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EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA
Supporters of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi celebrate in Cairo's Tahrir Square after the Brotherhood claimed victory in the presidential election on Monday.
Analysis
CAIRO, Egypt – It could be the end of Egypt as we know it. Early, still unofficial, but credible results, show that the Muslim Brotherhood has won Egypt’s presidency.
However the military has made a series of decrees that threaten to usurp the new president’s power – setting the stage for a major showdown between the remnants of the old regime who make up the ruling military council and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Still, the biggest country in the Arab world is poised to start its first experiment in Islamic democracy.
Many Egyptians are celebrating – after all, a majority of voters elected the Muslim Brotherhood’s firebrand candidate Mohammed Morsi.
Other Egyptians are calling this a “black day” that will set back Egypt a hundred years.
Oh, that’s an exaggeration some Egyptians and Middle East analysts argue.
The Brotherhood will have to be answerable to future voters, they say.
Democracy will keep the group in check, they say.
The Brotherhood will be forced to adopt a center of the road policy, they say.
The Brotherhood is really quite moderate, they say.
Egypt will end up like Turkey, with an Islamist government, but secular laws, they say.
If Egyptians don’t like the Brotherhood, protesters can just go back to Cairo’s Tahrir Square and get rid of it, they say.
I wouldn’t count on it.
A power struggle is underway between the Egyptian military and the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, which says its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, won the country's first free presidential election. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Democracy if undemocratic group comes to power?
The Muslim Brotherhood is a fundamentalist group. It is anti-American at its core, despite recently sending delegations to the United States to win friends. The Brotherhood is vehemently anti-Israel. The group is also largely anti-democratic. The Brotherhood was happy to use elections to gain power, but it believes wholeheartedly in Islamic law, the immutable rulings from God that are not subject to ballot boxes or opinion polls.
Military guards Egypt power as Islamists claim victory
If democracy brings an undemocratic group to power, is that a victory for democracy?
The Brotherhood has a few basic tenets which will likely be at the core of future policy, basic truths that shape its worldview.
They include:
- America is at war with Islam.
- Women are lustful creatures who need to be veiled and controlled.
- Israel is a temporary abomination that needs to be – and one day will be – excised from the world.
- Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that the U.S. considers a terrorist group, is fighting a heroic struggle.
- Islamic law is fair to all minorities, including Christians since it proscribes tolerance and protection for people of “the book.” (Christians, by the way, don’t think they need to be “tolerated” or “protected” which they believe implies they are second class citizens who need to be accepted and defended like village idiots).
- Secrecy is tantamount.
- Victory comes through patience.
On the positive side, the Brotherhood is basically a working man’s group that supports Egypt’s legions of poor, often ignored by former President Hosni Mubarak. If Mubarak's former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik had won the election, Egypt would very likely have turned violent, with an unpredictable outcome.
I also wouldn’t count on Egypt ending up like Turkey. In Istanbul, women often dress provocatively and there are bars on nearly every corner. The country is economically booming. The Muslim Brotherhood is much more hard-line than Turkish Islamists.
AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa
Mohammed Morsi and his supporters celebrate his apparent victory in the Egyptian presidential election at his campaign headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.
Brotherhood vs. military showdown
The Egyptian military is terrified of the Brotherhood. Morsi has repeatedly said he will purge all parts of Egyptian society of “remnants” of the former regime.
The military worries that once Morsi is sworn in, he will try to imprison or at least sideline senior military officers. Sunday night, as votes were being counted showing Morsi in the lead, the military launched a controversial preemptive strike.
In a decree that is very likely illegal, the military declared that the new president does not have the authority to declare war or remove military officers. The military declared its autonomy and immunity in a blatant attempt to castrate the new president before he takes office.
The power struggle between Morsi and the military that is now under way will likely take months to sort out. Morsi and the military will battle over the parliament, the constitution and Sunday night’s decree.
While it’s too early to know who will win this showdown, it seems unlikely that the military can hang on to its self-appointed authorities – as every Egyptian knows the kinds of powers a president should and should not have.
