              
|
Emerson Exposes Radical Ties of State Department Outreach PartnersIPT News The State Department has collaborated with many radical Islamist organizations and individuals in its attempts to engage in outreach to the American Muslim community at large, Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) Executive Director Steven Emerson told a congressional panel Thursday. Many of the individuals in charge of these organizations, and the organizations themselves, have been convicted, indicted, or designated as unindicted co-conspirators in terrorism cases throughout the United States. (For detailed examples, see Emerson's complete written testimony here.) Emerson appeared before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade came despite the protests of some of the same Islamist organizations. Emerson urged Congress to review the State Department's interaction with these organizations in its attempts to reach out to the Muslim community. Emerson outlined some of the more troubling aspects of participation with these groups: namely their ties to terrorist entities and promotion of radical Islamic ideology. A number of groups that the State Department has cooperated with have links to entities such as Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hizballah - which are designated as terrorist organizations by the United States government. The groups partnering with the State Department help to support an ideology that focuses on eliminating secular Western powers and promoting their stringent ideas of Sharia law, or law as governed by Islamic text. In his testimony, Emerson argued that the State Department's actions in funding these programs only serves to legitimize fundamentalist voices who wish to promote a strict interpretation of Islam. This approach helps to increase support for terrorist groups and violence, which will help to aggrandize fundamentalist theology worldwide. The focus of the State Department's funding should promote genuinely moderate voices within the Muslim community, rather than reaching out to those who justify violence, support designated terrorist groups, and promote the funding and support of jihadist ideology globally. While the outreach to the Muslim community by the State Department "is an honorable and worthwhile pursuit, the State Department has conducted outreach to the wrong groups, sending a terrible message to moderate Muslims who are thoroughly disenfranchised by the funding, hosting and embracing of radical groups that purport to be opposed to terrorism and extremism," Emerson wrote in his testimony further stressing the idea that the State Department's polices need to be reanalyzed in order to better select which Islamic organizations receive funding in order to promote peace and understanding. Prior to Emerson's testimony, Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) both expressed their concerns over the State Department's funding and support of these organizations to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. They collaborated on a letter in which they urge Secretary Rice to stop funding entities that support radical Islamic ideology. The senators' concerns are that despite these organizations' known connections to radical terrorism entities, the State Department has willingly participated in awarding grants of about $500,000 to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas fundraising trial with a long history of support for Hamas itself, and other radical Islamic organizations for programs that could help to promote or fund future terrorist ideology and violence. In their letter, the senators write that they "are sure you would agree that Americans should not have to fund their enemies in the form of misguided ‘outreach' efforts." These sentiments are exactly in line with the expression of tribulation that Americans should be feeling due to the United States government supported funding of radical Islamist organizations. The evidence that Emerson presented before Congress further justifies the senators' concerns. Hopefully the combined effort of the two senators and Thursday's testimony will motivate Secretary Rice to expound upon the policies regarding which organizations and individuals in the Muslim community the State Department selects to receive grants. Subcommittee Chairman Brad Sherman (D-CA) also was interested in ways to reform State Department outreach funding. He suggested creating a questionnaire for prospective grant recipients. Among the areas it would ask about are past connections to radical groups, whether the applicant condemns terrorist groups such as Hizballah and Hamas and whether their board members ever were connected to the Muslim Brotherhood or other radical groups. Emerson endorsed the idea, saying such a questionnaire could be applied universally. But he cautioned that a written answer may not be truthful: "There has to be an independent due diligence conducted by State Department officials using the public record and if they have classified information -- which many of them have access to -- use that as well; that's the purpose of intelligence collection." Sherman seemed to agree, saying earlier, "I don't think you can cleanse an organization just because they haven't sinned recently; it has to be a renunciation of support for terrorism."
