And, if they gain real power in Egypt, what kind of a incoherent and destructive force they could be in the Middle East.

For starters, the MB have no real baseline for understanding Israel. They live within their own self-made construct that they call "the Zionist entity that rules the world". They also have no idea what ZAHAL (Israel's military) can do to them if they play with fire. On the other hand, I do know what they can do. And it isn't pretty.

I'm glad that Egypt has splintered into 40 different political groups. I hope that a few of them are liberal (-istic), viable, and realistic. I'm well aware that they'll be for a Muslim and Egyptian (and Arab) democracy rather than an American one. But the sheer fact that the situation in Egypt is far more fluid than "Egyptian Army vs. Muslim Brotherhood" gives me hope.

Keep the MB away from power; keep the Army under State Control; bring real reform to Egypt. And give us real peace.