There can be no doubt: the most enduring legacy of the Obama reign (outside of bankrupting America) will be his assistance and sanction of the mass changeover of secular regimes across the world to Islamic supremacist sharia states. Think Iran times ten or even twenty. The sum will be deadlier than the parts.
Islamist parties are on course to dominate Egypt's first post-revolution parliament after taking most votes in early results from the first round of elections.
Egyptian senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood Khairat al-Shater casts his vote Photo: EPABoth the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which is backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, and its rivals agreed that it was leading the count in the first tranche of nine out of Egypt's 27 governorates, including its two most important cities, Cairo and Alexandria.
More unexpected was the apparent success of the FJP's radical rival, Nour, which represents a movement of Salafis inspired by the puritanical political Islam of Saudi Arabia.
Its lack of previous involvement in political campaigning had been viewed as a handicap. But it may have won as much as ten per cent of the vote, according to some estimates, challenging the main liberal coalition for second place.
The result suggests the various Islamist parties could form an overall majority in the parliament.
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But there has been no doubting the triumphant mood of the Muslim Brotherhood's senior figures this week, as they celebrate a moment of electoral victory after 80 years of almost constant repression.
Its rigidly managed and hierarchical structure, which has contributed to apprehension among Arab governments and secular groups, has made it a formidable foe.
It has also made many feel it is more likely to be able to rule competently than its idealistic but often divided and chaotic liberal rivals.
"I believe they will be very organised," said Marwan Hamdy, 28, a businessman who cast two of his three ballots for the party.
There's more.
