Egypt and the will of the people

It is with interest that we might have noted Kenan Malik's contention that should the West try to thwart the secular radicalism of the uprising in Egypt,  it will play into the hands of Islamic fundamentalism.  Of course, in failing to see the obvious right from the start, the West has indeed revealed itself to be all but impotent and today we have an indication of Realpolitik from the Muslim Brotherhood and  a promise to "respect the will of the Egyptian people",

A more than pragmatic thing to do when you just happen to be the largest opposition party and when the war criminal, Tony Blair, gives voice to the fears of his Zionist friends and warns that Egypt might take a backward step "into a very reactionary form of religious autocracy", there at least appears to be some evidence to support him. Nevertheless, when Essam El Arian, a reformist leader, and one of the Brotherhood members who have escaped from jail in recent days, says that  "All of Egypt is changing, and of course the Brotherhood is part of that,"we have no reason either to disbelieve him or to doubt that the Islamic organisation might indeed take part in a democratic process from which it stands to gain much.

Of course, what this all means is that there might be a real chance for democracy not only in Egypt, but also elsewhere in the Arab world, despite the scaremongering from Tony Blair and his ilk. Although, if such a democracy was to take hold in Egypt and elsewhere, this would be much more difficult for the hypocritical West to cope with. In fact, it is quite safe to say that such a democracy is more frightening for the United States, Israel and Tony than a fundamentalist Islamic state could ever be. After all, we don't attack democracies, do we?