Walid Phares, appearing Saturday on Newsmax's "The Count," said that what he called an Obama-era "collaboration" with the Muslim Brotherhood set conditions he says shaped U.S. decision-making around the Benghazi attack.
He described the circumstances as "much bigger than what most people think."
Phares said "the narrative" began "a few years before when President [Barack] Obama went to Cairo," and he added that at "the University of Cairo" the then-president "pledged to the Muslim Brotherhood that there would be a collaboration between his administration and the Brotherhood."
Phares then linked that claim to events in Egypt, saying, "What happened in 2011 and '12 is that the Brotherhood took over in Egypt," and that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "wanted to strengthen their position there to make sure that there will be this collaboration."
Turning to Benghazi, Phares said that when "the event started at the embassy or consulate," Clinton "hesitated." He attributed that to an unnamed source, saying "somebody we don't know who told her that Mursi [Muhammad Mursi Issa al-Ayyat], the president," of Egypt urged her "not to touch or not to engage in that battle."
Phares added that such an intervention, as he described it, would have been seen as "a defeat for the Brotherhood militias," and he argued, "It's much bigger than what most people think."
Reuters contributed to this story.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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