More from @NPR #Islamophilia

Here is a follow-up to the post Non-answer from NPR Ombudsman #Islamophilia:

'via Blog this'

Thank you for contacting NPR.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective regarding guest Hussam Ayloush of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Guest commentators are not NPR employees, and the views they express are their own.

As a news organization, we strive to examine the varying points of view that reflect and inform the national conversation about important issues. That is also why we encourage you to consider our coverage comprehensively. We, of course, do not expect listeners to agree with every perspective voiced by a guest. However, we do hope that you find the conversation is of value.

Thank you again for your feedback.

Jarrod
NPR Audience & Community Relations

Even worse than NPR is PRI's The World, which is broadcast weekdays at 8 pm on WAMU 88.5.  It was so Islamophilic that I quit listening to it.  I re-captured an hour of my life each weekday!

Non-answer from NPR Ombudsman #Islamophilia

Here is a letter of complaint that I sent to the PBS Ombudsman:

This message concerns the segment Questions Surround Actions Of Calif. Mass Shooting Suspects http://www.npr.org/2015/12/03/458276442/investagors-want-to-know-more-about-2-suspects-backgrounds that broadcast this morning [December 3, 2015], in which Steve Inskeep talked to Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Los Angeles.

Please stop using CAIR as a reliable source. At least 5 CAIR officials have been jailed for supporting terror. CAIR was identified as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land terror-financing trial. The United Arab Emirates has designated CAIR as a terrorist organization.

It astounds me that media accepts CAIR's description of itself as a civil rights group when the truth about CAIR can easily be found on the Internet. Is it laziness, or is it time pressures that prevent journalists from further investigation?

Here's the non-answer that the NPR Ombudsman gave:

Dear ------,

Thank you for contacting my office. CAIR has been investigated in the past and the Dept. of Justice decided against prosecuting the group or its leaders.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Jensen
Ombudsman

UPDATE Legal jihad

From IndyStar.com: The ACLU has filed a lawsuit challenging limits on group prayer on behalf of Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer, whom we’ve discussed on Northern Virginiastan, and another inmate, Enaam Arnaout. Both Royer and Arnaout are inmates at the Federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. They are being held in the Communications Management Unit (CMU), which seeks to monitor inmates’ outside contacts. Thirty of 40 inmates – that’s right, 75% - in the CMU are Muslims.


Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer has had contact with blogger Umar Lee since incarceration.

“The ACLU contends that [restricting group prayer] violates a federal law barring the government from restricting religious activities without showing a compelling need.”

The Federal government has it right this time: there is a “compelling need” to restrict religious activities, in this case, group prayer, as it would be a means of the prisoners to conspire among themselves.

Royer, a former communications specialist for CAIR, was part of the Virginia paintball gang. The mainstream media (MSM) portrayed the Virginia paintball gang as just a bunch of guys engaged in fun and games. The truth is more damning.

Counts 2-5 of the indictment against Royer and his comrades state that Royer and others had commenced an expedition against a friendly nation, namely India. Some Americans might consider these charges to be dubious: how do these charges impact the U.S.? Royer was recruiting for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group. LeT was behind the brazen terrorist attack last November in Mumbai, India, in which Americans were targeted and murdered.

UPDATE: Anti-terrorism activist Debra Burlingame, sister of pilot Charles F. “Chic” Burlingame III, whose jet was crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, has an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal about conducting jihad from prison (hat tip: Atlas Shrugs). While Ms. Burlingame's article focuses on the lifting of security measures imposed on Richard Reid, the notorious "Shoe Bomber," she cites the case of Royer and Enaam Arnaout towards the end of the article.

Did ISA grad plan to execute 9/11-style attack?

Too important to be confined to Digg:


Raed Abdul-Rahman Alsaif

Ryan Mauro notes in his article Foiling the Next 9/11 and Not Even Knowing It for Pajamas Media that on June 4, the same day ISA alum Raed Abdul-Rahman Alsaif was arrested for concealing a knife:

... two other individuals, Roshid Milledge and Damien Young, were arrested in Philadelphia after sneaking a handgun onto a flight. The airline? U.S. Airways. The destination? Phoenix. The departing time? About 35 minutes from the flight Alsaif attempted to board, using the same airliner and with the same destination.

While the FBI initially denied any connection between the events, it later retracted and said that they were looking into connections.