Joining Emerson on the panel was Douglas Farah, a former Washington Post reporter who is senior investigator for the Nine Eleven Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation. He spoke about ways to maximize foreign aid money in the fight against terrorism. Terrorist groups take root in failed nation states, he said, noting that nearly half of the 43 foreign terrorist organizations listed by the State Department are engaged in narcotics trafficking. Terrorism can't be fought without trying to improve conditions in those failed states and thereby cutting off illicit funds that terrorist groups use to operate. He cited the case of international weapons smuggler Victor Bout, arrested in Thailand and awaiting extradition to the United States to face charges he conspired to kill Americans and provide material support to terrorists. U.S. officials properly followed protocols to execute the extradition, but it has been twice delayed, Farah noted. Russian officials are believed to be tempting Thai officials with oil and gas contracts in return for sending Bout there. "We cannot and should not try to match different efforts to bribe or coerce the Thai judiciary. But it should be made amply clear that there will be significant consequences if Mr. Bout is not extradited," Farah said. "And, if possible, enhanced aid, particularly to the Thai police units that capably and willingly helped carry out the arrest, should be considered." Several of the Islamist groups who have benefited from the State Department's short-sighted selection process have become agitated about Emerson's testimony and evidence highlighting their extremist positions and terrorist connections. In the week leading up to his testimony, two Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups, each with a lengthy record of support for terrorist entities such as Hizballah and Hamas, issued press releases, personally attacking Emerson and Rep. Sherman, the subcommittee chairman, in an attempt to block Emerson's testimony. The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) issued two press releases over two days, in which the group "demands" that the Subcommittee include an expert of its liking "or cancel the panel." The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) also issued a press release titled, "Urgent Action Alert: Demand Responsible Testimony in Fight Against Terrorism," also demanding that unless an ISNA-approved "expert" is made to testify, then "the session be canceled." ISNA, a known Muslim Brotherhood front organization, has received grants from the State Department in support of several programs that it runs in partnership with the National Peace Foundation. Furthermore, in a filing in federal court in Dallas last week, ISNA's lawyers conceded the organization's financial support of Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook, through its affiliate organization, the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). MPAC also has connections to and support for terrorist entities. The organization has repeatedly lobbied to remove Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hizballah from the U.S. list of designated terrorist groups, claiming their inclusion is merely based on "political considerations," rather than their long, bloody and violent history of terrorist attacks against civilians. On top of this, MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati has engaged in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, infamously stating on a Los Angeles radio station in the immediate aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks: "If we're going to look at suspects, we should look to the groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list." In response to the protests, Congressman Sherman issued a press release in which he stated, "This hearing will go on. We need to make sure that the State Department is not giving U.S. tax dollars to those on the other side in the war on terrorism." He added "The Muslim Public Affairs Council should apologize for the statements of its executive director on September 11, 2001." MPAC, ISNA and a constellation of other radical groups and individuals have been supported by the State Department. Perhaps Thursday's testimony will signal a turning point, seeing the State Department implement stricter guidelines to avoid past mistakes and embarrassments, which have damaged America's national security. It is encouraging to see someone in Sherman's position take the issue on so fearlessly and directly. "I think one of the greatest fears of people in the United States is somebody may call you a racist...they may call you an Islamophobe," he said in the hearing. "And what we've seen with some of these organizations is their message is clear: ‘Give us money or we'll call you an Islamophobe'...that's what they say to the State Department. What they say to us in Congress is ‘Don't question the fact that we're getting money or we'll call you an Islamophobe.'" Related Items
Reader comments on this itemCAIR=Terrorist Operative Submitted by SFC MAC, Aug 19, 2008 08:41 Let me get this straight. CAIR, a known terrorist front, operates carte blanche within the United States. Several of their members have been convicted for ties to terrorist groups, and many are "unindicted co-conspirators". Unbelievable.
An unobscure comment Submitted by Brian T, Aug 16, 2008 21:09 "The last line of your above quoted testimony statement is obscure, but seems to question my allegiance to my nation and its Constitution." If Mr Emerson was obscure, then let me be perfectly clear. I challenge your allegiance to your nation and its Constitution. CAIR has one goal, and one goal only: The elimination of all impediments to the spread of Islam in the United States so that some day the Constitution shall be replaced with Sharia law. You and CAIR prove that this is your goal by your every action. Your primary allegiance is to the ummah, not to your nation. You and CAIR mock the Constitution with your legal jihad meneuvers. CAIR calling itself a civil rights organization is laughable. Under Corey Saylor's definition of civil rights Hamas and Hezbollah are also merely civil rights organizations.
