It's no secret that the Obama administration has reversed longstanding American policy and reached out to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Successive elections in the wake of the Arab Spring have gone a long way to legitimizing the Islamist group.
Now word comes from an Egyptian newspaper that restrictions are being eased on Umar Abd-al-Rahman, the so-called "Blind Sheikh" and mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
According to the independent, liberal Al-Yawm as-Sabi (translation courtesy of the Open Source Center), "well-informed U.S. and diplomatic sources" say that "U.S. authorities have eased its tight measures against [Abdel-Rahman] to a great extent. This ease involves treating him in a 'good' way in prison and allowing his doctor to visit him and check on his health condition and he [Abdel-Rahman] has already started to receive close medical attention… Sources link the good treatment the shaykh is currently receiving to the release of the U.S. nationals accused in the [NGOs] foreign funding case, which backs the recently-circulated news about a secret deal between the U.S. administration and the Egyptian government."
Say it ain't so. The Obama administration may praise the Muslim Brotherhood for their "moderating role" as Egypt blackmails America over the detained democracy workers.
But if the price the Muslim Brotherhood extracts is the easing of conditions for an unrepentant mass murderer, then that not only reflects the reality of the Muslim Brotherhood today but also Obama's historical amnesia.