But then, this is the same FBI that collaborated with CAIR for outreach to the Muslim community. The FBI broke ties with CAIR, only to replace CAIR with the equally suspect Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

FOX 5 legitimizes CAIR yet again

FOX 5 apparently doesn't know that CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial or that several CAIR officers have been convicted of crimes related to terrorism.

In a discussion of the Pope's visit to the Holy Land earlier this week on FOX 5 Morning News, Nihad Awad represented the Muslim point of view on a panel that included Jewish and Christian clergy.

In my previous article, I cited the problems of contacting FOX 5 via its comment line or Contact Us webform. Perhaps users can submit their objection via Twitter or Facebook.

Nihad Awad Joins The Blogosphere

I haven't checked yet to see whether or not comments are moderated.

The "credentials" for Nihad Awad:

Nihad Awad is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest non-profit Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

Check out his first post of April 24, 2009. The post is a lengthy bio.

Awad's blog is called Nihad Awad Bio, although the title doesn't appear at the top; I discovered the title via a Google alert for CAIR. Instead of a title appearing at the top, he has his photo.

In his most recent post, Awad crows about the Pope's respect for Islam. I note that Awad didn't bother citing this article, the last two paragraphs of which state:

[The Pope's] overtures on this trip have not pleased all Muslims.

Sheikh Hamza Mansour, a leading Islamist scholar and politician, told Reuters the pope had "not sent any message to Muslims that expresses his respect for Islam or its religious symbols starting with the Prophet."

I tried to find the Reuters article with those words, but had no luck. Perhaps I missed it? Surely, surely, it hasn't disappeared from the Reuters web site. That could never happen, right?

In his very first post at his blog, Awad also reminds readers of the following:

Awad is a signatory, along with 137 other Muslim leaders and scholars, to an open letter titled "A Common Word Between Us and You," which was sent to Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and more than 20 other Christian leaders in 2007.

The open letter was designed to promote understanding between Muslims and Christians worldwide.

I believe that counter-jihadists have parsed that letter for taqiyya.

Fox 5 Morning News legitimizes CAIR

As an American, I am ashamed of the way that President Obama has pandered to Europe and the Middle East by talking down the U.S.

This morning, Fox 5 Morning News interviewed Nihad Awad of CAIR about Obama's outreach efforts to the Muslim World:



For readers of this blog, I needn't expand about CAIR. I wanted to send a message to Fox 5 about CAIR and its ties to terrorism, but it is not recording messages on its comment line or sending what I have written on its Contact Us web form.

The cozy relationship between CAIR and Fairfax County police

Other salient points from the Pajamas Media article (found through Jihad Watch) about how CAIR is using strong-arm tactics against Fairfax County police, despite the cozy relationship between CAIR and the Fairfax County police.

Some of the incidents have already been covered on the Northern Virginiastan blog, such as the case of Sergeant Weiss Rasool and the participation of chief of police Col. David Rohrer and County Board of Supervisors chairman Gerry Connelly at a 2005 community forum, in which they intimated that Fairfax County police would not follow Federal immigration laws. Shockingly, Sgt. Rasool is still a member of the Fairfax County police force.

One thing that this blog did not report on was that Col. Rohrer spoke at the November 2006 CAIR fundraising dinner.

The Strange Case Of Dr. Mustafa Ahmed Abbasi

Patrick Poole of Pajamas Media asks this question: "Are Muslim Defendants Getting Special Treatment in Court?" Excerpt:

An otherwise unremarkable hearing in the Fairfax County, Virginia, general district court last Thursday marked an ominous trend with respect to the cherished American judicial principles of the rule of law and equality before the law. The hearing on four misdemeanor charges against Dr. Mustafa Ahmed Abbasi featured all of the usual players — judge, bailiff, clerks, prosecutors, police officers, criminal attorneys, and defendant — but with one notable addition to the judicial drama, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

CAIR’s intervention in the Abbasi case is a manifestation of a larger campaign against law enforcement to use political alliances and legal threats to intimidate police in cases involving Muslim defendants and to establish separate and preferable treatment for Muslims in the American legal system....

I know. So what else is new?

Nevertheless, read the Patricke Poole's entire article HERE. Is CAIR harassing the Fairfax County Police Department?

CAIR Loses Status?

