The Cultural Jihad blog has posted an report titled “U.S. Muslim Brotherhood Likely Influenced Senate Defense Bill” that looks at organizations and individuals based in Panama City, Florida and their role in Syrian opposition lobbying efforts in Congress. The report begins:
May 27, 2014 A recent report in the Al-Monitor advised that Syrian opposition lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill were ‘paying off’. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) now, ‘authorizes the Secretary of Defense to provide equipment, training, supplies, and defense services to assist vetted members of the Syrian opposition.’
According to the article:
‘This is a momentous occasion,’ Syrian National Coalition (SNC) adviser Oubai Shahbandar told Al-Monitor. ‘This is the first stop in clearly defining the convergence of American national security interests with strengthening the Free Syrian Army [FSA], which is actively fighting al-Qaeda and actively fighting Iranian-backed international terrorist forces in Syria.’
The details of the aid were not clear at the time the article was written.
The lobbying efforts mentioned come from a variety of Syrian special interest groups with strong U.S. Muslim Brotherhood ties:
National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces – This group includes the Syrian National Coalition. The U.S. lead representative is Najib Ghadbian. Ghadbian has been identified as having U.S. Muslim Brotherhood ties through his membership with the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID) in Washington, DC, and the Syrian American Council (see below).
Read the rest here.
Panama City was an important location in the early history of the US Muslim Brotherhood.
For background on the Syrian National Coalition and Council, go here.
For background on the Syrian Emergency Task Force, go here.