Muslim Brotherhood: Does "a Fact of Life" Mean That Something — That Anything — Has to Be Welcomed and Integrated?

The United States is acknowledging that the hardline Muslim Brotherhood may play a role in Egypt's transition from autocracy if it agrees to a peaceful, democratic process

reports the AP.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley says the U.S. isn't dictating Egypt's shift from President Hosni Mubarak's three decades in power. He says it is up to Egyptians to determine the process, but he called on the Muslim Brotherhood - which is a banned group - to respect democratic processes. …

He acknowledged Wednesday the hardline Islamist movement is "a fact of life in Egypt."

And so? The Mafia is a fact of life in Sicily — as well as in various places in the New York/New Jersey areas… Is that a reason to insist that the Cosa Nostra play a role in Italian and/or in Northeastern politics if it were to renounce violence and agree to a peaceful, democratic process?

Doesn't the term "lip service" ring any bells in the State Department?