National Intelligence Director James Clapper’s bid to defuse frustration on Capitol Hill over the intelligence community’s performance during the Mideast upheaval appeared to backfire Thursday, when his description of Egypt’s extremist Muslim Brotherhood as a “largely secular” group that has “eschewed violence” sparked outrage.
That characterization by the No. 1 U.S. intelligence official triggered an immediate backlash.
Clapper’s remark was a “head-snapping moment,” said Richard Engel, NBC’s chief foreign correspondent.
“That doesn’t make any sense from my knowledge of the organization,” Engel told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, “and I’ve spent lot of time with them.” He described it as “a complete misreading of the situation here in Egypt.”
Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy, blasted Clapper’s remarks as “a firing offense.”
“I think this is grounds for insisting upon his resignation,” Gaffney told Newsmax in an exclusive interview, “because, if that is the considered opinion of the top intelligence professional in the United States, clearly the United States government is being very badly misinformed about the seemingly eminent takeover of the Egyptian government by what I believe is as dangerous an organization as anyone on the planet.”
Gaffney said he had never heard anyone describe the Muslim Brotherhood as secular. It seeks creation of an Islamic caliphate and worldwide imposition of Sharia law, he said.
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That characterization by the No. 1 U.S. intelligence official triggered an immediate backlash.
Clapper’s remark was a “head-snapping moment,” said Richard Engel, NBC’s chief foreign correspondent.
“That doesn’t make any sense from my knowledge of the organization,” Engel told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, “and I’ve spent lot of time with them.” He described it as “a complete misreading of the situation here in Egypt.”
Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy, blasted Clapper’s remarks as “a firing offense.”
“I think this is grounds for insisting upon his resignation,” Gaffney told Newsmax in an exclusive interview, “because, if that is the considered opinion of the top intelligence professional in the United States, clearly the United States government is being very badly misinformed about the seemingly eminent takeover of the Egyptian government by what I believe is as dangerous an organization as anyone on the planet.”
Gaffney said he had never heard anyone describe the Muslim Brotherhood as secular. It seeks creation of an Islamic caliphate and worldwide imposition of Sharia law, he said.
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