Based on an article by Cliff Kincaid for Accuracy in Media

Chris Matthews has found an “expert” on Egypt he can trust and his name is Brian Katulis of the George Soros-funded Center for American Progress. He told Matthews on the Monday edition of MSNBC's “Hardball” show that, on the matter of Egypt: “We have got to [go] beyond this addiction to dictators…” He welcomes the participation of the Muslim Brotherhood in a new Egyptian government, saying, “…let them be part of the Egyptian politics.”

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When Katulis told Matthews that he had opposed the invasion of Iraq, that clinched it in Matthews’ mind as to the man's geopolitical credibility. “I was against going in [to Iraq], and I think we needed to get out as quickly as possible,” Katulis said. Matthews replied, “Well, then I trust you.”

It apparently never occurred to Katulis or Matthews to make the elementary point that, by invading Iraq in 2003, the U.S. had removed a dictator. Although it has many flaws, Iraq has a more democratic form of government today and is not a threat to its neighbors. The same cannot necessarily be said for the kind of new government that Katulis and his allies in the Obama Administration have planned for Egypt.

What is the Katulis plan for Egypt, now that the Obama Administration has helped destabilize the pro-American Egyptian government of Hosni Mubarak? Katulis didn’t say much about that on the Matthews show, except that the Muslim Brotherhood will and should be a part of a new regime. What’s more, he claimed: “We can actually secure our counterterrorism concerns, our regional security concerns, while also helping Egyptians open the door to their democratic reforms.”

How is this to be done? Katulis didn’t exactly say.

Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy has been making the point, based on a key internal document from the Muslim Brotherhood, that “the Muslim Brotherhood is our enemy, and whatever role it plays in Egypt’s future will be to our detriment.”

Gaffney quotes from a Muslim Brotherhood document, entitled “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America.”

It says, “The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

Drawing attention to this kind of evidence is considered “fearmongering” by the Soros-funded Center for American Progress (CAP).

In a follow-up article on the CAP Web site, Katulis said that, in addition to formal government-to-government contacts and “broad engagement with the diverse political opposition in Egypt by U.S. diplomats,” there is a role for “nongovernmental organizations such as human rights groups and democracy promotion organizations.”

Who are these groups? Katulis didn’t say. But one suspects they are probably Soros-funded. Soros is notorious for funding organizations around the world dedicated to his vision of an “open society.” His financial manipulations, conducted through off-shore hedge funds, have the ability to undermine governments and currencies.

He acknowledged that “it seems almost inevitable that any real democratic opening would lead to greater participation of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood in a future Egyptian government.” Since the Muslim Brotherhood has numerous violent off-shoots, including Hamas and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, how would this comport with U.S. “counterterrorism concerns?” Katulis didn’t say.

“Some Egyptian opposition figures have opposed the treaty with Israel,” Katulis noted. Nevertheless, he asserted: “All of these tensions and concerns can be managed. It seems unlikely that Egypt anytime soon would seek to change its bilateral ties with Israel…”

So Israel has some temporary breathing space until a new Egypt turns into a full-fledged Islamic state, abrogates the peace treaty, and assumes a war footing against the Jewish state.

The Katulis prognosis is what passes for wisdom you can trust on the Chris Matthews “Hardball” show. And there is some indication that this kind of thinking reflects the Obama Administration approach.

Last November Katulis was quoted by Al-Jazeera as saying that the problem with democracy promotion in Egypt, as advocated by the Bush Administration, was that Bush officials “felt that you could have democracy without Islamists,” Katulis said. “I think those people haven’t spent much time on the ground in places like Egypt.”

So that’s the difference between the Bush and Obama approach to freedom in the Middle East. Bush wanted true freedom, without the influence of radical anti-American religious movements. Obama favors the official inclusion of these anti-American forces in Egypt and throughout the Arab/Muslim world.

In terms of whether members of the Muslim Brotherhood are any kind of threat at all, NBC News foreign correspondent Richard Engel on the “Hardball” show tried to reassure his American audience. “A lot of them are truly patriotic Egyptians,” he said.

Engel said he knew some of them: “They were nice people. I mean, if you fell down in the street, they would come and help you out. If you didn‘t have enough money for the bus, they would give you money.”

This, too, is analysis you can trust, MSNBC-style.

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