According to this February 18, 2008 update from the United American Committee, CAIR, whose shady connections have been well exposed by Andrew Whitehead of the web site Anti-CAIR (among others), CAIR may have come down a peg or two (emphases mine):

A major victory in the fight against Jihad has apparently occurred. Somewhere in the dead of night, without any known announcement from the organization, the highly controversial Washington DC based group CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations has apparently lost the tax status which enabled it to conduct lobbying activities. The organization was registered for many years under the IRS tax code 501c(4) which allowed the organization to conduct lobbying activities, campaign funding, legislation and candidate backing, and many other government and litigation related activities. A 501c(4) tax status is very difficult to maintain, requiring quarterly public filings, and is very regulated under strict lobbying laws, yet is the most powerful tax status for organizations wishing to influence government. CAIR, who was under this status, had numerous members of their leadership indicted on terrorism related charges in the past, and had received large amounts of funding from questionable foreign sources. Many critics of the group often wondered how CAIR was able to hold on to such a highly critiqued tax status such as 501c(4). In contrast there is another tax status which is much weaker, and one that is very easy for most anyone to receive, and that status is 501c(3), a status which U.S. tax laws prohibit such organizations from engaging in large amounts of lobbying and government influence activities, it is a status for educational groups and churches, which is greatly restricted in the ability to influence any kind of legislation. CAIR has recently downgraded the description of their organization on their website to 501c(3). While calls to their office could not confirm the reasons, it appears that CAIR may have lost the status as of the first of this year.

Note, the current organization description on CAIR's website reads:
"CAIR is a not-for-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under U.S. Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3)."

While internet archives of the site as of June 2007 read as follows:
"The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a nonprofit 501(c)(4), grassroots civil rights and advocacy group."

Chalk one up for the good guys.

Could there be a connection with CAIR's recent tussle with Michael Savage?

Or is CAIR backing off because the organization dare not open financial records to the light of day as was the case in CAIR's law suit against Andrew Whitehead of Anti-CAIR?

Audio, about ten minutes in length and worth your time:




Read more details about CAIR's unsuccessful law suit against Anti-CAIR, a site which contains the same information it has always provided.

Let's see if CAIR publishes any kind of response to the above update from the United American Committee. Of course, CAIR may do what the organization does best — stonewall or spin the story.

CAIR's Threat

I'm in a hurry to get ready to leave for work, so I have time only to post this link. Read the story for yourself.

John Does Still Under Threat Of Law Suit

While this posting isn't directly related to Islamic going-ons here in Northern Virginiastan, the implications could directly affect each one of us anti-dhimmis who report suspicious actions.

Via this posting at Little Green Footballs:

I’m informed by a reliable source that the Associated Press report we linked earlier today, that said CAIR and the flying imams had dropped their suits against anonymous passengers who reported the imams’ suspicious behavior, is not correct. Apparently the Associated Press got this wrong.

Repeat: CAIR has not dropped the “John Doe” lawsuits. They are still named.

Meanwhile, CAIR is trying to intimidate Young Americans for Freedom, where Robert Spencer is scheduled to speak today. According to this posting at The Center for Vigilant Freedom:

...[A]t no point does CAIR do what a responsible organization involved in an argument of political ideas would do, which is offer to take the stage with Spencer and debate his interpretation of Islamic theology....

Instead, CAIR rattles their sabres of legal jihad and makes demands. See this copy of the letter which the CAIR lawyer sent to Young Americans for Freedom.

How about this? We DEMAND that CAIR open their financial records--the real ones.

CAIR Objects To SANE

SANE stands for the Society of Americans for National Existence.

Follow-up to The Gathering Storm Radio Show of June 15 (Please ignore my techie kerfluffles during the first several minutes), when WC and I interviewed David Yerushalmi of SANE: CAIR is whining about The Mapping Shari'a in America Project.

I can't say what needs to be said any better than WC has in this posting. Excerpt:

In a response to an Insight Magazine article on a new project by the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) called Mapping Shari’a in America, CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations and "unindicted co-conspirator" in a plot to fund the terrorist group Hamas) called SANE a ‘hate group” and accused them of advocating "adherence to Islam" be punishable by 20 years in prison.

If you read the Insight article you will see that nothing is further from the truth....

Read the rest.

The Decline Of CAIR?

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

From this article in the June 12, 2007 Washington Times:

Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to tax documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The number of reported members spiraled down from more than 29,000 in 2000 to fewer than 1,700 in 2006. As a result, the Muslim rights group's annual income from dues dropped from $732,765 in 2000, when yearly dues cost $25, to $58,750 last year, when the group charged $35.

