GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Middle East expert warns against illusion of 'moderate' Islamists

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: CNA

13April2011 12:00pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:  Washington D.C. - Habib Malik, a Lebanese Maronite Catholic scholar and human rights advocate, recently warned Western countries to be on their guard against radical Islamic forces that present themselves as political “moderates” in countries such as Libya and Egypt.

“Another fallacy is rearing its head again, and we saw this prior to 9/11,” said Malik in a March 31 address at Washington, D.C.'s Westminster Institute. “It's now coming back into the discourse, unfortunately, in Washington: this very wrong and dangerous idea that 'there are moderate fundamentalists and there are radical fundamentalists, and maybe we can talk to the moderate fundamentalists and wean them away from it.'” 

“This is garbage, and nonsense,” said Malik, author of the 2010 book “Islamism and the Future of the Christians of the Middle East,” as he described the notion of “moderate” Islamic radicalism as a fantasy entertained by the West. “It doesn't exist. There is no such thing. What appears to be moderate can, in an instant, flip and change.”

“When you're thousands of miles away, in a place like Washington, you give this armchair analysis that generates policy, about 'moderate' and 'radical' fundamentalists. This eventually translates itself very adversely, on the scene over there. It affects whole communities of Christians on the ground.”

In both Libya and Egypt, the U.S. State Department has acted and spoken in favor of movements calling for democracy and human rights while avoiding religious rhetoric. However, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood played a significant part in overturning a government they had long opposed in favor of a religious state.

Meanwhile, Libyan rebel leader Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi has acknowledged the presence of fighters linked to al-Qaida among his troops. President Barack Obama told CBS Evening News in March that the Libyan rebels were “saying the right things” and appeared “credible,” although he admitted they might contain “elements that are unfriendly to the United States and our interests.” (read full report)

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