We received a rebuttal from Alexis Y. Debat to Alyssa Lappen's article "Islam's Useful Idiots", published here two days ago. The rebuttal is presented below, along with Ms. Lappen's response. To whom it may concern:I am disturbed by Ms Lappen's remarks with regards to my presentation at the Muslim Brohterhood event at NYU last week. Her "Islam's Useful Idiots" piece are full of misquotes and distortions of my remarks at the conference.1. I never denied that the MB was religious. How could I? It is a religion—based political movement which essence is more and more political and less and less religious. Never would I, or could I deny that the MB is religious. It is both political and religious. Islam is a broad enough religion to be able to "cherry pick" statements or ideologies for political purposes, which is what the MB does.2. Never did I "admire" the group's pragmatic approach. I am an analyst, and I never mix analysis and...(Read Full Post)