The organization instead is relying on about two dozen donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year.

[...]

CAIR listed contributors in its Form 990 filings with the Internal Revenue Service, but the IRS redacted all the names before releasing the documents.

In 2001, 26 contributors gave more than $1.6 million; in 2002, 26 gave more than $2.6 million; in 2003, 24 gave more than $2 million; in 2004, 20 gave more than $1.4 million; in 2005, 19 contributed $1.3 million.

One has to wonder who those deep-pocketed donors are and if those donors have anything to do with the following:

In 2004, a federal grand jury returned a 42-count indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and seven officers for raising money for Hamas, money laundering and falsifying tax returns. The Holy Land trial begins July 16 in Dallas, and CAIR is listed among 300 new co-conspirators filed May 29 [2007] in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

According to the government's trial brief, filed May 29, CAIR is an entity "who are, and or were, members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organization."

Mousa Abu Marzook, a former CAIR official, "has been since 1995, a specially designated terrorist and Hamas leader," the brief said.

Predictably, CAIR is complaining:

Mr. Ahmed called the Justice Department's brief "a McCarthyite political move that allows the government to smear major American Muslim groups, including hundreds of mosques representing hundreds of thousands of ordinary Muslims nationwide, without any evidence being offered in a court of law and without legal recourse for those defamed."

"It is unfortunate that the Justice Department apparently violated its own guidelines, which indicate that such lists are to remain sealed to prevent unfair and un-American labeling of those who are not facing any criminal charges," Mr. Ahmed said.

Apparently, CAIR represents few American Muslims, despite the organization's being quite prominent on news interviews and as advocates for Muslim rights in certain cases (i.e., that of the six praying imams). The above-cited article also contains information indicating that CAIR is full of taqiyya, although the Washington Times doesn't use the term:

CAIR constantly notes in its press releases that it cooperates with federal law-enforcement activities and claims to conduct sensitivity training for Homeland Security officials. A February press release from CAIR's Chicago office says it met with Homeland Security immigration officials and made an agreement to "conduct sensitivity training to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers and possibly prison personnel."

Homeland Security officials deny such claims and a check of the Office of Management and Budget Watch database of government contracts since 2000 shows CAIR has never been awarded a grant or a government contract.
"The department does not have a formalized relationship with that particular organization," said one Homeland Security official speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Might a not-formalized relationship be an informal one? After all, government officials and representatives from federal law-enforcement sometimes attend CAIR banquets and other events at which CAIR provides sensitivity training. Also, consider this, from May 7, 2007, as listed on CAIR's web site:

CAIR-CT TRAINS FBI AGENTS ON ISLAM

(NEW LONDON, CT, 5/7/07) - Representatives of the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CT) recently offered diversity and sensitivity training on Islam and Muslims to officials at the New Haven office of the FBI.

The hour-long training included information on basic Islamic beliefs and practices.

The above is just one example. Here are some more, with links for CAIR chapter involvements (According to CAIR a partial listing including Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Arizona, California, Kentucky, St. Louis, and San Antonio) and the following bulleted list:

• Recently received a letter from the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement highlighting the positive working relationship between the department and CAIR-FL
• Conducted sensitivity trainings for the FBI in Orlando and Jacksonville
• Held a joint press conference with the FBI and several other law enforcement agencies seeking information on a person wanted for questioning
• Participated in an 8-week Police Community Relations Leadership Program with the Miami Dade Police Department
• In collaboration with the FBI, FDLE, BSO and several other law enforcement agencies, coordinated a forum with state Islamic leaders
• Participated in several town hall meetings with FBI, FDLE, and U.S. Attorney's office discussing the issues of security and liberty

Uncontracted relationships, I suppose. Then, again, the information comes from CAIR's web site, which isn't exactly the epitome of veracity.

CAIR Membership Down

Excerpt from a little tidbit in the June 11, 2007 Washington Times:

Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

[...]

The organization...is relying on about two dozen individual donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year.

Tomorrow the Washington Times is supposed to release additional details.

[Hat-tip to Raven]

CAIR Named As "Unindicted Co-Conspirator"

From this source, on June 4, 2007:

Federal prosecutors have named three prominent Islamic organizations in America as participants in an alleged criminal conspiracy to support a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.

