Embracing a the Wrong "Allies"

Carol Platt Liebau | February 03, 2011 5:24 PM

In handling the Egypt crisis, the Obama administration had better be careful about the groups it embraces.

In a clear reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, The White House has announced that any new Egyptian government should "include a whole host of important non-secular actors."

But by embracing the Muslim Brotherhood, the Obama administration is essentially throwing women to the wolves; as this Washington Post piece puts it delicately, the Muslim Brotherhood is "likely to pressure women to cover up in public" -- PC-speak for denuding women of fundamental rights. Indeed, the same piece spells it out: the Brotherhood's "professed goal is to turn Egypt into an Islamic state."

Linking figurative arms with the Muslim Brotherhood is not just a slap against women, it's also a blow to Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood has announced its intention to end the Israeli-Egyptian peace deal.

If the Obama administration is willing to see women subjugated and a Middle East conflagration flare up, the way to do it is to legitimize the Muslim Brotherhood as a stakeholder in Egyptian government.