On CBS's Sunday Morning show, during his regular commentary, right-leaning CBS contributor Ben Stein gave a pessimistic view of the "Arab Spring" movement to topple authoritarian governments in the Middle East, charged that America would regret allowing Hosni Mubarak lose power in Egypt, and predicted that the radical Muslm Brotherhood would take over there.
He also gave rare attention to the Muslim Brotherhood's history of alliance [1] with Nazi Germany during World War II. Stein:
The most potent political force in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, hates the U.S., loathes Israel, condemns the killing of bin Laden whom they praise as a martyr, and they've been wedded to terror for their entire existence. Oh, P.S., they were closely connected with Adolf Hitler. They'll probably take over Egypt completely sooner or later.
Stein went on to warn that Iran will emerge stronger as a result of the "Arab Spring" movement:
There's a gigantic regional coup by Iran taking place. We're doing very little if anything to stop it. We're going to regret helping the Egyptians kick out Mubarak, as much as we regret helping Khomeini force out the Shah. You can call it "Arab Spring" if you want, but with Iran now the regional superpower, it's a lot more like an extremely bleak Mideast winter.
Below is a complete transcript of Stein's commentary from the May 15 Sunday Morning on CBS:
CHARLES OSGOOD: What can we make of the changes sweeping the Arab world? Contributor Ben Stein now to tell us what he thinks.
BEN STEIN: Now I'm going to tell you the truth about the so-called "Arab Spring" and about the Middle East generally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE PROTESTER: Finally, we get our freedom!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE PROTESTER: It's like a dream.
STEIN: First, the "Arab Spring" as a force for democracy, human rights and peace in Egypt, seems to me to be a fraud. The dictator and his entourage who were kicked out of Egypt were pro-West, a bit restrained on Israel, open to free enterprise and resistant to Iranian-sponsored terror. Egypt is now rapidly becoming anti-Israel, pro-Iran, pro- the Iranian terrorist group Hamas, and very far from pro-human rights.
They're arresting businessmen right and left in Egypt just for the crime of being successful. They have arrested Mubarak's sons and have said they plan to try Mubarak. The most potent political force in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, hates the U.S., loathes Israel, condemns the killing of bin Laden whom they praise as a martyr, and they've been wedded to terror for their entire existence. Oh, P.S., they were closely connected with Adolf Hitler. They'll probably take over Egypt completely sooner or later.
As the terrorist government of Syria cracks down violently on its own people, the U.N. Security Council does exactly nothing about it. Has anyone noticed that the common denominator of all all the successful "Arab Street" movements is that they are sympathetic to Iran? When the dust settles, Iran is going to own the Middle East except for maybe Saudi Arabia if we have the guts to help them which I very much doubt. We're going to lose our pals in Bahrain - not nice guys, but pals of the U.S. anyway - and we're going to lose our pals in Yemen, and it will possibly have an actual al-Qaeda government.
There's a gigantic regional coup by Iran taking place. We're doing very little if anything to stop it. We're going to regret helping the Egyptians kick out Mubarak, as much as we regret helping Khomeini force out the Shah. You can call it "Arab Spring" if you want, but with Iran now the regional superpower, it's a lot more like an extremely bleak Mideast winter. You heard it here first.
-Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center