Extremists disguised as moderates

Once again Dr Yusuf's slippery words disguise the truth. Of course no one can know who will fill the power vacuum in the Middle East; there are too many variables for accurate prediction. But one thing is certain, Dr Yusuf's rather clumsy attempt to mislead readers that the threat of violent extremism comes only from Salafists is complete nonsense. The greater threat is from the Muslim Brotherhood, whose broad political umbrella allows the moderate wing to disguise and legitimise its extremist Islamist wing, fooling those who are ignorant of its true character.

A simple Wiki search of its history will confirm that its founder, Al-Banna, and its intellectual leader, Sayyid Qutb, were Islamist extremists. The Brotherhood was implicated in numerous terrorist attacks and in assassinating Egypt's president. Fact. Its stated totalitarian aim is to establish a worldwide global caliphate under Sharia law. Fact. Bin Laden and Al Zawahiri were members. Fact. The Brotherhood differs from Salafism only in the means to achieve the caliphate. It favours gradual acquisition of power by infiltrating governments, clever use of propaganda, and using demographic numbers.

Salafists prefer violent terrorism from the outset. But both work together using soft and hard power. Since its methods are more subtle, the Brotherhood is more insidious and dangerous. That it aims to destroy Western civilisation by infiltrating its governments, settling in mass numbers and converting non-Muslims ("sabotaging its miserable house from within") has been proved legally and conclusively following the capture of the Brotherhood's master plan by the CIA and FBI. This master plan was tendered as evidence in the 2008 US court case which lead to the prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation (do a Wiki search), a Brotherhood off-shoot that used charities to channel money to Hamas for use in its terrorist activities.

If they doubt my words, readers can look at the court documents themselves at www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1117.pdf.

To characterise the Turkish AKP Party as moderate is complete nonsense. No serious scholar would deny that the AKP contains many Islamists and is gradually taking Turkey down the path of extremism. Time for your readers to wake up. Congratulations to The Nation for finally allowing the truth to be told. True religious peace, which all people of goodwill support, must be based on truth.

Ghanga Darin

Bangkok