NYT's Kristof Whitewashes the Egyptian Brotherhood

Despite the Muslim Brotherhood's long history of supporting radicalism and terror, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof suggests that concerns about its role in Egyptian society are overblown. After eating dinner recently in the home of Brotherhood activists, Kristof wrote that he was "struck by the optimism" some secular Egyptians have expressed about the group.

Regarding the Muslim Brotherhood's longstanding hostility towards Israel, Kristof quoted former Foreign Minister Amr Moussa downplaying concerns that the organization would try to scuttle Egypt's peace treaty with the Jewish State.

"Revolutions are often messy, and it took Americans seven years from their victory in the American Revolution at Yorktown to get a ratified Constitution," Kristof wrote. "So a bit of nervousness is fine, but let's not overdo the hand-wringing - or lose perspective."

What's important in Egypt today "is not so much the rise of any one party as the apparent slow emergence of democracy in the heart of the Arab world," he added.

But Eric Trager, a fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says Kristof is "credulous" in suggesting that the Egyptian Brotherhood is behaving responsibly. During a visit to Egypt, Trager interviewed numerous members of the group who won election to Parliament.

"Far from being moderate, these future leaders share a commitment to theocratic rule, complete with a limited view of civil liberties and an unmistakable antipathy for the West," he wrote Wednesday in The New Republic.

One incoming Brotherhood parliamentarian's headquarters in Alexandria had a large banner on the wall paying tribute to a protest outside the local "Zionist consulate," which included an image of a burning Israeli flag. When Trager asked if it was a good idea to display the burning flag of a neighboring state, the man grew defensive.

"We burned [the Israeli flag] for our soldiers and for Gaza, and we will burn it again and again if they infiltrate anything in the region," he said.

Trager interviewed Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood parliamentarians who called for banning alcohol; questioned whether bikinis should be allowed on beaches; and said Christians should be barred from criticizing sharia. Newly elected MP Sobhi Saleh questioned official accounts of 9/11, and he "intends to preach 9/11 revisionism on his first trip to America," Trager wrote. "Perhaps he'll do it at a home-cooked meal hosted by Nick Kristof."

Kristof has repeatedly demonstrated extraordinary naiveté regarding jihadist terror. He has defended Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative Sami Al-Arian and lambasted Israel and the United States for working to isolate the Hamas terror organization in Gaza.

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Hamas Celebrates Anniversary with Bombing Statistics

Hamas' military wing, the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades [EQB], is celebrating 24 years of the movement by boasting of the carnage it created. The group released new statistics about its terrorist operations. Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh promised the fighting would go on, and that Hamas would "lead intifada after intifada until the job is done."

According to Hamas' latest statistics, the group has carried out 1,117 "operations" against Israelis including 87 suicide bombings and 24 abduction attempts. It also claims to have fired 11,093 homemade projectiles and mortars into the area around Gaza. Those attacks killed 1,365 Israeli "soldiers" and injured 6,411 others. The group claims to have lost 1,848 members throughout the years. It is unclear if the Israeli casualty figures provided by Hamas include unarmed civilians and children, whom the group often considers as reservists or future troops in Israel's army.

Hamas pledged a continuation of violence. "We affirm that armed resistance is our strategic option and the only way to liberate our land, from the sea to the river," Haniyeh said during celebrations in Gaza, which were attended by tens of thousands. "God willing, Hamas will lead the people ... to the uprising until we liberate Palestine, all of Palestine."

Hamas' violent pronouncements also seem to contradict the claims of Turkish politicians, who say Hamas is prepared to renounce violence and enter into peace negotiations.

Former Iran Guard Commander Joined Maliki at White House

An Iraqi government minister who previously served as a commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps was among the delegation visiting the White House Monday in a ceremony marking the end of American troops there.

Transportation Minister Hadi Farhan al-Amiri was in the Guard Corps during the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers, an apartment complex housing U.S. soldiers in Saudi Arabia. American law enforcement officials believe the Guard Corps played a role in that attack. The Washington Times reported that al-Amiri was among Iraqi Prime Minister Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's delegation.