"Have some more money" Aug 16, 2008 13:16 "What's that , you want to destroy our society because it's corrupt ? Well, that's not your fault, it's ours. Here, have some more money!" Pat Condell........"Appeasing islam"
My response to Corey Saylor Submitted by Steven Emerson, Aug 13, 2008 15:24 Let's be specific about what was said. In my testimony, I cited an April 2006 CAIR press release titled, "CAIR REPS ATTEND RECEPTION FOR MUKHTARAN MAI," which contained the following:
Now Saylor argues that he was not rationalizing violent attacks, yet that is exactly what he and his organization have done for years. In the name of so-called "legitimate Muslim grievances," without defining them clearly, CAIR repeatedly has made statements of ideological support for terrorist groups and their leaders. Saylor writes: "My assertion, which I believe to be fully in America's national security interest, is that, if our nation takes a leading role in guiding the Israelis and Palestinians to finalizing a just and lasting peace, this will deprive Al-Qaeda and other anti-American forces of a tool they use to bring people into their murderous mindset: the allegation that Americans do not care about Palestinian suffering." That's an interesting argument from a CAIR officer. If he meant it, he would demand that his organization denounce Hamas and Hizballah and call on them to cease their terrorist campaigns that make peace even more difficult to attain. Money to Hamas is exactly what bin Laden complained about in that April 2006 audio tape. Hamas took power in Gaza just three weeks earlier after a bloody battle with the Palestinian National Authority. The U.S. and other governments cut off funds to the Hamas government, prompting bin Laden to say ""the opposition to the Hamas government is proof of the crusade against Muslims." Remember, CAIR was founded less than a year after Hamas members and supporters gathered in Philadelphia in 1993 to discuss ways to "derail" the Oslo Peace Accords. Transcripts from that gathering show the group, including CAIR Chairman-Emeritus Omar Ahmad and Executive Director Nihad Awad, opposed the peace deal for two reasons. Following the Hamas charter, they opposed a peaceful, two-state solution to the conflict. And they feared the Accords, by creating a Palestinian National Authority from the secular Fatah movement, would marginalize the Islamists in Hamas. This wasn't about Palestinian suffering. It was a political power play that exploits Palestinian suffering to solicit support for the violence it uses to achieve their aims. The meeting starts with Omar Ahmad announcing that it is a meeting of the Palestine Committee. We know from internal records that the Palestine Committee was a U.S. conglomeration of Muslim Brotherhood groups assembled to benefit Hamas. And we know from an internal Brotherhood memorandum that committee members see their existence in America as "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." (see page 21 of the link) Remember that CAIR has been named an unindicted co-conspirator and a member of the Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Hamas fundraising trial in Dallas against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), and federal prosecutors in two separate jurisdictions have linked the organization to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. In February, Saylor wrote to a federal judge on behalf of Fairfax County, Va. police Sgt. Weiss Rasool. Rasool admitted illegally tapping into law enforcement databases to run license tag numbers for a friend who turned out to be under FBI surveillance as part of a terrorism investigation. But to Saylor, Rasool was someone "eager to promote a substantive relationship between the Fairfax County Police Department and the local Muslim community. His efforts played a significant role in improving trust in a time when mutual misunderstanding could easily severe (sic) all positive ties between these two groups." Just last week, Saylor played word games rather than directly address Hamas and Hizballah terror in an interview on FOX News: Corey Saylor: I'm telling you in a very clear fashion – CAIR condemns terrorist acts, whoever commits them, wherever they commit them, whenever they commit them. David Lee Miller: That's not the same thing as saying you condemn Hamas and you condemn Hizballah. Corey Saylor: Well I recognize that you don't like my answer to the question, but that's the answer to the question. In 2007, on the topic of peace in the Middle East, Saylor said, "If America is to play a credible role in Middle East peacemaking, we must listen to representatives of all sides in the conflict, not just to those who represent the Israeli Apartheid lobby."[1] Sure. If CAIR ever wants to play a credible role in the U.S., it needs to denounce, rather than support and apologize for, terrorist groups like Hamas, Hizballah. CAIR needs to stop receiving funding from donors from Saudi Arabia – an actual, as opposed to an imagined, Apartheid regime. While no country, especially in the Middle East, is perfect, Israel has over 1 million Arab citizens, including Muslims, Christians and Druze. