In the 2000s, one of America's legends is the pioneer community organizer, Barack Obama, aka Barry Shariaseed. Barry Shariaseed wanders the Christian communities of the world planting the seeds of Islam in an effort to introduce Muslims into the Christian world. No one ever questioned his Muslim faith as he extended the sharia wherever he traveled. Over the years, his frequent visits to government agencies were looked forward to, and no United Nations door was ever closed to him. To the men of the Muslim Brotherhood he was "The One" they've been waiting for. He was also very religious and mandated the sharia to people along the way. His favorite sound was the Call to Prayer . (Apologies to the story of Johnny Appleseed .)

The innocuous-sounding Explanatory Memorandum explained how the Muslim Brotherhood sought to extend sharia into the United States and Canada. The document outlined "the mission of the Muslim Brother in North America" through a five-phase plan. Specifically, "[t]he process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process'. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." Ikhwan refers to the local or stealthy jihadis of North America and not the Wahhabi religious militia made up of nomadic tribesmen in Saudi Arabia.

Under sharia, civilization jihad – a "pre-violent" form of jihad – is considered an integral, even dominant element of jihad that is at least as obligatory for sharia's adherents as the violent kind. Such tactics are ostensibly "nonviolent" – not because the Muslim Brotherhood eschews violence, but because the Explanatory Memorandum has decided that this strategic phase of battlefield preparation is better accomplished through stealthy means. Hence, civilization jihad can be considered "stealth jihad."

The Ikhwan's strategy for destroying the United States is to get us, specifically our leadership, to do the bidding of the MB for them. The Muslim Brotherhood intends to conduct Civilization Jihad by co-opting our leadership into believing a counterfactual understanding of Islam and the nature of the Muslim Brotherhood (emphasis mine), thereby coercing these leaders to enforce the MB narrative on their subordinates.

Another document referenced from the U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation trial was an undated paper entitled "Phases of the World Underground Movement Plan." It specified the five phases of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in North America. They are described, together with comments about the Ikhwan's progress in realizing each goal.

Phase One: Phase of discreet and secret establishment of leadership. Phase Two: Phase of gradual appearance on the public scene and exercising and utilizing various public activities. Establishing a shadow government (secret) within the Government.

The memory-triggering Podesta email came from former New York solicitor general Preeta D. Bansal, sent to a classmate of then-candidate Obama and a member of the Obama campaign's transition team. What caught my eye was this (emphasis mine): "In the candidates for top jobs, I excluded those with some Arab American background but who are not Muslim (e.g., George Mitchell). Many Lebanese Americans, for example, are Christian. In the last list (of outside boards/commissions), most who are listed appear to be Muslim American, except that a handful (where noted) may be Arab American but of uncertain religion (esp. Christian)." A generous review of the email assessed that the 2007 Obama transition team clearly had planned to hire Muslims over Christians for the top jobs and gave early preferential treatment to Muslims over everyone else.

While the Podesta email may look like "not much" at face value, the emphasis on adherence to the Phases of the World Underground Movement Plan is significant, given other troubling aspects of the Obama administration. A disturbing pattern of implementing Phase One and Two activities emerged after the election of President Obama.

President Obama told NASA administrator Charles Bolden that his highest priority should be "to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering." NASA went on a Muslim hiring spree, as did other government agencies.

With the election of President Obama in November 2008 and his Muslim Outreach initiative, exemplified by his Cairo "A New Beginnings" speech at Al Azhar University, the Obama administration extended a formal welcome to the Muslim Brotherhood. Investor's Business Daily noted a lengthy chronology of events in support of the Muslim Brotherhood, punctuated by the overthrow of the Mubarak regime in Egypt during the Arab Spring of 2011 that swept the Muslim Brotherhood into power. In 2009, the White House invited the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) president to President Obama's inauguration ceremonies, even though the Justice Department just two years earlier had blacklisted the Brotherhood affiliate as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land trial. Obama delivered his Cairo speech, infuriating the Mubarak regime by inviting Muslim Brotherhood leaders to attend. In 2011, the Brotherhood vowed to tear up Egypt's 30-year peace treaty with Israel. Since Mubarak's fall, the M.B. worked to re-establish Cairo's ties with Hamas and Hezb'allah.

Sensitive and top-level government positions have been filled by Muslims with questionable loyalties to the United States. One of the FBI's former top experts on Islam announced that President Obama's pick to head the Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan, converted to Islam years ago. Hillary Clinton's top campaign aide, Huma Abedin, edited a radical Muslim publication that blamed the U.S. for 9/11. Syed Abedin, the father of Huma, outlined his M.B. view of sharia law and how the Western world has turned Muslims "hostile."

Closely associated with sharia doctrine on lying is the concept of taqiyya, which is generally described as lying for the sake of Islam. Taqiyya permits and encourages precautionary dissimulation as a means for hiding true faith in times of persecution or deception when penetrating the enemy camp.

The enemy camp is the United States of America, and we are the targets of a stealthy jihad. The Muslim Brotherhood's Strategic Plan is being implemented. Led by Barry Shariaseed, who has planted the seeds of sharia wherever he goes, the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the U.S. at the highest levels of government. Infiltration will be total with the election of Hillary Clinton and her Muslim Brotherhood proxy, Huma Abedin.

Mark Hewitt is the author of the espionage thrillers Special Access, Shoot Down, and No Need to Know.