Posted on 04/04/2003 2:06:15 PM PST by alnitak
This actually comes as quite a surprise: President Bush has nominated Daniel Pipes to the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace. The times they are a-changing.
But this comes as no surprise at all: radical Islamic front group CAIR is blowing a gasket.
An American Muslim advocacy group that Pipes has called "Osama bin Laden's representatives in Washington" quickly denounced the appointment as "insensitive" and called on Bush to rescind it.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) yesterday described Pipes as "the nation's leading Islamophobe" and an advocate for Israeli interests.
Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum, a think tank based in Center City.
The Institute of Peace is a Washington-based federal institution, funded entirely by Congress, whose mandate is to promote "peaceful resolutions of international conflicts."
"Pipes' nomination sends entirely the wrong message as America seeks to convince Muslims worldwide that the war on terrorism and the war against Iraq are not attacks on Islam," CAIR declared in a statement.
CAIR and other Muslim groups say Pipes has made inflammatory assertions about Islam, including his estimate that from 10 to 15 percent of Muslims are militant Islamists.
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for CAIR, said in an interview that he was unfamiliar with the institute "but... it [Pipes' nomination] is bad.
"It says: 'We're really not concerned with your [Muslims'] sensitivities. We don't care that you perceive certain actions of the U.S. government as slights to your faith and tradition.' "
Reached by phone in Washington, where he had been visiting the institute's headquarters, Pipes yesterday said he has "always distinguished between Islam and militant Islam" in his writings and speeches.
"CAIR repeatedly chooses to ignore my assertion that militant Islam is the problem and modern Islam is the solution," he said. Here is a list (hat tip: snopes) of all US Senators. I strongly urge all LGF readers to write to their senators and ask them to support this nomination. This is important.
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