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh said agents would like to find out what al-Amiri knew about the Khobar attack that killed 19 U.S. servicemen.

"As a senior leader, [Amiri] would have to have known about Khobar, and he would know Gen. [Ahmad] Sherifi, who was the IRGC general that conducted the operation," Freeh said. The FBI "would love to sit down and talk to him, show him photographs, and ask him questions" about fugitives named in the Khobar Towers indictment.

Meanwhile, with U.S. troops preparing to leave Iraq by New Year's, the Obama administration is trying to decide what to do about Ali Musa Daqduk, who officials say is a Hizballah operative with American blood on his hands. Daqduk – the only detainee currently being held by the U.S. military in Iraq – is allegedly an Iranian agent involved in the planning of a Jan. 20, 2007 attack in Karbala in which five American soldiers were killed. Four of the Americans were captured in an ambush and shot to death, their bodies dumped by the side of a road.

Daqduk, captured two months later by coalition forces in Iraq, was a 24-year veteran of Hizballah who was sent to Iran in 2005 to work with the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard. U.S. officials have said that Daqduk made four trips into Iraq to organize underground terror cells.

The question now is whether Daqduk will be turned over to Iraqi custody or transferred outside of Iraq, possibly for trial by military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Obama administration officials indicated a preference for toward transferring him to Iraqi custody. Five Senate Republicans – Charles Grassley of Iowa, Utah's Orrin Hatch, Alabama's Jeff Sessions, John Cornyn of Texas and Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn – sent a letter to the Justice Department urging that Daqduk remain in U.S. custody. They fear that Baghdad could be pressured into making a deal for his release if he were turned over to the Iraqi government.

Lebanese Drug Lord Indicted, Linked to Hizballah Funding

A Lebanese drug lord, with connections to Hizballah, has been indicted on charges of moving over 100 tons of Colombian cocaine to the Zetas drug cartel and into the United States. Propublica.org's Sebastian Rotella calls it a "politically explosive case" that the terrorist organization funds itself through drug sales to America, which is backed up by previous government press releases.

"Ayman Joumaa is accused of facilitating the shipments of huge amounts of cocaine for the United States while laundering the proceeds all over the globe," said DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart in the Justice Department's press release. "According to information from sources, his alleged drug and money laundering activities facilitated numerous global drug trafficking organizations, including the criminal activities of the Los Zetas Mexican drug cartel. DEA and our partners will continue to expose and dismantle these worldwide networks," she added.

The case builds on the January 2011 Drug Enforcement Agency designation of Joumaa as a "Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker." In January, the U.S. government stated that the proceeds of his international drug smuggling topped $200 million a month, and that this money was being funneled through the Lebanese Canadian Bank [LCB] to Hizballah.

"LCB managers are also linked to Hizballah officials outside of Lebanon," said a Treasury Department statement from February. "For example, Hizballah's Tehran-based envoy Abdallah Safieddine was involved in Iranian officials' access to LCB and key LCB managers, who provide them banking services." LCB was also identified in February as a "financial institution of primary money laundering concern."

Rotella writes that the investigation is politically sensitive because of differing international views of Hizballah, as well as its involvement in the drug trade. "The indictment does not reflect all of the information that the government has," the news agency quoted a Justice Department official as saying. "It's accurate that Treasury's previous statement connected Mr. Joumaa to Hezbollah. The investigation is ongoing."

Kerry Meets MB in Egypt

U.S. Senator John Kerry met with leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party in Egypt this weekend, and told Egypt's interim government that the U.S. welcomed the results of Egypt's first democratic elections. Voters gave the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party [FJP] nearly 40% of seats, and more than 24% more went to the ultra-conservative Salafi coalition led by al-Nour Party.

On Friday, Senator Kerry told Egypt's interim Prime Minister that the U.S. believed the elections were characterized by transparence and integrity, despite local confusion during three separate rounds of voting. He added that America was prepared to provide assistance to prop up the Egyptian government during the transition from military rule to democracy.