Ahmed Youssef / EPA
Egypt's popular uprising over 18 days of popular protest culminated in the downfall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011. CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO SEE A FULL SLIDESHOW
A new dawn
It’s a new dawn for Egypt. If the military truly feels threatened, it might stage a real coup, sending tanks into the streets, instead of what many Egyptians have called its attempted “soft coup,” through decrees and court decisions in recent weeks.
The Muslim Brotherhood talks about understanding and moderation. After declaring victory last night, Musri said he will be inclusive. Morsi wants to reassure Egyptians and Egypt’s allies that the country will remain stable. If pushed, however, the Muslim Brotherhood’s true colors will show.
Good luck, Egypt! Critical choices and potential major changes lie ahead.
Already Monday, Shafik’s campaign started contesting the early, unofficial results, as Egypt hangs in the balance.
More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Pro-bailout party prevails in Greek election
- In Egypt, little enthusiasm for presidential finalists
- 14 missing off Indonesia after 10-foot wave hits boat
- Questions swirl as Saudi Arabia buries crown prince
- Video: Obama, Putin meeting looms large for Syria
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
America is not war with Islam.
America is at war with terrorists who use their religion to force their religious beliefs on another group of people forcibly through the use of rape, murder and un provoked attacks on those who live peacibly within the laws of Democracy so that all will be protected to make a choice.
The new government in Egypt is no different than the KKK here in America who force others to believe their political viewpoint with force because they cannot back their viewpoint up with educated results nor do such groups believe in education but only the un-educated use of brute force to make others slaves before their delusional and degenerate thrones.
Allah will crush them if they cause problems in the Middle East for they are the devil that hides in the sand storm as Allah already knows their fate.
Seriously the KKK? There is a BIG difference Egypt has a population of 80 million, there are approx 3,000-5,000 members of the KKK left in the USA- not much of threat to anyone but themselves what a ridiculous comparison
To say that they are not a threat is too hide their real numbers. Or their attempts to rebuild their numbers.
The comparision was basically in the tactics used to force those around them to worship them. Fear and murder both a trait of the KKK and The Muslim Brotherhood.
Only time will tell however if the Muslim Brotherhood slaughter those in Egypt like Assad did in Iran.
You are speaking of a Klan that is long since dead- those(3,000) are real numbers from the SPLC, they look under every nook and cranny for those guys. With 70,000 gang members in Chicago and 100,000 in LA, you have more to fear from them than from a beer swilling redneck in Mississippi (Southerns don't hate I'm from SC)
Ryon - Assad did in Iran?
Sure--you remember the "Ayatollah Assad" dontcha? Amazing.
They are all the same to him - lol Even though one group is Arab the other Persian.
It's clear that liberal propoganda is not based on fact, it is rather unsophisticated and full of blanket racist and anti religious statements.
Good luck to the newly elected President in breaking the back of the hated but still-in-control old regime. He will need to play his cards very skillfully. He may want to study how Venezuela's leaders methodically and effectively cut a traditional coup-plotting military down to size after the attempted coup of 2002--eventually transforming it into an institution that has strongly defended democracy rather than seeking to overturn it. Overturning the 2002 coup required the immediate use of people power, hundreds of thousands protesting in the streets. But the real genius was shown afterward, in gradually removing all of the old regime generals from their posts without provoking a second coup.
Oh, yeah. Venezuela is a prime example of democracy. Just ask the students.
I thought his specialty was "evil genius"?
If any of you on here don't think religion plays a roll in politics, you are sadly mistaken. The people of Egypt just sealed their fate!!
The danger of democracy is the bad people can legally take power. Hitler won at the ballot box !
That's how Senator Palpatine became Emporor!!!!
@Human--but the Empire was ultimately destroyed and Darth Vader threw the Emperor into space oblivion. That's probably not gonna happen to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. No Jedis are left.
In a true democracy the people make the choice. The people have spoken, Democracy whether you like it or not.
Unfortunately some people agree with democratic principles as long as those principles are the same as their own.
Yes, democracy now, Islamic ditactorship coming up. It seems that Muslims always seem to vote for terrorism, given the chance. Look at Hamas, for example, or Hezbollah. Egypt is going to go the way of Iran, unless the military does something about it.