Prosecutors applied the label of "unindicted co-conspirator" to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust in connection with a trial planned in Texas next month for five officials of a defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

While the foundation was charged in the case, which was filed in 2004, none of the other groups was. However, the co-conspirator designation could be a blow to the credibility of the national Islamic organizations, which often work hand-in-hand with government officials engaged in outreach to the Muslim community.

A court filing by the government last week listed the three prominent groups among about 300 individuals or entities named as co-conspirators. The document gave scant details, but prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of "the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government listed the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust as "entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood."

[...]

Spokesmen for CAIR did not respond to messages seeking comment yesterday. Efforts to contact the North American Islamic Trust were unsuccessful.

The identification of the alleged co-conspirators could aid prosecutors when the Holy Land Foundation and five of its officials, Shukri Abu-Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader, and Abdulraham Odeh, go to trial on July 16 in Dallas. Statements by and about co-conspirators are exempt from rules barring hearsay.

[...]

CAIR, in particular, has faced persistent claims that it is soft on terrorism. Critics note that several former CAIR officials have been convicted or deported after being charged with fraud, embargo violations, or aiding terrorist training. Spokesmen for the group have also raised eyebrows for offering generic denunciations of terrorism but refusing to condemn by name specific Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah.

In addition, one of the Holy Land Foundation defendants, Ghassan Elashi, founded CAIR's Texas chapter. CAIR's Washington office was also set up in 1994 with $5,000 in seed money from the foundation, according to congressional testimony by a researcher into Islamic extremism, Steven Emerson.

Last year, Senator Boxer of California, a Democrat, withdrew an award she gave to an official at a local CAIR chapter. She said she had concerns about statements by some CAIR officials and about claims of financial links to terrorism....

Read the entire article.

[ Hat-tip to Raven, who emailed me the above information]

Ibrahim Hooper's Spinning Of The Survey

Check out Mr. Hooper's excuses:



I'll say one thing for Mr. Hooper: he's steadfast in his inanity.

But it was refreshing to see some anti-dhimmitude from the interviewer!

Low-Tech Terrorism

Citing the low-level methods and apparent bumbling of the Fort Dix Six, the media have disparaged last week's arrest of the aspiring terrorists in New Jersey.

To all those who might think that low-tech terrorist attacks cannot be of significance, I offer the following editorial, which appeared two days before the story broke.

Complete article, as it appeared in the May 6, 2007 edition of the Washington Post, emphases mine:

The Rise of Low-Tech Terrorism
The movies were an affront to God, encouraging vice and Western-style decadence. So in August 1978, four Shiite revolutionaries locked the doors of the Cinema Rex in the Iranian city of Abadan and set the theater on fire. The firefighters were late, and nearby hydrants did not work. The victims' shrieks could be heard while firefighters and police stood outside, watching helplessly. At least 377 people -- perhaps many more -- were burned alive.

Never heard of the Cinema Rex fire? You're not alone. But the tragedy is more than an obscure, grisly memory from the run-up to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. It's also the second-deadliest terrorist attack in modern history -- deadlier even than airline bombings such as Pan Am Flight 103 -- and one that offers many lessons about the changing threat of terrorism today.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, most Americans have worried about what terrorism experts call "spectaculars": massive, ingenious and above all theatrical extravaganzas such as al-Qaeda's attack on the twin towers, its simultaneous 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and its brazen 2000 suicide-boat assault on the USS Cole in Yemen. But perhaps we should be more worried about the Cinema Rex attack.

Although Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants still dream of spectaculars, a quick glance at the terrorist acts committed since 9/11 suggests that perpetrators are going low-tech, too. As the survivors of attacks in London, Madrid and the Russian town of Beslan will confirm, such tried-and-true terrorism methods as low-tech bombs, hostage-taking and arson have tremendous appeal to jihadists. Indeed, the State Department's annual survey on terrorism, released last week, notes that "in 2006 most attacks were perpetrated by terrorists applying conventional fighting methods that included using bombs and weapons, such as small arms."

While the United States and other countries have devoted lots of attention to bracing themselves for the big one, we've spent far too little time considering what we can learn from more mundane -- and more repeatable -- terrorist attacks that can inflict mass casualties.

