Mohamed El Baradei is being promoted as a ‘moderate’ reformer and a member of the opposition in Egypt. But is he?  His membership in the International Crisis Group suggests otherwise.

Excerpt:  Sheiks Gone Wild   Part 10

The Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, has been promoting the Muslim Brotherhood in a big way: Euphemistically lauding it as a “moderate” organization, backing its expanding influence in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Syria and elsewhere, and placing individuals with close ties to it in highly sensitive and influential positions in the U.S. Administration, despite its fascist pedigree and the abject revulsion and terror it inspires in hearts of Arab Marxists, secularists, feminists, Muslim reformers, and Arab Christians all too familiar with its ruthless, frequently murderous methods across the Muslim world.

It was a policy decision championed well in advance of the “Arab Spring”, taken up by the Soros funded International Crisis Group (ICG) which boasts among its members Samantha Power, Zbignew Brzezinski, and Kofi Annan as well as former Supreme Commander of NATO and onetime Democratic candidate for president Wesley Clark, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher, and Former Secretary General of NATO and Socialist politician in Spain Javier Solana—all key players in the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, the bombing of Serbia in collusion with Islamists, and the eventual occupation of Kosovo by NATO troops.

Mohamed ElBaradei–who would later be the designated “moderate” opposition candidate ostensibly favored by Washington during the Arab Spring Cairo protests, protests that would pave the way for the rapid ascension of the Muslim Brotherhood to power–is also a member of the International Crisis Group.

In addition to serving as the moderate bait for the Islamist switch in Egypt, Mohammed ElBaradei has been useful in other respects. From December 1997 to November 2009 Elbaradei served as the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In this capacity he has been publicly dismissive of the threat posed by Iran’s rapidly progressing nuclear program as a counter to Israel’s concerns, a position consistent with that of his ICG colleagues Samantha Power, and Zbigniew Brzezinski. In an interview with France’s Le Monde newspaper he candidly summarized his purpose as chief nuclear watchdog: “I want to get people away from the idea that Iran represents a clear and present danger…”

In 2008, well before the Egypt’s protests, the International Crisis Group issued this policy edict for Egypt:

The three-year clash between the government and the Muslim Brothers is damaging Egypt’s political life. Ending this confrontation and moving towards the long-term goal of integrating the Brothers into the political mainstream is a far better option. The regime should recognise the Muslim Brothers’ ambition to create a legal political party, take the opportunity to set clear standards for integration and end its campaign of mass arrests, made possible by the draconian Emergency Law. For their part, the Muslim Brothers should finalise and clarify their political program in order to reassure their critics.

In short, the International Crisis Group was in fact advocating the formal creation of a Fascist party in Egypt even as it would later forward one of its own members as a “moderate” candidate. Not surprisingly, the Muslim Brotherhood welcomed the ICG’s endorsement and support:

The Muslim Brotherhood agrees upon the recommendations mentioned in the latest International Crisis Group report, MB deputy chairman Mohamed Habib told Ikhwanweb Wednesday. “Egypt’s Muslim Brothers Confrontation or Integration” is the latest report issued by the Brussels-based think-tank the International Crisis Group through which it urges the Egyptian regime to normalize the Muslim Brotherhood’s participation in political life and dismisses the latest government crackdown on the movement as “dangerously short-sighted.” The report set a number of recommendations for both the Egyptian government and the Muslim Brotherhood to pave the way toward eventual normalization. Habib agreed upon the recommendations to the government and said that a healthy political life in Egypt requires non-conditional engagement of the Muslim Brotherhood…

Judging by Obama’s speech in Cairo for which he insisted members of the Muslim Brotherhood be provided preferential seating in the front, the newly inaugurated leader of the free world had clearly gotten the memo.

Not surprisingly, none of this had not gone unnoticed in Egypt, which was becoming increasingly vocal in its alarm, and distrust of U.S. policy in the region according to U.S. diplomatic communications coming out of Cairo:

The GoE [The Government of Egypt] remains skeptical of our role in democracy promotion, arguing that any efforts to open up will result in empowering the Muslim Brotherhood, which currently holds 86 seats — as independents — in Egypt’s 454-seat parliament.

Indeed, Mubarak himself was questioning the implications of having removed Saddam Hussein from power given that he had been serving as an critical bulwark against Iranian expansionism; Iran, after all, had long been understood to be actively colluding with the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian arm, Hamas:

President Mubarak sees Iran as Egypt’s — and the
region’s — primary strategic threat. Egypt’s already dangerous
neighborhood, he believes, has only become more so since the fall
of Saddam, who, as nasty as he was, nevertheless stood as a wall
against Iran. He now sees Tehran’s hand moving with ease throughout the region, “from the Gulf to Morocco.” The immediate threat to Egypt comes from Iranian conspiracies with Hamas (which he sees as the “brother” of his own most dangerous internal political threat, the Muslim Brotherhood)…