HE SAID WHAT!!! Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Says Muslim Brotherhood “Largely Secular”…

HE SAID WHAT!!!

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said what!!! DNI James Clapper said earlier today during a House Intelligence Committee hearing that the Muslim Brotherhood movement was “Largely Secular”. WHAT!!! Are you serious? An organization who’s belief is … “Allah is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.”THIS IS A SECULAR GROUP?  Is anyone in the Obama Administration capable of telling the truth or having a clue? More at the Jawa Report of the so-called secular Brotherhood.

Video Hat Tip: Weasel Zippers via RCP

During a House Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called Egypt’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood movement “largely secular.”

In response to questioning from Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) about the threat posed by the group, Clapper suggested that the Egyptian part of the Brotherhood is not particularly extreme and that the broader international movement is hard to generalize about.

“The term ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ . . . is an umbrella term for a variety of movements, in the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam,” Clapper said. “They have pursued social ends, a betterment of the political order in Egypt, et cetera. . . . In other countries, there are also chapters or franchises of the Muslim Brotherhood, but there is no overarching agenda, particularly in pursuit of violence, at least internationally.”

The Brotherhood uses the slogan, “Islam is the answer,” and generally advocates for government in accordance with Islamic principles. The movement has as a broad goal unifying what it perceives as Muslim lands, from Spain to Indonesia, as a “caliphate.”

As stated by Andrew C. McCarthy at The Corner … “There’s Willful Blindness, and Then There’s Willful Stupidity”.  These people are protecting us?

This stupidity comes from the same man who had no idea that there were terrorist arrests in England during an ABC interview on the very day the arrests took place. Of course Clapper is only Obama’s Director of National Intelligence. How frightening is this Administration in the protection of the United States?

Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak Rumored to Step Down … Vice President Suleiman to take over as Transition Leader (Update: Or Not, Defiant Mubarak Refuses to Step Down for Now)

Rumors are abound … Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak Rumored to Step Down.

According to MSNBC, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak is to step down and Vice President Suleiman to take over as leader in a transition process to elect a new leader. At this point who knows as all media outlets are all over the place in speculation. ABC News is reporting, “Egyptian Army Chief Tells Protesters: ‘All Your Demands will be Met’”.

Following an all-day meeting of the country’s supreme military council, the army said all the protesters’ demands would be met and a further statement was expected to be made later Thursday, clarifying the situation.

Mubarak was also due to address the nation.

UPDATE I: BBC is reporting that Mubarak will step down after 17 days of protests from the Egyptian people.

The real question has to be not if Mubarak steps down, but who and what will succeed him in Egypt. As stated by Weasel Zippers, Victory, but for whom? I wonder what’s going on over in Israel and how they feel about all this.

UPDATE II: FOX News reporting that Mubarak will step down and transfer power to a military council.

UPDATE II: Hell No, he won’t go! After all the hype and build up to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepping down and history taking place, the end result turned out to be quite anticlimactic.

Well so much for all the rumors that Mubarak was stepping down and handing the reins over to a military tribunal. A defiant Mubarak stated that he was not going to step down; however, would not run again at the end of his term later this year. This should go over well with the protesters in the streets of Cairo and Tahrir Square.

President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people on Thursday that he would delegate authority to Vice President Omar Suleiman but that he would not resign, enraging hundreds of thousands gathered to hail his departure and setting in motion a volatile new stage in the three-week uprising.

The rumors were running wild yesterday in anticipation that Mubarak would step down. Even US President Barack Obama stated that Egypt was “witnessing history unfold.” However, it never happened. Although during his speech Mubarak stated that he would not be told what to do by outside forces as he stated, “We will not accept or listen to any foreign interventions or dictations.” Following the speech, Obama was critical of Mubarak’s decision. At this point, it is probably better for Obama to just remain quiet and work behind the scenes.

The Egyptian military has stated that they will back Mubarak’s decision to remain in office.

Surely this cannot continue with a defiant Mubarak and 100,000 protesters in the streets of Cairo.

Egypt VP Omar Suleiman Assassination Attempt, Two Bodyguards Killed

Assassination attempt on Egyptian VP Omar Suleiman …

So much for the peaceful transition of government in Egypt. With little MSM coverage, we learn from FOX News that there was an assassination attempt on newly appointed VP Omar Suleiman that left two of his body guards dead. Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary was asked by reporters as to the assassination attempt. Gibbs declined to address the issue saying, “I’m not going to … get into that question.” 

VIDEO at Mediaite.

Such an attempt on the life of Omar Suleiman would mark an alarming turn in the uprising against the government of President Hosni Mubarak, who only recently named Suleiman as vice president in an effort to quell the unrest and possibly line up a successor.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to address the assassination reports when asked by Fox News.

