The Evolution of the Revolution in Egypt - What Will Stand In the Way of Tens of Millions of Radical Islamists?

The streets of Cairo are caught in the midst of a murderous frenzy—the Egyptian military on one side and Muslim Brotherhood supporters of recently-deposed President Mohammad Morsi on the other.

The death toll now hovers at over 1,000 including twenty-five off-duty policemen murdered execution-style in northern Sinai. Upheaval in that region is of particular worry to Israel and the United States given its proximity to Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the Suez Canal. Disruption in any of these areas could spark a Middle East war, drawing other Muslim countries into the fray.

Egyptian army soldiers sit on top of an armored personnel carrier behind a barbed wire checkpoint as they guard a street that leads to Cairo's Mustafa Mahmoud mosque, in a bid to prevent supporters of toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi from demonstrating in the square on August 23, 2013. Photo credit: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images.

While the military-backed interim government talks of taking steps to ban the Muslim Brotherhood, raids on Brotherhood groups in Egyptian cities, and plans to disrupt protest rallies, and a 7:00 pm nightly curfew imposed on Cairo’s over 18 million people, little has deterred Morsi’s supporters.

Now on the agenda are discussions regarding banning the Brotherhood altogether. Perhaps a page from the “Nasser strategy for dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood” should be required reading for each cabinet member. Why? On October 26, 1954, Mohammed Abdel Latif, a member of the Brotherhood, tried to assassinate Gamal Abdul Nasser in Alexandria during the celebration of the British withdrawal from Egypt. From twenty-five feet away, Latif fired eight rounds, all missing their target. The Muslim Brotherhood was blamed for the attempted assassination, and its followers were forced underground.

Thousands of its members were imprisoned and tortured, but it did not stop the movement’s growth, only serving to drive it deeper underground. This clash with authorities prompted an important shift in the ideology of the Brotherhood, evident in the writing of one prominent member, Sayyid Qutb. Qutb's work advocated the use of jihad (struggle) against jahili (ignorant) societies. He included both Western and so-called Islamic countries, which, he argued, were in need of radical transformation.

In 1966, the Egyptian government again suppressed activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and Qutb was executed. It was this repression of former President Hosni Mubarak’s detractors that many believe eventually led to the protests that erupted in Egypt in January 2011. Should it be forced underground yet again, it will, like hot lava seeking release, erupt sooner or later.

It is my contention that the so-called Arab Spring has never been about democracy; it was designed as a stepping-stone to the establishment of a worldwide caliphate, governance under the rule of an Islamic caliph or holy man. The radical Shi’ite Muslim push for a caliphate is growing more resolute. A battle between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims is emerging over which faction will oversee a caliphate. And, after all, time is on their side with every day we fail to respond with indomitable courage to the challenge of terrorism.

I was invited to debate Al Sharpton, Chris Matthews and Arianna Huffington regarding the Arab Spring. They were ecstatic over the events surrounding the uprisings in various Muslim counties and probably thought me dull-witted and uninformed when I tried to warn of the possible outcome. Among the Liberal Left media, there seems to be only revulsion for the Jew, the Christian, and even for the Muslim who dares to disagree.

Since taking office President Obama has done everything possible to court the Muslim world—from toning down rhetoric used to refer to terrorism to choosing an Arab network for his first televised interview. He has bowed awkwardly to the King of Saudi Arabia and taken the administration’s dog and pony show to Cairo for a broadcast designed to win over the fanatics who simply want us dead, period. Our president seems unable to convincingly speak the words terrorist, jihadist, or radical Muslim. He has drawn useless and unenforced red lines in the sand regarding the civil war in Syria, treated our ally Israel with disdain, and made a debacle of the Benghazi embassy attacks and resulting deaths of four Americans. The United States is now seen by many as weak, ineffective, and traitorous.

The current scenario in Egypt and the push for an Islamic caliphate was outlined in my #1 New York Times bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq in 2007, and expanded in The Revolution written in 2011. As predicted, today rioting, bloodshed, and chaos engulf this most populace Muslim country.

Today, more questions abound: Will the revolution in Egypt lead to outright civil war? Will other Middle East countries follow suit, a move that could lead to Armageddon? What will stand in the way of tens of millions of radical Islamists in terrorist states and their ruling mullahs from using the very rules and regulations designed to maintain order in government instead of using the system to reach their desired conclusion—in this instance, to gain international supremacy? How will the U.S. and Israel counter this threat?

Dr. Michael Evans is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His latest novel, The Locket, based on the pursuit, arrest, trial and execution of Adolf Eichmann debuted at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in June 2013.

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