Counterterrorism Blog

It is always interesting to me to see what the supposed "moderates" with whom so many want an "interfaith dialogue" really have to say, in their own words, to their preferred audiences.

Because we are largely unable to grasp the concept of _taqiyya_ or spiritually-sanctioned deception of unbelievers, we always seem shocked when things and people are not what they appear on the Islamist side.

Yet it happens every day. The statements below have appeared, in varying forms, by Sheikh al Qaradawi and others, but I find it useful to remind myself of what we are really dealing with in the case of the Brotherhood and its attempt to straddle two worlds-the West through denial and deception campaigns, and its base of Islamists with a far different message than what we usually hear.

Thanks to the Middle East Media Research Institute's TV Monitoring Project, we have the tape and translation of Youseff al Qaradawi,-the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and revered cleric in the Islamist movements-at his most comfortable, speaking on Qatar TV on Feb. 25, 2006. My full blog is here.