Ed.....The military tried to hold on in Iran with US backing. Look where that got us. People get what they vote for and until they rise up against religious zealots (christian, muslim or jew) they live under their rule.
What's the big deal? We have the Tea Party Evangelical Brotherhood running our Congress and obstructing govt business, and the Roman Catholic Priest Brotherhood calling the shots on women's health care.
Really? Harry Reid being held hostage in the Senate? Really? I'm just overwhelmed at the outpouring of critical legislation from the Democrat-controlled Senate.....are you on drugs?
No, what we have is an administration trying to put their own spin on religious liberty.
@Momcat99: And the administration has an army or brainwashed puppets spewing liberal slogans and racist rhetoric. They are being indoctrinated like the young people in Germany were under Hitler.
Do we mark this as another check for Obama's Nobel Peace Prize?
#1. Destroy the Middle East Peace negations between Israel and the Palestinians while we turn our back on Israel, check.
#3. Help Muslim Brotherhood take over Egypt, check.
#4. Help Islamic extremists take over Libya, check.
#5. Ignore Protests in Iran in 2009 when they were protesting the Fixed elections which resulted in Ahmadinejad becoming the president, check.
#6. Apologize to Afghanistan because some books got burned but its o.k. that 7 Americans were killed over the Incident and no apology asked for from Afghanistan, check.
#6. Ignore Syria, check.
#7. Turn our back on Europe by promising no Missile defense shields for Eastern Europe so Russia will sign New START, check.
#8. Continue to send billions of dollars to Pakistan for hiding Bin Laden for years, tipping extremists about raids and helping the Taliban, check.
#6. Ignore the Southern Border while over 45,000 Hispanic/Mexicans are killed by drug Syndicates fighting for the best smuggling routes into the U.S., check.
David:
Things are going right. Relax. Take a vacation in Israel. You will fill good.
That's why, come November, I will be voting for the guy whose middle name is NOT Hussein!!!
Women are lustful creatures who need to be veiled and controlled.
Yes they are so why lay with them and learn from them. Fear of the womens power to create life in the womb must be the reason for their hatred of women.
Women are a beautiful thing and to fear their lust is to fear the mans own strength.
Yes - control freaks are wimps. That also describes the attitude of some Christian religions as well.
Ryon:
Tell that to Catholic church
Quiick...somebody throw a bag over Nancy Pelosi's head! Save me from her lustfullness.....
Hah, Grandfather! I like your style!!
Why don't we throw a bag over your effin head grandpa. A plastic one. Misogynist a$$hole.
You are professional in making people hate you. Dr. Morsy, our new president, among many other things, has a PHD in engineering from Californian and worked in NASA...check it out IGNORANTS.
But that's beside the point, WHO ARE YOU....to tell us what to do and who to chose?? Go fix your country first.
And you wonder why people hate you and celebrate when a disaster hit you?
Here is a test for the idea of Democracy that we have accepted as a good for the world.
They have to just function to the satisfaction of Egyptian people with its up and down. They do not have to prove any thing. They can be fundamentalist Muslim just like we had born again Christians as Presidents. They can advocate conservatism as we have many people done that. Pope has condemned homosexuality, right to choose for women, equality of women and most catholics likes Vatican position.
Do Muslim have any more test to prove their worthiness? If such a test exist than Israel has failed to treat its Muslim citizens equally, we have failed for years and some still insist now to treat blacks equally. They can fail according to our criteria and our test and still succeed with Egyptian people.
No country, no people , no system have to meet our test. They have to meet test of their own people only.
You have a good point, I think. But it seems a shame for a group of people to rush into the 8th century...they will not like it much there. And it will be hard to come back to real civilization...Iranians are finding that out...Afghans...well, they never have been a modern society so they think the 8th century is a real cool place...unless you're a woman, or want an education, or a decent life, or indoor plumbing....but, all that is overrated....trust your local Imam....