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has no non-Muslim citizens, no churches or synagogues, all religions aside from Islam have been criminalized, women are not allowed to drive or leave the house without a male chaperone, and the government forbids women from even participating on its Olympic team, in gross violation of international treaties and declarations on human rights, as well as the International Olympic Committee rules themselves, which state: "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympics Movement." Saylor, rather than asking for a retraction and an apology, should apologize to the entire country for his work on behalf of a self-proclaimed "civil rights" and "advocacy" group that, in actuality, was founded by Hamas supporters for the express purpose of advancing the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States. [1] "CAIR: Congress Asked to Hear Both Sides of Mideast Conflict", February 12, 2007, http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070212/pl_usnw/cair__congress_asked_to_hear_both_sides_of_mideast_conflict
Request that you correct a serious factual error Submitted by Corey Saylor, Aug 13, 2008 15:23 Mr. Emerson: I am writing to request that you correct a serious factual error in your July 31, 2008, testimony before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. While you are entitled to your opinion, characterizing my statement to Ambassador Hughes as "a rationalization of the violent attacks against the U.S." is a creative leap rivaling the imagination of the greatest authors of fiction. In reality, I concur fully with the August 2005 anti-terror fatwa endorsed by CAIR and many other Muslims groups, which reads in part: "Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram – or forbidden - and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not ‘martyrs...' Further, I concur with an October 4, 2003 CAIR news release that describes a suicide bombing in a Haifa restaurant that killed at least 19 people, including three children as "particularly loathsome." On pg. 25 of your testimony, you assert: "Saylor stated that Bin Laden ‘sought to exploit legitimate Muslim grievances.' [Ambassador Karen] Hughes did not challenge Saylor's rationalization of the violent attacks against the U.S. by referring to the motivations of blood thirsty terrorists as ‘legitimate Muslim grievances.' The only way these Muslim grievances could be considered ‘legitimate' would be if one equated the failure of the U.S. to become a Muslim country as ‘legitimate.'" Callously inserting such patently false allegations into your testimony diminishes the integrity of the record of the U.S. Congress. It is well known that Al-Qaeda and other anti-American forces exploit Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory to further their own twisted and un-Islamic agenda. As recently as June 3, 2008, Secretary of State Rice acknowledged the occupation when speaking to attendees of an American Israel Public Affairs Committee banquet, stating: "…the only responsible policy is to work with decent Palestinians who want and should be able to end the occupation that began in 1967…." It is also well-established that many in the Muslim world perceive America's role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as favoring Israel. My assertion, which I believe to be fully in America's national security interest, is that, if our nation takes a leading role in guiding the Israelis and Palestinians to finalizing a just and lasting peace, this will deprive Al-Qaeda and other anti-American forces of a tool they use to bring people into their murderous mindset: the allegation that Americans do not care about Palestinian suffering. The last line of your above quoted testimony statement is obscure, but seems to question my allegiance to my nation and its Constitution. I refer you to an op-ed I authored for July 4, 2005 in which I wrote: "I and many other Americans are deeply disturbed by events in Iraq, by reports of torture and desecration of the Quran in Guantanamo Bay, by Patriot Act abuses, by the rising tide of anti-Muslim rhetoric in our society, and by domestic and international policies that seem to create more problems than they solve. "But my love for America is not diminished because it is sometimes flawed. I love my nation because, despite its flaws, the majority of its people remain committed to tolerance and respect for one another, whatever their faith or viewpoint. "After the 9/11 attacks, my neighbors could have turned their anger on me as a Muslim. They did not. They came to me and offered both support and their horror that someone would twist my faith in such an evil manner. "But of greatest inspiration to me are the words written in 1998 by a Muslim 10th grader living in California. Following the attack on the USS Cole, he wrote a letter to Osama bin Laden. In that letter he wrote: ‘If you are keen to murder Americans, kill us before you kill non-Muslim Americans. Bomb our mosques and Islamic Centers. We are Americans as much as others.'" Your prompt action in issuing a public retraction and apology on this issue is appreciated. I am BCC'ing appropriate congressional staff to ensure that they are aware of your error. Corey P. Saylor
More Reader Comments
Comment on this item |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
© 2008 The Investigative Project on Terrorism. | Legal Information |