On Saturday, he called for a major IMF cash infusion to keep Egypt's fledgling democracy alive, and stressed the need to aid Egypt's flailing economy. He also stated that the FJP's electoral success was not surprising and he pressed the largely secular military to respect the elections' outcome. It was the third time that an American official has met with the FJP in as many months.

The overwhelming electoral success of the FJP assures that it will be a dominant force in any government coalition. At this point, it remains unlikely that the MB-party will link up with Salafi parties for an Islamist coalition, due to the MB's concern about provoking conflict with the military, and political conflict between the two groups. The MB supports gradualism in applying religious law, while the Salafis want the quick implementation of strict Sharia law.

France Accuses Hezbollah, Syria of Peacekeeper Attack

France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe claimed that Syria was responsible for the bombing of French peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, using Hizballah to carry out the attack. Both the terrorist organization and its Syrian sponsors have denied the accusation.

"We have strong reason to believe these attacks came from there (Syria)," Juppe said on RFI radio, although France did not yet have complete information about Syrian or Hizballah involvement. The bombing attack wounded 5 peacekeeping troops of the 12,000 in the country, and was seen by Lebanon's opposition as Syrian retaliation for international calls for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's government called France's accusations a conspiracy theory, and Hizballah accused France of relying on "probability" instead of hard facts. The bombing comes before a U.N. review of the peacekeeping mission, which has failed to stop Hizballah from rearming after its 2006 war with Israel. The foreign troops, including a sizeable European contingent, have also been attacked numerous times by unknown forces.

American Islamist Promotes Jewish Conspiracy on Iranian Television

Islamist Mauri Saalakhan made claims about a "Jewish, Zionist" conspiracy on the Iranian government's English-language news service, this past Saturday. These comments match a series of other extremist speeches by the leader of "The Peace and Justice Foundation," which have made him a prominent figure in Washington D.C.'s Islamist community.

"They [the Republicans] are going to say and do anything that they feel will put them in favor with this very powerful lobby, Jewish organizations, Jewish leaders, institutes, they bend over backwards to please," Saalakhan said on a cover story for Iran's Press TV. "Unfortunately most of our political leaders in the United States are [sic] on both sides, in a sense unfortunately bipartisan, are slaves to the Jewish, Zionist lobby and all of its constituent parts," he added.

Saalakhan also claims that the Jews exercise this power as part of "their aspirations for the presidency," including controlling any debate over Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Saalakhan has stirred up controversy before, over his outspoken support for Middle East terrorist organizations and anti-Semitic comments. At a September 2009 rally in D.C., he told attendees that "people are scared in this country to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful." During a Friday sermon for the Islamic Center of Long Island, he told mosque attendees that Hamas was a "resistance organization – whose armed resistance is legitimized by clearly established international law!"

Saalakhan has also made strongly anti-American comments. He claimed the Fort Hood massacre was "not an act of 'terrorism,' it was an act of war on the soldiers of a military installation (at war in the Muslim world)," in online comments. In the same commentary, he stated that "the call for a global jihad is warranted" according to Islamic religious texts; called for American Muslims to conduct a non-violent resistance campaign against America; and, attacked "genocidal U.S. policies" throughout the world.

Washington, Brotherhood Eye Assad's Downhill Spiral

Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime suffered another blow Thursday, as a pipeline carrying oil to a refinery in violence-plagued Homs province was blown up, allegedly by "an armed terrorist group," according to Damascus.

With a growing number of reports that Syria is moving closer to civil war , U.S. officials are monitoring Assad's large chemical weapons stockpiles amid concerns that Damascus could use the weapons against indigenous protesters or divert them to terror groups such as Hizballah.

And Assad continues to be dogged by reports that the Hamas terror organization -- a longtime ally of Syria and an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood -- could move its headquarters out of Syria .

The dictator's isolation continues to mount, with the Wall Street Journal reporting Thursday that Turkey will bypass Syria in exporting goods across the Middle East. Ankara's move followed a Syrian border blockade that had left hundreds of vehicles stranded near the boundary between the two nations.

