The Obama-Muslim Brotherhood axis?

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David Ignatius @ The WaPo:

How did Washington become the best friend of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, even as President Mohamed Morsi was asserting dictatorial powers and his followers were beating up secular liberals in the streets of Cairo? It’s a question many Arabs ask these days, and it deserves an answer.

Morsi and his Brotherhood followers are on a power trip after decades of isolation and persecution. You could see that newfound status when Morsi visited the United Nations in September and even more so during the diplomacy that led to last month’s cease-fire in Gaza, brokered by Morsi and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Brotherhood leaders had gone from outcasts to superstars, and they were basking in the attention.

And let’s be honest: The Obama administration has been Morsi’s main enabler. U.S. officials have worked closely with him on economic development and regional diplomacy. Visiting Washington last week, Morsi’s top aides were touting their boss’s close contacts with President Obama and describing phone calls between the two leaders that led to the Gaza cease-fire.

Morsi’s unlikely role as a peacemaker is the upside of the “cosmic wager” Obama has made on the Muslim Brotherhood. It illustrates why the administration was wise to keep its channels open over the past year of post-revolutionary jockeying in Egypt.

But power corrupts, and this is as true with the Muslim Brotherhood as with any other group that suddenly finds itself in the driver’s seat after decades of ostracism. Probably thinking he had America’s backing, Morsi overreached on Nov. 22 by declaring that his presidential decrees were not subject to judicial review. His followers claim that he was trying to protect Egypt’s revolution from judges appointed by Hosni Mubarak. But that rationale has worn thin as members of Morsi’s government resigned in protest, thousands of demonstrators took the streets and, ominously, Muslim Brotherhood supporters began counterattacking with rocks, clubs and metal pipes.

Through this upheaval, the Obama administration has been oddly restrained. After the power grab, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said: “We call for calm and encourage all parties to work together and call for all Egyptians to resolve their differences over these important issues peacefully and through democratic dialogue.” Not exactly a thundering denunciation.

“You need to explain to me why the U.S. reaction to Morsi’s behavior is so muted,” one Arab official wrote me. “So a Muslim Brotherhood leader becomes president of Egypt. He then swoops in with the most daring usurping of presidential powers since the Pharaohs, enough to make Mubarak look like a minor-league autocrat in training by comparison, and the only response the . . . [Obama administration] can put out is [Nuland’s statement].” This official wondered whether the United States had lost its moral and political bearings in its enthusiasm to find new friends.

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Victoria Nuland’s education is limited. Most of her education is “on the job training” a democ”rat” suck up. Her service career is one of “follower and a mouth piece” for the admin. Credibility is zero. big ears and the mb have been friends for years…you need to look at college and law school to find your aswer..I found it. Will take you about 2 hr of work..relatonship is not new but very old.

David Ignatius
thank you for the POST
yes very strange behavior, OBAMA is shy now,
he has chosen his friends in the gutter, now they exposed him,
and I was reading Nan comment on the other POST
she has a picture of the many young people arrested for having protested with the other,
they where beaten by the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD very bad, and each one has his turn on the beating,
the muslim brotherhood want to make them obedient slaves by keeping the beating,
is that the new DEMOCRACY OBAMA HAD HELP TO RISE?

Late last night Morsi formally annulled the Nov 22 decree he made that gave him all that unrestrained power.
But at the same time he stood firm on a quick national referendum on Dec. 15 for his Brotherhood version of Sharia Constitution.
That vague document allows the Brotherhood to set the definitions of what and how Sharia will be in Egypt.
In a procession Morsi was seen walking BEHIND the leader of the religious elder of the Brotherhood.
This is akin to Obama bowing to a Saudi king.

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/12/08/morsi-rescinds-power-grab-decree-before-issuing-revised-version/

Morsi Under Siege: Will His Concession Calm Egypt?