A look at the various suspects arrested in recent years for crimes linked to radical Islamic terrorism in the United States suggests that the immediate threat we face is angry amateurs, not poised, professional killers such as Mohamed Atta, the leader of al-Qaeda's 9/11 team. Most of those arrested do appear to have meant Americans harm, whether by conducting attacks on their own or by raising money for other would-be killers. But these plots were rarely well-developed, and the operators were at best enthusiastic novices.

Consider the case of one of the few Americans actually convicted of terrorism since 9/11: Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver and naturalized U.S. citizen born in Kashmir who pleaded guilty in 2003, plotted to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge by severing its cables with blowtorches. Scary, sure -- but a completely absurd way to destroy the bridge, whose many cables are more than a foot in diameter.

These homegrown terrorists don't necessarily share the zeal and anonymity of a seasoned professional such as Atta. Many of those arrested on terrorism charges have a prison record and thus are known to law enforcement officials.

One of the most advanced post-9/11 plots, against the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and U.S. military facilities in the area, involved four former inmates who began their plotting while behind bars. Former prisoners rarely make ideal comrades; many would sell their own mother for a small reward.

But it's a mistake to write off the angry amateurs. They're not terribly skilled, but it doesn't take that much skill to kill dozens of people -- as the shootings at Virginia Tech so tragically demonstrate. Attacks such as the Cinema Rex fire are easily repeated, and they don't take the years of onerous training and planning that spectaculars demand.

So how can we stop low-tech terrorism? Unfortunately, better defenses can solve only part of the problem. We should defend the White House, nuclear plants and other high-profile targets that would tempt terrorists to stage a spectacular. But we can't defend every movie theater, synagogue, local government building or shopping mall without spending hundreds of billions of dollars and turning the United States into an armed camp.

That leaves offense -- at home as well as abroad. The FBI has tried to penetrate cells of would-be terrorists, often opening itself to criticism for spending enormous resources on disrupting what seems to be a bunch of bungling blowhards. The bureau should keep at it. Of course, sometimes a ballyhooed terrorism arrest will look foolish when the media reveal the plotters' amateurish plans and backgrounds. But aggressive law enforcement can help prevent these amateurs from becoming something more deadly.

Perhaps the best way to fight low-tech terrorists is through community support. For instance, the FBI began to focus on the "Lackawanna Six," who pleaded guilty in 2003 to providing material support to al-Qaeda, after receiving an anonymous letter from a member of the Yemeni community in Lackawanna, N.Y., near Buffalo. But to get these sorts of tips, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans need to see the police as protectors, not persecutors.

In this respect, Europe provides a cautionary tale. Governments there, particularly France's, have spent more time trying to shake down their Muslim communities for intelligence than they've spent reassuring and integrating them. The result? An angry, unassimilated Muslim minority whose fringes produce terrorists while its mainstream often resists police efforts to find them. The U.S. government has a fine line to walk here, too. But when in doubt, we should jettison intrusive measures in favor of those likely to win sustained support from Muslim Americans.

Finally, the government needs to talk coolly and calmly to the American people. Complete protection against arson, shootings and low-level bombings is impossible. Americans will have to accept a certain amount of risk in their daily lives, recognizing that effective government policies can reduce the threat but not eliminate it. Public opinion is the fulcrum of counterterrorism. Terrorists -- high-tech and low-tech alike -- rely on overreaction from a rattled public and government to do their dirty work. We shouldn't indulge them.

About the author of the above:

Daniel L. Byman is director of Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies and a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

Additional information from Google Search about the author of the above.

Information about Brookings Institution.

I'm not sure that Mr. Byman's conclusions as to how to prevent such attacks are correct. But I know that part of the statement from CAIR certainly is inaccurate and promotes dhimmitude. From American Crusader:

CAIR's statement: “Based on the information gathered in this case, it seems clear that a potentially deadly attack has been averted. We applaud the FBI for its efforts and repeat the American Muslim community’s condemnation and repudiation of all those who would plan or carry out acts of terror while falsely claiming their actions have religious justification.”

If they had stopped there, it would have been almost un-CAIR-like, but of course they had to add a little caveat.

CAIR went on to say “refrain from linking this case to the faith of Islam.”

Be sure to read American Crusader's entire posting.

We in the West can soothe ourselves by pointing out that moronic terrorists got nabbed last week in New Jersey. But we're creating a false sense of security if we don't address the ideology behind Islamic terrorism. After all, the Fort Dix Six had a common bond. They didn't just "go postal," nor did they suffer from sudden jihad syndrome. And there are bound to be many more like them.