“I’m not going to … get into that question,” Gibbs said. Sulieman blamed foreigners and political opponents within the Muslim Brotherhood for 10 days of turmoil that has rocked the nation.

More from the Gateway Pundit and other sources where the assasination attempt was descriibed as organized. Suleiman was named on the January 30, 2011 VP and according to accounts the assasination attempt was on the very next day. The MSM never picked up on the story.

The attack was described by the official as “organized” and occurred during a motorcade movement. It was not yet confirmed if Suleiman was present at the time.

“It’s amazing this hasn’t been picked up … because he is the transition plan, or at least one of them for the Egyptians,” the official said

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Says He Will Not Run for Presidency Again … But The Violence Continues to Escalate

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stated that he would not run for president again; however, the time table does not seem good enough for the anti-Mubarak protesters.  Mubarak said that he would leave office at the end of his term in September. This will hardly play well with the people in the streets.

“This is my country. This is where I lived, I fought and defended its land, sovereignty and interests, and I will die on its soil,” he said.

He also said pledged to implement a series of reforms, including calling on the judiciary to combat corruption, one of the complaints of protesters who have pushed him to announce an end to his presidency later this year.

His speech came shortly after President Obama’s special envoy delivered a message to the embattled Egyptian president about the need to prepare for an “orderly transition” of power in the country, a U.S. official said.

 Egypt’s Army Calls for End to Protests

Egypt’s army began to close ranks around its commander in chief, President Hosni Mubarak, by calling on antiregime protesters to go home Wednesday, one of multiple signs the government is regaining its footing and attempting to siphon momentum away from the opposition.

Meanwhile, Egyptians still loyal to the president—and those eager for a return to normal life—came out in various neighborhoods to voice their demands. The crowds, numbering in the thousands, comprised civil servants, shopkeepers and taxi drivers, most of whom have been kept away from work for the past week while the country’s political crisis has unfolded.

Some ministries had brought workers to the protests, people said. There were reports of skirmishes with opponents of the regime.

Chaos in Cairo

UPDATE I: From the Gateway Pundit, VIOLENCE BREAKS OUT IN THE STREETS OF CAIRO

ABC News is reporting that violence has broken out in Cairo Square assupporters of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak are fighting with opposition protesters in the streets. Complete chaos has broken out with no sign of the police security or the army to stop the violence. I guess we knew all along that it would come to this.

Supporters of embattled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak have clashed violently with opposition protesters after marching into an anti-regime rally in Tahrir Square in central Cairo.

Protesters from both sides threw stones at each other in the divided square, the epicentre of opposition demonstrations now in their ninth day.

Supporters of the president also charged anti-regime protesters on horses and camels before being surrounded and dragged from their animals.

Early reports say at least 10 people have been injured in the clashes.

More at CNN, this is just out of control. One has to wonder when the Army will step in and stop this.

[Update 2:58 p.m. Cairo, 7:58 a.m. ET] Men on horseback and camels charged into the crowd at Cairo’s Tahrir Square, some of them lashing people on the ground with whips. Several were pulled off their animals and beaten, and the others retreated. CNN’s Ivan Watson said the horseback riders came from the pro-Mubarak side of the demonstration.

[Update 2:49 p.m. Cairo, 7:49 a.m. ET] The stone-throwing and fighting at Tahrir Square have suddenly stopped and people are hugging and chanting “We are one,” CNN’s Ivan Watson reports from his vantage point.

Chris Matthews’ Priceless Gaffe: He Says Palin & Bachmann are Stupid, Yet says Panama Canal is in EGYPT!

More MSM liberal stupidity hypocrisy …

According to Chris Matthews, De”Nile” is not just a body of water is Egypt, so is the Panama Canal.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews has previously attacked Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann for being stupid; however, we are presented with the brilliance of Chrissy Matthews in telling us that the Panama canal is in Egypt. Really Chris? Who is the mail order bride now? or as the Left Coast Rebel states, “who’s the bubble head now?” Hey Chris, does it give you a tingly feeling up your leg as well when you provide us with examples of you knowledge? How mazing is it as Matthews is lecturing us as to the world importance of Egypt, he makes such an ignorant comment that it was home to the Panama Canal rather than the Suez? Seriously, how does Panama even come to one’s thought process?

As stated by Hugh Hewitt, Matthews does not get the benefit of a gaffe or a misspoken word, even though there is a double standard, because he and his MSNBC network have made it known to all that they are all so much smarter than us.

How gafftastic is it that Matthews cannot figure out that the Panama Canal is actually in, um,  Panama? Up next for Chris Matthews is … who is buried in Grant’s tomb, where is the Great Wall of China located and when was the Battle of 1812 fought?