Overtures to Egypt’s Islamists Reverse Longtime U.S. Policy
Overtures to Egypts Islamists Reverse Longtime U.S. Policy
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: January 3, 2012
CAIRO With the Muslim Brotherhood pulling within reach of an outright majority in Egypts new Parliament, the Obama administration has begun to reverse decades of mistrust and hostility as it seeks to forge closer ties with an organization once viewed as irreconcilably opposed to United States interests.
The administrations overtures including high-level meetings in recent weeks constitute a historic shift in a foreign policy held by successive American administrations that steadfastly supported the autocratic government of President Hosni Mubarak in part out of concern for the Brotherhoods Islamist ideology and historic ties to militants.
The shift is, on one level, an acknowledgment of the new political reality here, and indeed around the region, as Islamist groups come to power. Having won nearly half the seats contested in the first two rounds of the countrys legislative elections, the Brotherhood on Tuesday entered the third and final round with a chance to extend its lead to a clear majority as the vote moved into districts long considered strongholds.
The reversal also reflects the administrations growing acceptance of the Brotherhoods repeated assurances that its lawmakers want to build a modern democracy that will respect individual freedoms, free markets and international commitments, including Egypts treaty with Israel.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/world/middleeast/us-reverses-policy-in-reaching-out-to-muslim-brotherhood.html?_r=1&ref=world
JCMach1
(27,559 posts)Little Tich
(6,171 posts)But does Egypt really need $1.3 billion each year in military aid, now when Mubarak is gone?
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)They should not necessarily be fully embraced, and we should express our misgivings, but they should be allowed to be self-determined.