The Gulen movement, charter schools, Turkey’s ruling party, the Muslim Brotherhood, The Nation, and American Thinker.

I’ll leave the sorting-it-all-out up to you. As you read this entry, just know that:

#1: The Gulen movement is operating 120 U.S. charter schools (with more opening soon), as well as a whole host of what-they-present-as “Turkish cultural” and “interfaith dialog” organizations. One of the Gulen movement’s favorite activities has been to lobby politicians and other community leaders. Members of the Gulen movement lavish gifts, dinners, and awards on people whom they've targeted, including their charter school families. One of the biggest propaganda programs they sponsor for people around the world are ongoing free, or greatly subsidized (by members of the movement), Gulenist-guided trips to Turkey. Texas politicians are just now starting to question all these trips, but that doesn't mean they have acquired much insight about the Gulen movement (see the article in the American-Statesman: “Some lawmakers have second thoughts about Turkey trips.” 19 June 2011).

#2: The AKP became the ruling party in Turkey because it is Gulen movement-backed.

#3: SourceWatch has described Stratfor as "pro-corporate." American Thinker has been described as "the right wing's echo chamber." The Nation has been described as "left-leaning."

Sorting out the Gulen movement, Turkey’s ruling party, and the Muslim Brotherhood

> “Turkey's Elections and Strained U.S.Relations.” Stratfor’s Geopolitical Weekly 14 Jun 2011 

Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) won parliamentary elections June 12, which means it will remain in power for a third term. The popular vote, divided among a number of parties, made the AKP the most popular party by far, although nearly half of the electorate voted for other parties, mainly the opposition and largely secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP)…

…since Turkey is a democracy, the rhetoric is usually heated and accusations often fly, ranging from imminent military coups to attempts to impose a religious dictatorship…

…the AKP has clearly taken Turkey in new directions in both domestic and foreign policy. In domestic policy, the direction is obvious. While the CHP has tried to vigorously contain religion within the private sphere, the AKP has sought to recognize Turkey’s Islamic culture and has sought a degree of integration with the political structure…

The rise of the AKP and its domestic agenda has more than just domestic consequences. Since 2001, the United States has been fighting radical Islamists, and the fear of radical Islamism goes beyond the United States to Europe and other countries. In many ways, Turkey is both the most prosperous and most militarily powerful of any Muslim country. The idea that the AKP agenda is radically Islamist and that Turkey is moving toward radical Islamism generates anxieties and hostilities in the international system…

...it is useful to consider Turkey in a broader geopolitical context. It sits astride one of the most important waterways in the world, the Bosporus, connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean…

From the American point of view, a close U.S.-Turkish relationship came to be considered normal. But the end of the Cold War redefined many relationships, and in many cases, neither party was aware of the redefinition for quite some time. The foundation of the U.S.-Turkish alliance rested on the existence of a common enemy, the Soviets…

The break point came in early 2003 with the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which came after the AKP election victory in late 2002. The United States wanted to send a division into northern Iraq from southern Turkey, and the Turks blocked the move...

But for the United States, the decision on Iraq became a defining moment, when the United States realized that it could not take Turkish support for granted. The Turks, on the other hand, decided that the United States was taking actions that were not in their best interests. The relationship was not broken, but it did become strained...

Thus, the Turks, not wanting to participate in the Iraq war, created a split with the United States, and the European rejection of Turkish membership in the European Union has generated a split with Europe...

…The foundation of Turkey’s relationship with Israel, for example, had more to do with hostility toward pro-Soviet Arab governments than anything else. Those governments are gone and the secular foundation of Turkey has shifted. The same is true with the United States and Europe. None of them wants Turkey to shift, but given the end of the Cold War and the rise of Islamist forces, such a shift is inevitable, and what has occurred thus far seems relatively mild considering where the shift has gone in other countries. But more important, the foundation of alliances has disappeared and neither side can find a new, firm footing…

Read “Islam, Secularism and the Battlefor Turkey’s Future,” a 18-page special report by Stratfor (Aug. 23, 2010) to learn more about Turkey and the Gulen movement. A section entitled “The Turkish Islamist Movement” starting on page four explains the movement’s ascension to power and the role of its global network of schools. 

