Muslim Brotherhood Proves It Is Radical and Aggressive--According to its Own Test

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By Barry Rubin

In his New York Times op-ed back in February, Muslim Brotherhood agent--disguised as sophisticated academic--Tariq Ramadan wrote:

“By deciding to line up behind Mohamed ElBaradei, who has emerged as the chief figure among the anti-Mubarak protesters, the Muslim Brotherhood’s leadership has signaled that now is not the time to expose itself by making political demands that might frighten the West, not to mention the Egyptian people. Caution is the watchword. “

But wait! Now it is the month of March and the Brotherhood has broken with ElBaradei. In fact, Brotherhood supporters by the hundred threw stones at ElBaradei and prevented him from voting on the constitutional amendments during the recent referendum. So much for democracy.

So to take Ramadan at his word, now that the Brotherhood has turned against ElBaradei and physically attacked him, does that mean--to paraphrase Ramadan--that:

The Muslim Brotherhood’s leadership has signaled that now is the time to expose itself by making political demands that might frighten the West and the Egyptian people. Confidence and aggression is the watchword.

In other words, the Brotherhood can toss away one of the main "proofs" of its moderation and lack of aggressiveness and the Western elite--including those in whose newspaper these words appeared--don't even notice!

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center is at http://www.gloria-center.org and of his blog, Rubin Reports, http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com.