Posted on 09/13/2003 5:07:02 AM PDT by veronica
The second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was a bad day for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has been struggling to overcome its reputation as a front group for Islamist terrorists.
Senators at a September 10 terrorism and homeland security hearing ripped into CAIR for its ties to the Hamas suicide bombers.
As if that wasnt bad enough, on the same day CAIRs former community affairs director pled guilty to committing bank and visa fraud while running an Islamic charity that the US calls a front for associates of Osama bin Laden.
CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad canceled his appearance as a witness at the hearing, held by Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security Chairman Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). Awad hid behind a written statement on which the Senators could not cross-examine him.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) assailed CAIR for having intimate connections with Hamas, a group that receives substantial funding from Saudi Arabia and subscribes to Wahhabist teachings, and criticized the group for not showing up. Said Schumer, "I wish they had taken us up on our invitation so they could explain themselves."
Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called CAIR unusual in its extreme rhetoric and its associations with groups that are suspect. He said he hoped that in future terrorism hearings, mainstream groups of Muslim Americans that are fully supportive of our war on terrorism would be invited to testify.
The hearing was the second in a planned series that Senator Kyl has designed to explore how Wahhabi money and direction is building a terrorist infrastructure in the United States. He called for the government and all Americans to improve our ability to connect the dots between terrorists and their supporters and sympathizers.
Reputation?
... and, remember: the Dems/libs all sniveled and squawked over Daniel Pipes soberly warning us of precisely this... :)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 10, 2003
CONTACT:
Matthew Latimer or
Andrew Wilder, (202) 224-4521
Kyl Committee Hears Details on Saudi Funding for Terrorist-linked Groups in the United States
Experts Discuss Saudi Assistance to Wahhabi-backed Groups in U.S. and Abroad
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Nearly two years to the day since the September 11 attacks, U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, today heard testimony from experts on the level of Saudi financial support for terrorist-connected activities in the United States.
To defeat terrorism, we must not only go after the terrorists themselves, but also track, expose, and cut off terrorists access to financial and logistical support, said Kyl. Todays hearing is part of a continuing effort to connect the dots between the horrific attacks of two years ago and those who supported the attackers.
Witnesses testifying today include Simon Henderson, a former journalist and founder of SaudiSrategies, based in the United Kingdom. Henderson, a recognized expert on the Saudi government, will expose the history of Wahhabist activity in the Saudi Kingdom, culminating in its current role in financing terror. He will outline a number of Saudi entities, some run by the government, that are involved in financing terror around the world.
Matt Epstein, a terrorism expert and lawyer specializing in terror finance and Assistant Director with the Investigative Project in Washington, D.C. Mr. Epstein will outline a network of radical American Muslim organizations that have shown sympathy, coordination, and support for terrorist activities. One example he will point to is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Representatives of CAIR were invited to testify, but declined to appear.
Additionally, Matthew Levitt, a Senior Fellow in Terrorism Studies at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former FBI terror analyst, provided written testimony outlining how Wahhabist organizations in the United States have attempted to disrupt Congressional passage of anti-terrorism legislation.
Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security
Membership: (6:5) |
|
Republican Members Jon Kyl, AZ (Chairman) Orrin G. Hatch, UT Arlen Specter, PA Mike DeWine, OH Jeff Sessions, AL Saxby Chambliss, GA |
Democrat Members
Dianne Feinstein, CA (Ranking Democrat) |
SENIOR STAFF Stephen Higgins, Majority Chief Counsel David Hantman , Democratic Chief Counsel
|
|
Majority Office Phone (202) 224-6791 Majority Office Fax (202) 228-0542 |
Democratic Office Phone (202) 224-4933 Democratic Office Fax (202) 224-9516 |
If Schumer is saying this then the gig is up. CAIR is toast.
http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/index.jsp?section=static&page=judhrgs03
From Chuckie. I hadn't heard about this!
Prominent members of the Saudi royal family including Prince Naif, Saudi Arabias Interior Minister and anti-terror czar have set up charities that funnel money to Wahhabi madrassah schools throughout the Middle East and Pakistan, making these areas hotbeds of anti-American sentiment and extremism.Naif is a particularly bad seed. Hes made comments insisting that Zionists were responsible for 9-11 and claimed that Saudis citizens could not have been involved in the attack, even after the Saudi government admitted that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi.
He also oversees the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Al Quds Intifadah, which, like Saddam Hussein, has provided families of terrorists with millions of dollars through specially designated bank accounts. It seems impossible to expect cooperation in the War on Terror from someone who sponsors extremist and hateful religious belief and encourages terrorist actions. After the bombing of the Khobar Towers in 1998 that killed 19 Americans, it was Naif who single-handedly prevented the trial of 13 Saudis indicted for the crime.
Even as I speak, he appears to be up to his old tricks as reports indicate that Saudi officials have for months denied American agents access to a Saudi with knowledge of extensive plans to release poison gas into the New York City subway system.
It boggles my mind that on the eve of the second anniversary of September 11th, we cannot access someone who may have knowledge of a new 9-11 in the making, all because of the intimate relationship Saudi bigwigs have with extremist Wahhabi clerics.
Thats why I wrote to the Saudi Arabian ambassador Prince Bandar in July calling for Naifs dismissal. Sadly, I was rudely dismissed. Earlier this week, I wrote to Secretary Powell asking him to make Naifs removal part of US policy toward Saudi Arabia. I eagerly await the Secretarys response. There are indications that Prince Sultan, the Saudi Defense Minister, may also be involved in activities similar to Naif since he has also set up charities that send money abroad for apparently humanitarian purposes.
Had a flight to catch?
Why does Bush force us towards Schumer's side on this? Why does this Administration, which has an otherwise impeccable record, have such a demented policy towards our Saudi enemy and its vassal entity, the "Palestinian" Authority?
Bush, Powell and Rice are all alone on the Saudis and the "Roadmap". The entire GOP leadership, rank and file and Christian Concervative base opposes it, as does much of the Democrat side. Why is Bush compelled to push for a terrorist bulkhead inside Israel?
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