Last week, U.S. national security adviser H.R. McMaster awakened America’s policymakers to what many scholars are arguing in the media today — that Turkey and Qatar are state sponsors of terrorism and that Qutbism must be stopped.
The reference to Sayyid Qutb, who is one of the architects of the Islamist philosophy for the Muslim Brotherhood, shows he sees the true danger of this ideology. The term Qutbism may be new to Western audiences but not to the Arab world, where Qubtism is referenced to the development of the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda creating Islamic Fascism. Americans are likely to hear more about Qutbists and their dangerous links.
{mosads}H.R. McMaster, the U.S. national security adviser, said that Turkey had joined Qatar as a prime source of funding that contributes to the spread of extremist ideology. “We’re seeing great involvement by Turkey from everywhere from western Africa to Southeast Asia” in addition to “(t)he Balkans is an area of grave concern now.”
McMaster admitted that America didn’t pay enough attention to how extremist ideologies were being advanced by Turkey and Qatar through madrassas and mosques, and so-called charities more broadly.
McMaster, in another speech, referred to Qutbist groups that threaten key U.S. partners such as Egypt and Jordan and who operate freely in Syria. The adviser’s use of “Qutbist” is highly significant because the Trump administration is shaping the debate to pass legislation in the U.S. Congress in 2018 designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
Last week was not the first time that the U.S. National Security Advisor discussed his views on extremism. McMaster’s views on the danger posed by the Islamists is well grounded. A few months ago, McMaster said specifically “We must stop funding to all the radical Islamist groups and not just the violent ones, but also the ones who fund the extremist ideologies”
What McMaster is doing is setting the stage to change tactics for the U.S. administration to tackle the jihadi branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. By separating out parts of the Muslim Brotherhood universe by theological roots as opposed to country organizations, the Trump administration is preparing the ground for congressional action against these extremists next year.
The Trump administration’s arrival into the White House encouraged supporters of anti-Brotherhood legislation, given that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during his Senate confirmation hearing described the Muslim Brotherhood, together with al-Qaeda and elements in Iran, as “agents of radical Islam.”
Legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization is ongoing but not moving fast. Legislative efforts to get the State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as an FTO go back several years.
The latest version of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act (Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2017) was introduced last January in the House by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and in the senate by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Cruz said the brotherhood is “a violent Islamist ideology with a mission of destroying the West” and that formally designating them a terror group would “enable the U.S. to take action that could stifle the funding they receive to promote their terrorist activities.”
With McMaster’s comments regarding Qutbism, the possibility to move this legislation forward with a better definitions of how to dismantle the global organization which seeks to build a caliphate will become clearer.
Importantly, Qutbism as a political and religious movement seeks the same goals as Iran in terms of caliphate and the rule of sharia by violent means. Qutbism, like Iran’s Wilayat al–Faqih, seeks global domination and Islamic governance. Iran’s revolutionary guard, already sanctioned for terrorist activity, supports Turkey and Qatar, who are supportive of Qutbists in the Muslim Brotherhood. Qutbists, like the IRGC, work in harmony together and build militant groups and militias that are against the international order and, frankly, healthy social norms.
Clearly, McMaster is bringing forward the term Qutbism to drive home the point that the Trump administration is going to get tough on state supporters of this strain of political Islam. Muslim Brotherhood terrorist designations include: Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Syria with the notable exceptions being Qatar and Turkey.
McMaster’s Qutbism comments are occurring simultaneously with U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Halley’s proof of Iranian support for Houthi missiles. The timing of the Trump administration’s push connects the dots between Iran, Houthis and Qutabists supported by Turkey and Qatar.
Salman Al-Ansari is the founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee (SAPRAC). You can find him on Twitter: @Salansar1.