On June 8th I read about a 06/05 banquet hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Ohio chapter’s Columbus office. Noticing that Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) gave some kind of statement – and knowing CAIR’s sketchy history – I emailed CAIR-Ohio and Brown’s office for details. Specifically, I wanted to know whether my senator had attended the event and if I could see a copy of his remarks.

A phone call, several more emails, and three weeks later, a staffer informed me Senator Brown did not attend the event… but made no mention of the statement he provided. Again I replied to request a copy of his remarks. No response. Last Tuesday I sent yet another email, this time linking to the story on CAIR-Ohio’s site and highlighting the portion in question -

CAIR’s contributions to the community were recognized in proclamations from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the Ohio House of Representatives and from representatives of the mayor and City Council of Columbus.

No dice. My assumption? Senator Brown’s remarks supported CAIR’s perpetual misdirection campaign, wherein widespread Muslim support for jihad and sharia law are ignored because “Islamophobia” is a more palatable topic.

Thursday I badgered Sherrod for supporting an event keynoted by a leader from a mosque neck-deep in jihadist associations:

Suddenly, my questions warranted a response… but not via The Twitters. Friday evening I was emailed the following from the general Senator_Brown@brown.senate.gov mailbox; see for yourself whether my concerns about Sherrod’s catering to CAIR-Ohio are misplaced!

Dear Mr. Hart:

Thank you for getting in touch with me about the United States Department of Justice’s handling of certain individuals and groups.

Our nation is at war with terrorism.  Any group or individual who exploits our nation’s freedoms to propagate extremism or support internationally recognized terrorist organizations must be brought to justice.

In 2004, the Justice Department considered and rejected criminal charges against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).  Senior Justice Department officials reportedly decided not to include CAIR and other groups in a case in which Dallas-based prosecutors were preparing to indict the Holy Land Foundation for providing material support to Hamas.

Last year, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division declined prosecution of Omar Ahmad, co-founder of CAIR.  Since that time, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King has requested information from Attorney General Eric Holder about why the Justice Department is not seeking an indictment of CAIR, the North American Islamic Trust, and the Islamic Society of North America.

While I do not sit on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary or the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, I will continue to monitor Representative King’s investigation.  Should this issue come before the full Senate, I will keep your thoughts in mind.

Thank you again for getting in touch with me.

Sincerely,
Sherrod Brown
United States Senator

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

It’s not encouraging when Communist Party USA is the authoritative source for news about your senator. Last month PeoplesWorld.org fawned over an otherwise unreported 06/05 banquet featuring remarks from Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH):

“We’re trying to build understanding about Islam, build understanding within our community, and bring people together.”

CAIR’s contributions to the community were recognized in proclamations from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the Ohio House of Representatives and from representatives of the mayor and City Council of Columbus.

Understandable that no reputable outlets would cover this, right? Senators endorse all kinds of events, and Islam is just another interest group ripe for the pandering. Generally, though, I’d prefer my senators avoid shindigs keynoted by terror apologists:

The speakers for the event were Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, Director of Outreach of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. [...]

Emphasis mine, to highlight the mosque attended by a veritable Who’s Who of Muslim terrorists, including two of the 9/11 bombers and Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Hasan. If Islam in America is such a rich, diverse tapestry, why would a Muslim group in Columbus invite a dishonest PR rep from Dar Al-Hijrah as their headliner? Abdul-Malik seems an odd traveling salesman for interfaith dialogue, given his mosque’s decades-long history of connections to Hamas and other sponsors of terrorism.

Senator Brown’s site includes no news item or press release about the Columbus Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) event; his staff inform me the senator provided a statement but did not attend. Even if CAIR’s national chapter is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas funding trial, it’s no wonder Sherrod likes the cut of CAIR-Ohio’s jib:

Speakers and a video about CAIR’s activities stressed the importance of educating the public about Islam.  Less than two-fifths of Americans are personally acquainted with any Muslim, and right-wing forces cynically exploit this lack of first-hand knowledge about Islam to press their own political agendas.

The Communist Party’s story title (unaltered in the version posted on CAIR-Ohio’s website) reflects this spin on the event: “Banquet speakers see politics behind Islamophobia.” So it turns out we agree! There are politics aplenty behind “Islamophobia,” a word used to silence any critic of Islam or the professional victims at CAIR. Likewise, “Islamophobia” is a handy bludgeon for Progressives like Sherrod Brown, whose careers would be impossible if fewer minorities were convinced of rampant conservative bigotry.

In unrelated news, a recent study of 100 random American mosques found that 81% carried texts advocating violence (above and beyond the violence found in Islam’s scriptures). Reality is unkind to CAIR: the more Americans learn about Islam, the less influence sharia apologists will have!

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics and Columbus Tea Party.

USA Today reported this afternoon that the color-coded Department of Homeland Security terror-alert system implemented after 9/11 will be phased out over the next three months:

The government will not abandon alerts completely. According to the Homeland Security briefing paper, the department may decide to issue specific warnings to local law enforcement agencies, airlines or businesses if it fears there is heightened risk of an attack. Or it could issue broader alerts through public announcements, it says.

Given Secretary Napolitano’s glowing record in charge of DHS, I’m sure the new system will be a big improvement.

Wait- what’s this? A sneak peek at the Department of Homeland Security’s new Homeland Security Advisory System?

Looks like they decided to reduce the number of levels on the chart. Makes sense, given how quickly prominent Progressives tie every random loon to some conservative who irritates them.

