CAIR pressuring Secs. Gates, Napolitano to stop training counterterrorists

A vocal and politically powerful Muslim advocacy group is pressuring the Departments of Homeland Security and the Defense to cease using terrorism experts the group deems "anti-Muslim extremists" as trainers for counterterrorism officials.

 

With the help of the Washington Post editors, who support the allegations of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the newspaper stated : "Seeking to learn more about Islam and terrorism, some law enforcement agencies have hired as trainers self-described experts whose extremist views on Islam and terrorism are considered inaccurate and counterproductive by the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies."

However, the Post does not mention that the FBI uses one of the men CAIR labels an extremist, the renowned terrorism expert Robert Spencer.

CAIR also made the same allegations against former CNN reporter Steve Emerson, who founded the Investigative Project on Terrorism, a resource recognized and used by news media organizations, law enforcement agencies, police forces and security organizations. 

CAIR routinely sends its requests in letters to DHS Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, while releasing dozens of press releases condemning the same individuals. Last week, the Washington-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization sent a similar request to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

According to a report from the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland
Security: The Council on American-Islamic Relations and its employees have combined, conspired, and agreed with third parties, including, but not limited to, the Islamic Association for Palestine , the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the Global Relief Foundation, and foreign nationals hostile to the interests of the United States, to provide material support to known terrorist organizations, to advance the Hamas agenda, and to propagate radical Islam.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, and certain of its officers, directors, and employees, have acted in support of, and in furtherance of, this conspiracy, said the Senate report.

Dr. Daniel Pipes, a foremost expert on radical Islam and terrorism cites several criminal cases involving CAIR officials: A senior staff member, Randall Royer a/k/a “Ismail” Royer, pled guilty and was sentenced to twenty years in prison for participating in a network of militant jihadists centered in Northern Virginia.  He admitted to aiding and abetting three persons who sought training in a terrorist camp in Pakistan for the purpose of waging jihad against American troops in Afghanistan.  Royer’s illegal actions occurred while he was employed by CAIR.

CAIR's Director of Public Affairs, Bassem Kafagi was arrested by the US due to his ties with a terror-financing front group.  Khafagi pled guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud, and agreed to be deported to Egypt. Khafagi’s illegal actions occurred while he was employed by CAIR.

Ghassan Elashi, a founder of CAIR Texas chapter and founder of the Holy Land Foundation was arrested by the United States and charged with, making false statements on export declarations, dealing in the property of a designated terrorist organization, conspiracy and money laundering.  Ghassan Elashi committed his crimes while working at CAIR, and was found guilty.

CAIR Board Member Imam Siraj Wahaj, an un-indicted coconspirator in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, has called for replacing the American government with an Islamic caliphate, and warned that America will crumble unless it accepts Islam.

Whenever CAIR is accused of wrongdoing, their spokesmen are quick to tell Americans that its leadership have been guests at President Bush’s White House and that they are regularly consulted by US officials on matters involving homeland security.

The Washington Post also noted that the Center for Security Policy, an extremist right-wing think tank -- headed by Frank Gaffney -- that recently published an inflammatory report targeting American Muslims, has spoken to many law enforcement forums. Truth be told, the Center for Security Policy is neither extremist nor right-wing. It is recognized as a non-partisan think tank and a resource for the news media and counterterrorists.

While CAIR attempts to discredit Gaffney, they avoid acknowledging that he once held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy in the Reagan Administration.

In 2010, Gaffney, along with co-authors such as former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin and former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, Jr., released a book entitled "Shariah: The Threat to America," that angered Islamists throughout the world.

 

"It is important that the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security have access to accurate and balanced information about Islam and Muslims," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

Awad added that a coalition of Muslim, Sikh, Asian-American, and other civil liberties groups recently called on FBI Director Robert Mueller to explain why Robert Spencer, a leader of an anti-Islam hate group, was invited to train state and federal law enforcement officers.

Earlier this year, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) was pressured to cease using a training film CAIR found offensive. CAIR contacted NCIS after receiving a report that a three-day NCIS surveillance detection course at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.