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> “The Muslim Brotherhood and Weiner.” American Thinker 19 Jun 2011 

Far more disturbing than the salacious details of Weiner's dalliances is the fact that apparently his mother-in-law is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Furthermore, Huma Abedin's brother, Hassan, "is listed as a fellow and partner with a number of Muslim Brotherhood members."... 

How is it that the Western media, with its hourly analyses of Weiner, missed this salient point, yet Arab news sources revealed this connection?...

Which should now raise even greater concerns since Huma Abedin-Weiner is the deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton, the United States Secretary of State...

Couple this with the Clinton family playing a key role in promoting Fethullah Gulen who has worked assiduously to overthrow Turkey's secular government.  Gulen, who currently resides in Pennsylvania, has told his followers that in order for "worldwide Islamic domination to succeed, every method and path is acceptable, including lying to people."

In March of this year, the FBI was investigating the more than 120 charter schools in the United States that are linked to Gulen's movement.  These schools, funded with millions of taxpayer dollars, promote Gulen's worldview that is both anti-Israel and anti-America.  In fact, in 2010 it was reported that Bill Gates had given almost 11 million dollars to the Cosmos Foundation, which is a Gulen enterprise.

Moreover, one needs to question why Huma Abedin, a member of a family of devout Muslims, would ever marry a Jewish Congressman -- in a ceremony officiated by Bill Clinton.  Sharia law clearly forbids Muslims from marrying non-believers, so what does this portend?

Furthermore, when Huma Abedin accompanied Hillary Clinton to the Dar El-Hekma women's college in Saudi Arabia, where Huma's mother is co-founder and vice dean, it was reported that "Hillary explained that Huma holds an important and sensitive position in her office."  Where was the scrutiny?

Why are so many at the highest levels of American government ignoring the methodology of Islamists like Gulen, who has declared that the best way to seize power is to lie in wait "with the patience of a spider" in order to "wait for people to get caught in the web"?  Is Clinton so naïve?...

Learn more about the Gulen movement / Bill & Hillary Clinton connection at "Why Bill Clinton mentioned Gulen at the Turkish Cultural Center's dinner in September 2008."

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>  “Muslim Brotherhood Wants 'Complete Control' in Egypt.” The Nation 20 Jun 2011

Here’s a scary quote in today’s New York Times from Mehdi Akef, a former top official of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, one of that group’s more conservative leaders, on the political strategy of the Brotherhood-founded Freedom and Justice Party:

“Our preliminary platform will be shown through the Freedom and Justice Party. But our full platform will not be disclosed until we are in complete control and take the presidency as well.”

There are lots of Pollyanna when it comes to the Muslim Brotherhood, those who believe that the organization is a benign, pro-democratic group that wants to model Egypt on the Turkey of Prime Minister Erdogan, whose Islamist AKP runs that country. Leave aside, for a moment, whether Erdogan’s reactionary, populist yet pro-business AKP, which has gone a long way toward destroying Turkey’s secular, nationalist tradition, is a good model for Egypt. In Egypt itself, the Brotherhood is a reactionary force and dangerously so—not for the United States, and not because it is anti-Israel, but because it embodies the worst, religious fundamentalist tendencies of the Egyptian people...

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By the way, an assortment of people came to Fethullah Gulen’s rescue after he was denied a Green Card by the Department of Homeland Security by writing letters of support saying he was an “extraordinary educator.” Of course, the DHS denial was overturned and Gulen has been living a self-exiled-from-Turkey life on a secluded compound in Pennsylvania ever since.

I will continue to ask, why has the U.S. government allowed American schoolchildren to be sucked into all of this?