Perceptions Of Crime

I previously posted on H.R. 1592, now S. 1105. Sure enough, CAIR supports the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, a measure which would expand the federal definition of hate crimes.

In its entirety, the following is a recent CAIR Alert, emphases mine:

(Washington, DC 4/24/2007)-The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on American Muslims and all people of conscience to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (HR 1592).

If passed, the bill would allow the Attorney General to provide federal assistance to local law enforcement to aid investigations of crimes motivated by “…prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin…” of the victim.

In a statement made while introducing the Senate version of the bill, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said: “Our legislation is supported by a broad coalition of over 210 law enforcement, civic, religious and civil rights groups…” and “The absence of effective legislation has undoubtedly resulted in the failure to solve many hate-motivated crimes.

“Victimizing a human being simply because of their race, faith, or other traits is simply unacceptable,” said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor. “America will be a brighter place when such discrimination is a thing of the past.”

Pamela of Atlas Shrugs, whom WC and I interviewed yesterday on The Gathering Storm Radio Show (We had a few technical difficulties at the start of the show, but the sound comes on after a minute or two), has also blogged on the subject of this measure and points out that President Bush has indicated that he will veto the bill if it reaches his desk. Although the President has rarely wielded the veto pen, of late he seems to have discovered its power.

The Democratic Party, too, is discovering the power of the Presidential veto. Today, the Washington Post ran this article on the front page, above the fold. Excerpt:

In the heady opening weeks of the 110th Congress, the Democrats' domestic agenda appeared to be flying through the Capitol: Homeland security upgrades, a higher minimum wage and student loan interest rate cuts all passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

...Not a single priority on the Democrats' agenda has been enacted, and some in the party are growing nervous that the "do nothing" tag they slapped on Republicans last year could come back to haunt them.

The Democratic Party's promises not kept could be a good thing for America. Ah, the wisdom of a checks-and-balances system!

At Dhimmi Watch, Robert Spencer points out the following in "Finnish Police Will Question Blogger Under 'Incitement Against Groups' Law":

It is apparently illegal in Eurabia to speak the truth about the fact that Muslims who wage war in the name of Islam, and oppress women and non-Muslims in the name of Islam, have copious Islamic texts to which they can and do refer to justify their actions -- even though this would be the first step to any authentic Islamic reform.

Read the rest. The interrogation of a particular Finnish blogger is not a hypothetical case! Further information at Gates of Vienna.

Hugh Fitzgerald, also of Dhimmi Watch, has written a thoughtful essay on the folly of thought-crime legislation and states the following:

What they [Muslims] cannot stand is that Infidels should dare to read, dare to quote, dare to write the exact same things, in a spirit not of blind and submissive worship, but in a spirit rather of inquiry into what Muslim texts teach Muslims about Muhammad -- about what he said, and what he did, and what he wished for, and what he counselled Muslims.

Mr. Fitzgerald goes on to discuss the story of Muhammad's marriage to nine-year-old Aisha and concludes his essay with the following:

The Jihad will not be weakened if, all over the Western world, thoughtcrime legislation is permitted to pass. It must not.

Read the rest, in which Mr. Fitzgerald points out that telling the truth about Islam could well constitute a hate crime.

Contact your elected officials in Congress, and voice your objection to The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R.1592 and S.1105).

[Hat-tip to Eleanor of Sixth Column for some of the links-trail above]

CAIR's Embarrassment

According to Vigilant Freedom/910 Group Blog, CAIR is having some trouble getting Muslims to report cases of discrimination and hate crimes. Excerpt from the report at the above link:

It’s all about the numbers in the victimhood bullying game.

And Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, has problems getting the numbers he needs to prove that Muslims are subject to unusual discrimination. This could be a real embarrassment for Awad, because if Muslims are actually doing well in the U.S., maybe they don’t need CAIR. And that could mean all that fine Saudi and UAE money is going to the wrong group. Or maybe that most American Muslims don’t want their kids to be part of the future Muslim Brotherhood Caliphate after all....

Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Awad tell you about his problems with Muslims who just don’t understand how important those discrimination reports are to his career salary mission. We have the audio - Vigilant Freedom Center received a recording from the April 27, 2007 CAIR briefing on the 6 Imams, at the Muslim ADAMS Center in Virginia....

Written report and audio HERE.