Beyond the Label: Why Designating the Muslim Brotherhood is a National Security Imperative
The second stereotype in the attempt to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group is that it is an assault on Islam, or the millions of non-violent Muslim Americans who are productive members of the American society. This could not be more. The program is a highly accurate, national security instrument with a laser focus on a particular, radical political group that has a history of violence and employs religion as a strategic instrument. The difference between religion and a politicized ideology is very important. The fact that the U.S. State Department is possibly FTO in designation is not a theology thing; it is an action-affiliation thing. The Muslim Brotherhood in itself is the ideological predecessor to some of the most violent jihadist organizations of the world. Sayyid Qutb, one of the most prominent Brotherhood ideologues, gave the theological basis to jihadism in modern times which directly influenced Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri of al-Qaeda. Since 1997,...