F.B.I. Tells Offices to Count Local Muslims and Mosques

New York Times ^ | 1/28/03 | ERIC LICHTBLAU

[kattracks]

ASHINGTON, Jan. 27 — The F.B.I. is ordering field supervisors to count the number of mosques and Muslims in their areas as part of the antiterrorism effort.

Civil rights advocates and Arab-American leaders denounced the survey as a form of racial profiling. Bureau officials said, however, that the results would not be used to establish quotas for investigations.

"Any suggestion that the number of mosques in a field division is being used to set investigative goals for that division is wrong," an assistant director of the bureau, Cassandra Chandler, said in a statement. "The survey, a small part of the F.B.I.'s much larger re-engineering effort, looked at a wide range of demographic and other measures, focused primarily on vulnerabilities, and mosques in the past have been targeted for violence."

Ms. Chandler declined to elaborate on the statement. Bureau officials would not say what other information field supervisors were directed to provide in an internal six-page questionnaire issued this month. The officials also would not say how the results would be used. The survey was first reported in Newsweek.

Ms. Chandler's explanation differs markedly from the description of the program that a senior bureau official gave Congressional staff members last week in a closed briefing. The official, Wilson Lowery Jr., executive assistant director of the bureau, told the briefing that the bureau was collecting information on mosques and Muslims in the 56 field offices, according to a senior Congressional aide familiar with the presentation.

Mr. Lowery told Congressional officials that the information would be used to help establish a yardstick for the number of terrorism investigations and intelligence warrants that a field office could reasonably be expected to produce, the Congressional aide said.

"If the numbers don't compute," the aide said, "that will trigger an automatic inspection from headquarters to figure out why they aren't living up to that."

Some officials here have been frustrated by what they see as the failure of some field offices to respond aggressively enough in chasing terrorism leads, and the information would give them a firmer means to gauge progress, the aide said.

Congressional officials were bothered because the survey would apparently lump all mosques in one category without distinguishing mosques that have reported extremist ties, the aide said.

"We need to ask a lot more questions before we know whether we're really bothered," the aide said. "On its face, it certainly sounds like the F.B.I. is pressuring agents to use a profile. It's beyond eyebrow-raising. It seems like a bloody waste of law enforcement resources, and it's pure profiling in its worst form."

Civil rights advocates and Arab-American groups called on the bureau today to revoke its directive.

"This is obviously an indication to F.B.I. field agents that they have to view every mosque and every Muslim as a potential terrorist," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group here.

Mr. Hooper said the F.B.I. should determine its investigative priorities based on criminal standards of probable cause, not on the number of mosques or Muslims in a particular area.

"This is really imposing a sense of siege on the Arab-American community," he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union said the survey was "tailor-made for a witch hunt" in encouraging agents to focus on mosques and Muslims. The A.C.L.U. compared the order to the ethnic census information collected in World War II, a precursor to the internment of Japanese-Americans.

Arab-American leaders estimate that the country has 2,000 mosques.

The Justice Department has made it easier for F.B.I. agents to visit mosques and other places of worship since the Sept. 11 attacks to follow investigative leads.

The bureau sought voluntary interviews last year with 5,000 Arab-Americans in its antiterrorism effort, and agents are focusing on several thousand Iraqis in the United States in voluntary interviews and secret surveillance as Washington moves toward a possible war with Iraq.

[doug from upland]

Count 'em. Keep track of 'em. Film 'em. If they are not citizens, deport 'em.

[Mo1]

The American Civil Liberties Union said the survey was "tailor-made for a witch hunt" in encouraging agents to focus on mosques and Muslims. The A.C.L.U. compared the order to the ethnic census information collected in World War II, a precursor to the internment of Japanese-Americans

Sounds like the ACLU will be real busy in the coming weeks and months filing complaints

[Terridan]

Oh yeah, its racial profiling! Profile on, cuz look what was found in London, Spain, and France! That's all we need, to ignore mosques... nothing to hide? Then cooperate.
This is a wealthy nation, and religious leaders are tax exempt, and in order to stay that way, let's open them up to make sure the wealth of the mosques' aren't funding our enemies! Great move, FBI.

[SerfsUp]

Civil rights advocates and Arab-American leaders denounced the survey as a form of racial profiling.

Darn right! They should be out there counting dairy farms, because you never know when a vindictive cow could turn terrorist.

[Cindy]

ISLAMICITY.com - MOSQUE LOCATOR
http://islamicity.com/orgs/

[Brad’s Gramma]

Aha! Thanks for posting.....I was going to ask you if you'd post that link from a few days ago, where you could find the Mosque-In-YOUR-area! Your very own wittle mosque.

Thanks, Doug......oh and ya done GREAT on Sean's show, today, too.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

a vindictive cow

But enough about Hillary.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Whoops.

Thanks, Cindy.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Seems like a lot of trees being cut down, too, for all that paperwork!

[SerfsUp]

Not surprising that the Times has come out hard against counting. I expect a crackdown on arithmetic to follow shortly.

[Mo1]

I guess the greenies will have to file a complain against the ACLU??

[Freedom2specul8]

In the meantime....

[Brad’s Gramma]

*sigh*

All those dead trees. Makes me want to CRY!!!!!!!!!

[Mo1]

[Brad’s Gramma]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That pooooooooooor man.

Wait. That poor TREE! YECH!

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Count 'em. Keep track of 'em. Film 'em. If they are not citizens, deport 'em.

If they're involved with terrorism, blow 'em off of the face of the Earth.

[Mr. Mojo]

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Caught him practicing for "the big kiss" with Tipper Campaign 2000.

[SAJ]

Chortle!!