Exclusive: U.S. to resume formal Muslim Brotherhood contacts

[Turborama]

Source: Reuters

By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON | Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:53pm EDT

The United States has decided to resume formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, in a step that reflects the Islamist group's growing political weight but that is almost certain to upset Israel and its U.S. backers.

"The political landscape in Egypt has changed, and is changing," said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It is in our interests to engage with all of the parties that are competing for parliament or the presidency."

The official sought to portray the shift as a subtle evolution rather than a dramatic change in Washington's stance toward the Brotherhood, a group founded in 1928 that seeks to promote its conservative vision of Islam in society.

Under the previous policy, U.S. diplomats were allowed to deal with Brotherhood members of parliament who had won seats as independents -- a diplomatic fiction that allowed them to keep lines of communication open.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/30/us-usa-egypt-brotherhood-idUSTRE75T0GD20110630

[David Gill]

1. Fox News

is going to FREAK OUT. I think Steve Doocy's head just exploded.

[aquart]

2. "Resume"? Why did they stop?

[Purveyor]

3. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Welcomes US Talks

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO (AP) -- A spokesman of Egypt's powerful Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, says the group is ready to hold talks with the United States.

Mohammed Ghozlan told The Associated Press on Friday that "we welcome dialogue with America to remove any misunderstandings and bridge gaps."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that the Obama administration is reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood in a "limited" effort to build ties and promote democratic principles.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-07-01-09-38-54

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The sound you may be hearing off in the distance isn't 4th of July firecrackers, its neocon heads exploding...

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. Which proves that the Islamophacist - socialist - communist caliphate is indeed real.

:crazy:

[xchrom]

5. we shall see -- but the u.s. needs to learn to talk to people

it is in serious disagreement w/.

especially elected leaders -- or strong political parties that we are in disagreement w/.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Purveyor.

[BadtotheboneBob]

7. Sure, why not?

The US talked to the USSR during The Cold War. Nixon went to China. etc etc... I trust Sec. Clinton. She's our "Iron Lady" as far as I'm concerned.

[Igel]

10. Usually it was talk between governments.

Seldom did Brezhnev visit to discuss things with a US political party, nor did Kennedy, Johnson, or Nixon travel to Britain to talk to the Labour Party establishment separately from the prime minister. The Chinese Communist Party wasn't the object of discussions with China.

Usually having the US interact with a particular party--said, through USAID in Venezuela--triggers mute cries of contorted indignation.

Which raises the question: If this is more of the same, are we just assuming that the Muslim Brotherhood is the de facto government in Egypt? (Surely that's where this post leads, and just as surely it leads to absurdity.)

Okay, there is Gaza, but we don't have good ties with Hamas.

[Corruption Winz]

8. Yes. Should be expected...

They speak the same language. I mean, Obama is a person that worships Allah, after all.

[madrchsod]

9. the obama folks will have better luck talking to the brotherhood than...

the republican party. the brotherhood will at least be open to talking to the us government to further their own self interest as we will for ours.

yup.. if they can agree to cooperate on mutual issues it`s win-win for both sides