<p> </p>
<p>February 16, 2011</p>
<p>"TRIUMPH of DEMOCRACY" In EGYPT? by <a href="http://www.theoakinitiative.org/content/nicholas-papanicolaou">Nicholas F.S. Papanicolaou</a></p>
<p>It is easy to fall in with the euphoria that now has taken hold in the aftermath of Hosni Mubarak's resignation on Feb. 11th. Already people in America and in the Middle East are exulting over the "triumph of democracy" in Egypt.</p>
<p>So it is perhaps not popular for some like me, to sound the alarm bell. Doing so does not mean I applaud the Mubarak government and its thirty years in power. It does mean that I see plenty of dangers ahead which need to be addressed in a realistic way lest Egypt become another radical Islamic state.</p>
<p>In the 2005 elections the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) fielded twenty percent of the vote in the Egyptian elections. In any upcoming elections they are likely to gain even more of the vote. But at twenty percent, they already have gained a powerful voice within Egypt's power structure.</p>
<p>Also, The National Intelligence Director, James Clapper, testified Feb. 10th before Congress and said that the MB in Egypt has renounced violence. Can we believe that the MB is now a benevolent, civic minded, non violent force in Egypt?</p>
