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White House Weighs Terrorist Designation for Muslim Brotherhood

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Kolx

Member
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s advisers are debating an order intended to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, targeting the oldest and perhaps most influential Islamist group in the Middle East.

A political and social organization with millions of followers, the Brotherhood officially renounced violence decades ago and won elections in Egypt after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Affiliated groups have joined the political systems in places like Tunisia and Turkey, and President Barack Obama long resisted pressure to declare it a terrorist organization.

But the Brotherhood calls for a society governed by Islamic law, and some of its former members and offshoots — most notably Hamas, the Palestinian group whose stated goal is the destruction of Israel — have been tied to attacks. Some advisers to Mr. Trump have viewed the Brotherhood for years as a radical faction secretly infiltrating the United States to promote Shariah law. They see the order as an opportunity to finally take action against it.

Officially designating the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization would roil American relations in the Middle East. The leaders of some American allies — like Egypt, where the military forced the Brotherhood from power in 2013, and the United Arab Emirates — have pressed Mr. Trump to do so to quash internal enemies, but the group remains a pillar of society in parts of the region.

The proposal to declare it a terrorist organization has been paired with a plan to similarly designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, according to current and former officials briefed on the deliberations. Leaders of the corps and its Quds Force unit have already been put on a government terrorist list, but Republicans have advocated adding the corps itself to send a message to Iran.

The Iran part of the plan has strong support within the White House, but momentum behind the Muslim Brotherhood proposal seems to have slowed in recent days amid objections from career officials at the State Department and the National Security Council, who argue that there is no legal basis for it and that it could alienate allies in the region. Former officials said that they had been told the order would be signed on Monday, but that it had now been put off at least until next week.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/world/middleeast/muslim-brotherhood-terrorism-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

More at the link.
 
It could be called the "Muslim Brotherhood For American Christian Values Also Fuck Mexicans Cops Are Never Wrong Abortion Is Bad Society"

It would terrify people for having Muslim in the name alone.
 

ahoyhoy

Unconfirmed Member
I'd be okay with this if we can also designate the current Republican party as a terrorist organization. They both promote religion in government, admonish women/minorities/LGBT people, seek to keep their cultures ignorant to advances in western civilization, and implicitly endorse threats and violence. They both share a lot in common.
 

Arttemis

Member
My friend's mother would have acid thrown on her by members of the Muslim Brotherhood when attending school because they felt women shouldn't be allowed to be educated, confident, or independent.
 

NEO0MJ

Member
I feel this isn't something to get upspet about. If I remember their history right they are rather scummy.
 

Jacob

Member
Just get it over with and call every Muslim a terrorist.

I'm not really sure what your point is here. Are you trying to imply that every Muslim is on board with the extremist ideology promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood? Or that you don't think the Muslim Brotherhood is that bad?
 

ahoyhoy

Unconfirmed Member
I feel this isn't something to get upspet about. If I remember their history right they are rather scummy.

Indeed. I feel the Muslim Brotherhood has earned the right to be scorned.

The only problem I have is labeling a political party as a "terrorist" group when you have no solid connection between the party itself and various attacks.
 

Aselith

Member
I'm not really sure what your point is here. Are you trying to imply that every Muslim is on board with the extremist ideology promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood? Or that you don't think the Muslim Brotherhood is that bad?

No, he's pointing out that Trump is a bigot. He means he WANTS to do that.
 

E-phonk

Banned
Muslim Brotherhood are surely not the nicest bunch, depending on where they operate. They might not be a terrorist organisation but they are certainly an organisation that has shown to use violence and fight off basic human rights.
 
Now hold on fellas - Allies like Egypt and the U.A.E are egging trump to do so.... there's a reason to do this, the brotherhood has been violent in the past, see what happened in Egypt during the revolutions.
 
I'd be okay with this if we can also designate the current Republican party as a terrorist organization. They both promote religion in government, admonish women/minorities/LGBT people, seek to keep their cultures ignorant to advances in western civilization, and implicitly endorse threats and violence. They both share a lot in common.
Don't do this
 
Isn't the Muslim Brotherhood actually a borderline-terrorist group? Obviously there are non-violent members, but I've definitely heard of more than a few acts of organized violence. Tell me if I'm wrong, and I'm the last person to endorse the bullshit the Islamophobic bullshit that Trump's administration is pulling, but this might be one good side effect.
 
I'm not really sure what your point is here. Are you trying to imply that every Muslim is on board with the extremist ideology promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood? Or that you don't think the Muslim Brotherhood is that bad?

Not at all, just pointing out that the Trump administration thinks that anyway so might as well just do it.
 

Jacob

Member
I wonder why.

I assume you're referring to the coup? I'm not here to cheerlead for the authoritarian Egyptian military either but there are legitimate reasons to not want the Muslim Brotherhood anywhere near power, especially if you're a Copt or opposed to FGM.

Others in this thread have raised valid points about the labeling of a political party as a terrorist organization just because of its connection to violent groups, though. That's not something the US and UK did in, say, Northern Ireland, though you could make an argument either way as to which was the right course.
 

sazzy

Member
Isn't the Muslim Brotherhood actually a borderline-terrorist group? Obviously there are non-violent members, but I've definitely heard of more than a few acts of organized violence. Tell me if I'm wrong, and I'm the last person to endorse the bullshit the Islamophobic bullshit that Trump's administration is pulling, but this might be one good side effect.

It is.

But people are blinded by Trump-rage, so much so that they end up defending the Muslim Brotherhood; see: first few posts in this thread.
 

dave is ok

aztek is ok
Defending Muslim Brotherhood is really not a hill worth dying on. There are no saving graces.
Peoples hatred for all things Trump is greater than their hate for vitriolage and female genital mutilitation, I guess?

Seems like a tough position to defend
 

Chairman Yang

if he talks about books, you better damn well listen
I am embarrassed for the posters earlier in this thread that automatically defended this organization without (apparently) knowing anything about it.
 

Moppeh

Banned
lol some of the posters here are as uninformed as Trump.

Yeah, seriously.

Hey guys, if you wanna show that you're better than Trump, maybe don't be as reactionary as him.

Anyway, I'm rather surprised that the Muslim Brotherhood wasn't designated a terrorist organization by the US already.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Muslim Brotherhood is actually a terrible organization. Members are on multiple watchlists from various intelligence agencies.
 

Abelard

Member
I'm okay with this. And any rational person should be, don't let Trump hate blind you from the the realities of this group.
 
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