Bolton: Support Egyptian Military if it Wants to Outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood

The United States has been “asleep at the switch” while facing a growing threat from Al Qaeda over the past few years, according to former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton.

“I think it’s clear that not only is Al Qaeda not on the run as the President has told us all last year and even the year before, it’s growing in strength. It looks like a different kind of organization, but all organizations evolve, including this one,” Bolton said on Monday’s Secure Freedom Radio.

While Bolton approves of the US embassy closures in light of increased terrorist chatter, he says it is important to take into account the larger political context of the decision.

“The breadth of these embassy and consulate closures is unprecedented in my memory, and I’ve racked my memory to see if we’ve ever done anything like this and I don’t think we have,” he says. “The conclusion should be not what this particular closure means but what five years of the Obama administration have meant for America’s place in the Middle East and North Africa.”

One of the major failings of Obama’s policy in the region has been his response to the Muslim Brotherhood, according to Bolton.

The Muslim Brotherhood “is not engaging in election campaigns to foster democracy in Egypt, but to gain power which it never intends to relinquish. So when you treat the Brotherhood as just another political party, you’re fundamentally playing their anti-democratic game,” says Bolton. “I think the Obama administration, and many on the Republican side too, just don’t understand that.”

“I would outlaw the Brotherhood, if that’s what the interim government decided to do in Egypt. I think we should support them,” Bolton concludes.