PRESIDENT BUSH: GOING ALL WOBBLY DHIMMI OVER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD? The New York Sun describes overtures being made by the Bush Administration towards The Muslim Brotherhood, summing up that:

These developments, in light of Hamas's control of Gaza, suggest that President Bush — who has been careful to distinguish the war on terror from a war on Islam — has done more than any of his predecessors to accept the movement fighting for the merger of mosque and state in the Middle East.

Remember those heady days when some claimed that President Bush was the best friend that Israel ever had?

Should Mr. Bush ask his diplomats to forge new channels to the Muslim Brotherhood it would also be a recognition of the gains their parties have made in elections in the last three years. In Egypt, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, Islamist parties trounced their secular rivals. In part this was because these parties offered an uncorrupt alternative to the more secular parties in power, but some advocates inside the administration also say it reflects a tangible momentum for parties that seek to create Islamic republics. One State Department official yesterday said, "Our policy has to change from more democracy, fewer headscarves."

This would be a complete about-face in Bush's plan to spread democracy in the Middle East. Remember the temporary euphoria when there was talk of democracy spreading in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon?

In any case, Zeyno Baran of the Hudson Institute disagrees with the Administration's new assessment:

"The thinking is that to deal with terrorism, we need to deal with Muslims who will take care of their communities so there will not be people here and there doing terrorism," she said. "So we treat the brotherhood like an umbrella organization, like the Council on American Islamic Relations or the Islamic Society of North America. You make them partners. They might Islamize the Muslims, but it's okay because they can think or do what they want as long as they are not violent. That is the misunderstanding and mistake."

As always, a key question is how to define a moderate Muslim. Apparently the answer is: someone who is radical enough to be listened to by the really radical Muslims.

Is it possible to even recognize in all this the George Bush that refused Arafat entry into the White House?

UPDATE: Come to think of it, if this is true--that Bush plans to make a change in policy and recognize the more religious groups among Muslims, what is he doing siding with and actively supporting secular Fatah? It is a member of the State Department who is quoted as saying "Our policy has to change from more democracy, fewer headscarves."--just whose is "our policy"? Bush has enough problems. Being vague--or contradictory--in how he is going to conduct policy in the Middle East is going to cause problems in an already incendiary situation.

Technorati Tag: President Bush and Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood.