No one is naïve in thinking that Egypt's Mubarak is anything but a strongman, a dictator who values self above all. His three decades of ruling Egypt with an iron fist (like Syria’s Hafez Assad and Jordan’s King Hussein) has left Egypt with a shiny new American-equipped army, and a Third World economy.

But I don’t believe for a minute that the revolt in Egypt is driven by disaffected youth. It is the most radical form of Muslim jihadist mentality that is driving the car now.

The Muslim Brotherhood

The Brotherhood is a radical strain of Islam, born in Egypt in 1928, and the forerunner of both the PLO (formed in 1964) and Al Qaida. Needless to say, this band of true believers in Allah hated Israel from the beginning.

In the early years of Israel’s existence, one of the worst problems the Jews dealt with was cross-border raids from the Egyptian mujahideen, or “freedom fighters.” They continuously struck civilian targets in Israel, crossing through the Sinai and elsewhere. For years, Israel sent its own commandos back in retaliation.

And, in one of those odd, ironic twists of history, the Brotherhood engaged an opportunity just after World War II that is still having ramifications for our world today.

In the late 40’s, a young Yasser Arafat was agitating to fight the Jews and the British in Palestine. Incredibly, when he visited the former Mufti of Jerusalem in Lebanon, the radical cleric advised him instead to pursue university studies in the U.S.!

Arafat — equally incredibly — applied for a visa. Had the process not dragged-on, the future terrorist chieftain might have been engulfed in Marilyn Monroe films and Buicks. Instead, he teamed-up with the Muslim Brotherhood, which was now encouraged subtly by Egypt’s King Farouk to engage in terror activities.

From there, one can trace Arafat’s involvement with the Brotherhood, and in 1964 — three years before Israel took territories in the Six Day War — the PLO was formed. By 1968, Arafat was named chairman.

When Arafat was organizing his terror activities early on, his para-military group, Fatah (today the official political party of Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen), was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. At the time, the Saudis also claimed that the groups were tied to international communism.

This stew of revolutionary thought and terror activity has ensured that the Muslim Brotherhood has not only not advanced in its thinking since 1928, but in fact it hearkens back to the darkest radicalism that swept through the Arabian desert in the seventh century.

After the Six Day War, the infiltration of Gaza by terrorist entities from Egypt made it necessary for Israel to send Ariel Sharon into the area and clean it up. The PLO and Muslim Brotherhood groups were copying the tactics of the Viet Cong in villages and urban areas — murdering and brutalizing the population. A total of 846 terrorists were either killed or captured.

Sadly, the relentless nature of terrorism though eventually gave way to the “political process” and that is how we find ourselves in the position of watching an American president further endanger Israel by proposing a transition of power in Egypt that will include ... the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ridiculous.

Update: 12th Feb, 2011. Mubarak has resigned. The media is hailing this all as a victory for democracy, which most likely means it is anything but. The noose around Israel tightens. The pressure rises. Evil appears to gain more ground, BUT, whatever the outcome, Yahweh is pulling the strings, so heads up! ......Keygar