Posted on 08/31/2005 7:21:43 AM PDT by DCWatson
Supreme chutzpah. Why might MPAC not be included in top-level anti-terror consultations? See here. How about CAIR? Here. ISNA? Here. But of course Reuters doesn't mention any of this.
"U.S. Muslims feel sidelined in terrorism fight," from Reuters, with thanks to Kemaste:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is neglecting American Muslims in the fight against terrorism, undermining a potentially priceless resource that could be used to root out militants at home, major Muslim groups say.
Community leaders such as Salam al-Marayati, who heads the Muslim Public Affairs Council advocacy group, say that to isolate terrorists political leaders from President George W. Bush on down must embrace the U.S. Muslim mainstream, rather than exclude them from serious debates on security.
"For some reason, it's very difficult to get the high-level officials to come down to the community at this point. I think a decision has to be made: are we going to be partners or are we going to be suspects?" Marayati said.
Act like partners, and you could become partners. Act like suspects, and you will be suspects. Why does MPAC spend more time savaging anti-terror warrior Steve Emerson than it does fighting against jihadism among American Muslims?
Muslim American groups say that only by visibly engaging the community can officials undermine militants' charges that Muslims are left out of American society, and ensure Muslims do not feel alienated and become targets for recruiters. Concern about increased suspicions and alienation of the Muslim American community has grown since the July 7 attacks by home-grown Muslim militants in London in which suicide bombers killed 52 people on underground trains and buses.
"It's the position of just about every Muslim leader in the United States that the way you isolate extremists is to engage the mainstream. Unfortunately we haven't seen much of that occurring in this administration," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Community leaders and some experts say the country's estimated 3 million to 7 million Muslims are best placed to fight domestic extremists because only insiders can hope to challenge their radical ideologies or spot budding militants.
"The jihadist threat in this country will come from within, not from outside," said veteran terrorism expert Dennis Pluchinsky, who retired from the State Department this year and now works for security information firm TranSecur. The Muslim community is "the front line for detection," he said.
OUTREACH UNDERWAY
Muslim groups would like to play a greater role in policy discussions for the war on terrorism declared by Bush, have more visible government endorsement of the community's anti-terrorism efforts and see more senior officials attending Muslim American events, conferences and community meetings.
The Islamic Society of North America has called on Bush to attend its September 2-6 convention -- the largest annual gathering of Muslim Americans. The administration's public diplomacy chief, Karen Hughes, is attending the opening session instead.
U.S. officials agree they must do more to involve Muslim Americans in the fight against terrorism. But they say the administration is already actively cooperating with Muslim groups and say they enjoy greater access to the government than ever before.
Why must these groups always place responsibility on everyone but themselves? Why don't they take more initiative in active anti-terror efforts, instead of complaining about profiling and then in turn complaining that the White House is leaving them out of the loop? Why don't they come clean about the questionable matters regarding their organizations, as detailed in the links above?
The Trojan Horse brigades
They should not be given the time of day..
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) threatened Michael Graham with beheading, did they not? And CAIR wants to combat "extremism"?
The best way CAIR can fight extremism and terrorism is by ceasing to exist
Thanks for posting this DC
These groups should not be excluded from the struggle, they should be a target of it.
I find this sentence just a bit suspicious. Act like partners and you COULD become a partner? Not WILL become a partner. They are just lying through their rotten teeth as usual.
CNS NEWS.com: "ISLAMIC GROUP CALLS FOR USE OF KORAN TO TAKE OATH" by Melanie Hunter (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "An Islamic civil rights and advocacy group is calling on North Carolina judges to allow people to use the Koran when taking an oath, saying the use of the Bible exclusively represents "an inappropriate state endorsement of religion." The request by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) comes after Guilford County judges said they would not allow use of Korans in their courtrooms.") (June 21, 2005)
CNS NEWS.com: "FREE KORANS FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE" by Susan Jones (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Over the weekend, CAIR held a conference in the Washington area on the causes and remedies of "Islamophobia and anti-Americanism."") (May 17, 2005)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.