RUTHFULLY YOURS

Jay [Nordlinger] could not be more correct that Mohammed ElBaradei is a menace. He is more responsible than any non-Iranian for the progress the mullahs have made on their nuke program (with dishonorable mention to China and Russia) — although I think another Egyptian, Yasser Arafat, may have been a worse Nobel choice. I also agree that, under the circumstances, Egypt could do worse than having ElBaradei running its government. Some perspective: the guy I convicted in 1995,  Omar Abdel Rahman — the Blind Sheikh who issued the fatwa approving the murder of Anwar Sadat and tried energetically to have his successor, Hosni Mubarak, killed — was a great admirer of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamist revolution in Iran and hoped to replicate it (a Sunni version of it) in Egypt, with himself recognized as the top Islamic authority advising the sharia government.

We are beginning to see take shape, though, the something that could be worse than ElBaradei: ElBaradei in collusion with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Assuming the ouster of Mubarak, the Brotherhood has just announced its official support for the establishment of a transitional government under the direction of ElBaradei. In hearing Fox News report this, I was astonished to hear a correspondent opine that just because the Brotherhood is offering its support does not mean ElBaradei would want it.

A few days ago, ElBaradei gave an interview to Der Spiegel — Aaron Kleinreported on it at WND yesterday. As Klein noted, ElBaradei is widely seen as a staunch ally of the Brotherhood (surprise!) and gave a spirited defense of them that was about as honest as his disclosures about the Iranian nuclear program used to be: “We should stop demonizing the Muslim Brotherhood,” he insisted. According to ElBaradei, the Brothers “have not committed any acts of violence in five decades.” [ACM note: the Brotherhood killed Sadat in 1981; Hamas kills people everyday.] ElBaradei, who also admires President Obama ardently, said that the Brothers just “want change.” Thus, he concludes, “If we want democracy and freedom, we have to include them instead of marginalizing them.” [ACM: Yeah, just like we did with Hamas — and how’s that workin’ out?]

For its part, the Obama administration — which has made outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood and its American affiliates a policy priority — reciprocates ElBaradei’s admiration. Robert Gibbs said Friday that the president knows ElBaradei well and has worked closely with him.

By the way, ElBaradei also says “Israel is the number one threat to the Middle East,” and has expressed strong support for the Palestinian “resistance,” particularly in Hamas-controlled Gaza (which he calls “the world’s largest prison”), because, in his opinion, “the Israeli occupation only understands the language of violence.”

Makes you wonder how ElBaradei and the Muslim Brotherhood managed to find each other — they’re so very different. Amazing to see the forces that “change” brings together.