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Is This the End ForEgypt's Muslim Brotherhood?

There are three options for the Muslim Brotherhood to reverse its fortunes.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi shout slogans against the military and the interior ministry as they make the "Rabaa" or "four" gesture, in reference to the police clearing of Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp on August 14, during a protest march towards El-Thadiya presidential palace in Cairo August 30, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh  (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX131HT

About six weeks ago, fresh after President Mohammed Morsi’s ouster and at the height of the pro-Morsi sit-ins at the Rab’ia al-Adawiyya mosque and Ennahda square, I wrote debating where the Brotherhood stood then, what it appeared to be facing, what strategy it seemed to be employing and what were the options at its disposal. Since then, the situation has, well, incredibly and dramatically changed. 

The administration in Cairo has since decided to take a confrontational approach toward the Brotherhood. The two sit-ins have been broken up by the police in a tumultuous day, and the confrontation that day and after has left a death toll in the hundreds and a much larger number of injuries among the pro-Morsi ranks. Morsi remains detained and has reportedly just been referred to the criminal court over charges of incitement of violence. Almost the entire top leadership of the Brotherhood has been apprehended (including the Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie and his deputy Khairat el-Shater) and is being investigated over charges such as the incitement of violence. Many within the second-tier leadership have been apprehended as well, while a sizeable number of supporters were arrested with official reasoning being allegations of connection to violence. The heated, volatile response by the more radical elements on the pro-Morsi side following the dispersal of the sit-ins — which involved more open use of violence as well as the attacks on churches and other reports of sectarian attacks — have made the public perception of the entire camp even more unfavorable and have weakened some nascent sympathies, especially within a hostile media environment.

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