Turkish truck drivers told harrowing stories of violence during recent trips through Syria, which included getting caught in a gun battle near Hama. A trucker said he lost sight in one eye after a beating by Syrian troops.

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said the Syrian blockade was retaliation for Ankara's decision last week to impose sanctions against the Assad regime. He said Turkey would avoid Syria by sending goods through Iraq via truck and shipping them to Egypt using the Mediterranean port of Mersin .

The Turkish government said it preferred not to take such steps, but Damascus had forced its hand. "They wanted it this way," Caglayan said. "I say again, whatever they do they will suffer more than Turkey every time. To trade with the Middle East and the [Persian] Gulf we do not have to go through Syria. Our A, B and C plans are already ready."

In a somewhat surreal interview with ABC Television's Barbara Walters that aired Wednesday, Assad denied any responsibility for the violence. Responding to a question from Walters about Washington's "misconceptions" about his regime, Assad denied any responsibility for the murderous behavior of his armed forces.

"They are not my forces," he told Walters. "They are forces for the government. I don't own them. I'm president. I don't own the country. So they are not my forces."

"We don't kill," the Syrian strongman continued." It's impossible for anyone in this state to give orders to kill." Assad said that "No government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person."

In an effort to ratchet up political pressure on Assad, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has continued to meet with Syrian opposition groups. The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report (GMBDR)identified one of seven Syrian opposition figures Clinton met with in Geneva Tuesday as Najib Ghadbian, who has been described by the Wall Street Journal as an advocate of U.S. engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. GMBDR reported that in September, Ghadbian appeared with a State Department official at an event endorsed by the Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

U.S. Indicts Alleged Terrorist in Canada

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Canada-based terrorist suspect Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa, for his role in aiding the murder of five American soldiers in a suicide-bombing in Iraq in April 2009. Muhammad has been fighting extradition from Canada since January 2011, when he was detained by Canadian authorities pending a hearing in Canada.

The Iraqi national lived in Canada, providing online advice as part of a terrorist organization fighting American soldiers in Iraq. According to the complaint, issued in January, terrorists affiliated with the group murdered five American soldiers in an April 10, 2009 suicide bombing. A Tunisian jihadist, whose travel to and activities in Iraq were facilitated by the terrorist network, drove a truck laden with explosives to the gate of the United States Military's Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq.

Isa passed communication about the terrorist attack and advised members of another Tunisian terrorist group how to cover their tracks, by deleting computer files and hiding his intentions. Despite setbacks, he continued to aid terrorists in movement and encouragement from 2009 to 2010. "Islam came for the good of humanity. So if someone doesn't like good, we fight them, like those dog Americans," he said in July 2010, explaining his intentions.

The case shows that there "is no safe harbor for terrorists, including those who endeavor to spread violence from halfway across the world," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. Isa's Canadian extradition hearing is scheduled for January 30 to February 1, 2012. He faces life in American prison if convicted.

Senior American al-Qaida Propagandist Killed in Pakistan

An al-Qaida affiliated media company, the Global Islamic Media Front [GIMF], recently announced the death of one of their senior media operatives. Abdul Moeed Abdul Salam [Abu Omar] was a key operative of al-Qaida's propaganda effort online, and was killed by Pakistani military intelligence in the city of Karachi.

The GIMF announcement provides many details about his radicalization. Born abroad in 1974, his family became American citizens and he worked as a high paid translator/teacher for American and Yemeni companies. Shortly before 1998, he became loosely affiliated with jihadi theology, but was strongly motivated by the "Manhattan Raid" of 9/11 to participate in jihad abroad. He first moved to Saudi Arabia to pursue this interest, and then transferred to several other countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Abdul Salam played a major role in GIMF and in establishing media in English and various South Asian languages, according to the al-Qaida media company announcement. He was a founder of the Qadisiyah Media Group, which translates key jihadi documents into subcontinent languages, for recruiting from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

The report does not say when he was killed. However, MEMRI states that a major al-Qaida web forum, Shumukh al-Islam, reported the death of a senior GIMF operative on November 24.

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