Really, GODGRAVITON??? I recall a bunch of Muslim fundamentalists taking over Afghanistan and it resulted in women committing suicide by the thousands. There were a lot of professional women in Afghanistan--doctors, lawyers, teachers--who were forced to give up their right to work for a living and stay at home. If for some reason they did not have a father or husband to support them, they were reduced to begging on the street. Oh, and were getting beaten on the streets if they were out without an adult male family member accompanying them. Yeah, sounds like a swell idea to me--
Egypt will become like Turkey? Hardly, I'm expecting something more like Iran.
Yeah, Iran--that hotbed of democracy!
Gotta like their political platform....and I agree this won't set them back 100 years....more like 90 or 95. When do the stonings begin? Guess that trip to see the pyramids will have to wait...a couple of decades. Bottom line: ordinary folks are too dumb to govern themselves.....when given the chance to choose between something smart or something dumb...they always do dumb. BTW, how's that hope and change thing working out for us? Not so much, huh....and, where's Omar Shariff? Hope these bozos don't have anything against King Tut.....
If they have their way there's a good chance the pyramids will be going to the same place the Bamiyyan Buddhas in Afghanistan went. To Kaboom!!!
If Egypt gets nuked will the Pyramids survive?
Interesting question. Will the pyramids survive the Muslim Brotherhood?
I see no positive future in Egypt regardless of which group ultimately ends up in power. You either have military rule from holdovers of a dictatorial regime or Fundamentalist Islam. Neither a good choice for the Egyptian people.
welcome back to the middle ages, obviously this will not bode well for Egyptians who liked living in the modern world, nor the west, nor the jews, nor Egypts moderate neighbors nor pretty much anybody else. oh well I didnt plan on taking a vacation there anytime soon anyway. give it a few years and they'll be a taliban infested country much like afghanistan and the U.S will have to get involved in their bull sh*t to kill the taliban cockroaches costing more American lives and a whole lot of money better spent elsewhere.
I'm sure that they will listen to Hillary.
Who did people expect to win,Southern Baptist? All religion is geographical. People are what they are mainly because of where they are born. Get over it.
Islamic Democracy????? What a sad bad joke. Congratulations Mr Obama.
Well now, there goes the neighborhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood is the posterbeast of Sharia Law. Anyone up for a game of dominoes on an international scale? It'll be all over now; The TRUE axis of evil has just shifted!!
The Brotherhood's credo was and is, "God is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations."
The "principles of the Muslim Brotherhood" as including firstly the introduction of the Islamic Shari`ah as "the basis controlling the affairs of state and society;" and secondly work to unify "Islamic countries and states, mainly among the Arab states, and liberating them from foreign imperialism".[
For the most part the Muslim Brotherhood believes in non violence BUT if the unification of Islamic countries is a top priority and the definition of imperialism means US intervention, boots on the ground, and bases in Islamic countries, well there may be a rather large conflict of interest for our military going forward. Time will tell.
Can you say CIVIL WAR?
I knew you could.
I think Israel has something more to worry about. At least the dictators could be bribed. I don't think the same will be said of the elected Muslim governments. And the Christians in these countries need to run for their lives. We know how 'tolerant' muslims are.
Some people are to stupid to be allowed to vote and in this case the number is in the millions. Right, Islamic democracy! An oxymoron if there ever was one.
Shhhhh...there are still people who believe that Santa Claus and his 8 tiny reindeer land on their roof on Christmas eve and drop off presents. And, people will continue to believe in the fairytale of Islamic Democracy in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood in charge until the Sphinx gets blasted to smithereens!
Fasten your seatbelts people, this ain't gonna be pretty (especially for women and Coptic Christians). This is Egypt's version of the TeaParty on steroids.
Nice try to equate a terrorist organization with the Tea Party. The latter stands for true freedom and an end to crony capitalism, a balanced budget and individual rights, much different than the Muslim Brotherhood.
Anyone notice how much of a coincidence it is that this happens in the same week that Syria's Parliament collapses? Something interesting is going to happen here.
"Women are lustful creatures". These people have obviously never been married.
Islam is absolutely contrary to democracy!
Here we go again.
So is Christianity.
@MrKarnes--did a big bad nun smack you on the hand with a ruler when you were a little boy? You appear to have a rather distorted view of Christianity. Jim is merely pointed out the truth of the matter. Islam began with military conquest, Christianity originated with a message of love.