The Muslim Brotherhood’s no. 1 enemy in America

Sara Rashad

Lebanese-American politician Walid Fares is coming to the limelight yet again after The New York Times revealed that he was being investigated for making contacts with the Egyptian government when he worked as an advisor to Donald Trump during his presidential campaign.

Fares came to the center of debate in 2016, when the Muslim Brotherhood expressed fears that presidential candidate Trump would hire him as an advisor. He was known to harbor hostile attitudes towards the Brotherhood.

Fares, a terrorism specialist by profession, advised Mr. Trump against cooperating with or backing this Islamist movement. He even lobbied for eradicating the group.

This was why the Muslim Brotherhood lobby in the United State, which contains a large number of businessmen, organizations and media outlets, dealt with Fares as their prime enemy in the United States.

Conflict

Conflicts between Fares and the Muslim Brotherhood date back to the 1990s. This was when Fares submitted a report to the U.S. Congress about the Brotherhood’s links with extremist groups. He then wrote the book “Future Jihad and Jihadist Strategies against the U.S.” In his book, Fares explains the dangers the Muslim Brotherhood poses to U.S. security.

Consequently, the Muslim Brotherhood started an endless campaign to smear Fares. The campaign was suspended for some time, but it was resumed shortly after this, especially after Mitt Romney hired Fares as an advisor between 2011 and 2012.

However, Barack Obama’s presidential election victory calmed down the Muslim Brotherhood campaign against Fares.

It is quite apparent that Fares has turned into a stumbling block for the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. The group has been struggling to convince the American public that it follows a moderate ideology, something experts like Fares are proving not to be true.