Also, it’s important to stay on message without overwhelming voters with the names of too many scary Republican fat-cats — and Congressman Ryan is in need of some good demonizin’!

An old story that tells itself, or would if Western media weren’t so dedicated to portraying Israel as the villain in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

“Let it be understood far and near that after the war, the siege, the internal and external plots: we will not recognise Israel,” he told the cheering crowds.

Who is Agence France-Presse quoting here, some fringe Islamist? An Iranian cleric, or one of Iran’s Hezbollah puppets? Nah, that’s just the senior leader of Hamas, the elected band of murderous lunatics in charge of the Gaza Strip.

Ahead of its anniversary celebrations, Hamas reiterated its aim to recover all of historic Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River.

“We will cede none of it, and we will not recognise the so-called state of Israel,” a statement said on Monday, adding that its aim was to make Jerusalem the “capital of the state of Palestine” and pledging to work against Israel’s “methods of Judaisation” in the Holy City.

In 1949 and 1967, Israel successfully defended herself from her Arab neighbors’ attempts to destroy the Jewish homeland drawn up by the UN after WWII. Refugees in the territory Israel captured have been used as poker chips by their leaders and other Arab leaders for the better part of a century. Responding to international pressure, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. How much goodwill has that resulted in, five years later?

Processing peace

Umm… that’s another Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, in an AP photo from Gaza City last week. Ol’ Mahmoud is celebrating the 23rd Hamasiversary by walking on an Israeli flag which reads “For sure will be destroyed. Israel” in Arabic. So far, the UN strategy of demanding that Israel give up ever more territory is working wonders! One snag: how brainless a diplomat do you have to be to work towards a “two-state solution” when one of those states insists the other cannot exist?

Little details to keep in mind when you hear about how Israel is stalling the Middle East peace process by not bending over far enough to accommodate the losers of a war that ended decades ago.

Lest we forget what we’re up against, here’s Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the dumb SOB who wanted to slaughter thousands of American men, women, and children at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Oregon:

“You know, the streets are packed,” said Mohamud, a tall, thin student at Oregon State University in Corvallis, about 80 miles south of Portland. When one of the men responded that “a lot of children” would attend, according to an FBI affidavit, he replied, “Yeah, I mean that’s what I’m looking for.”

Mohamud shrugged off concerns about security at the event. “They don’t see it as a place where anything will happen…. It’s on the West Coast, it’s in Oregon, and Oregon’s like you know, nobody ever thinks about it,” he explained.

He’s right, and that’s frightening. But think about this for a minute: Mohamed’s a Somalian. He’s not exactly an Oregon State student as the LA Times reports, but has a high school diploma and is a naturalized citizen of one of history’s greatest nations. Somalia blows, thanks in no small part to radical Islam… and Mo wants to celebrate his freedom from that dump by blowing up American civilians.

Thank God for the FBI, but we can’t expect them to catch every jihadist idiot in the early phases of his plotting. Some percentage of these deranged Wile E. Coyote attacks will continue to succeed, and when they do there will be appalling bureaucrats like Janet Napolitano happy to get deeper into our bits and our business. For now, I’m grateful to our troops offering convenient overseas locations where jihadists may die at the hands of The Great Satan. Longer term, we need to drill more of our own oil, find viable alternatives to fossil fuels, or give the Saudis a good swift kick.

Goooo science!

Matt Hurley at Weapons of Mass Discussion is all over the TSA “get scanned or get groped” insanity, and has been hounding Ohio politicians for what (if anything) they plan to do about it.

My position, as I commented on Ricochet:

Since the TSA loves Security Theater, I have a serious proposal: in every boarding area, a sign that in multiple languages reads “Each flight which departs this terminal is safeguarded by no less than one armed plainclothes agent. Attempts at violence will be met with appropriate force.” Factor in screening time saved, and I guarantee guards would be cheaper than these damnable scanners.

Update: See this Ricochet discussion about Israeli airport security. Questioning, bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors – yes to all three. Leave it to Washington bureaucrats to find the intersection of “most intrusive” and “least effective” when Israel has methods that actually work.

News this week of a planned terrorist attack spanning multiple Western nations should make us grateful that President Obama at least takes the Islamist threat seriously enough to authorize Predator strikes (even if he would never refer to it as “the Islamist threat”). As usual, The Long War Journal has the best coverage for this sort of thing.

The Christian Science Monitor also featured a useful summary yesterday, but closed with the repetition of a favorite anti-war meme:

The BBC also quotes former CIA officer Robert Baer as saying the plot may be “a reprisal from the [Taliban-allied] Haqqani network against the United States and Britain for the stepped-up aerial campaign in the tribal areas of Pakistan.” If such were true, it would imply a dangerous cycle where militants are constantly plotting revenge attacks on the West, while the West is constantly plotting attacks on militants to thwart their plans.

If America ceased Predator strikes against known terrorists in Pakistan, would Islamists cease planning terrorist attacks? That might be a serious question to consider – and reason for a more hesitant response to Islamist violence – if the world had been created yesterday.

Given the benefit of history, warnings of a “dangerous cycle” are hardly worth the pixels they occupy. Absent Predator strikes, Islamists would be “constantly plotting revenge” for:

• The Crusades
• The unspeakable hate crime of being Jewish
• The imprisonment of fellow Islamists (or, being Jewish)
• Cartoons printed by privately owned newspapers or drawn by private citizens
• Israel refusing to sit quietly while Hezbollah and Hamas murder her people
• The awful insensitivity of Christians being Christian

When the representatives of classically liberal nations start equivocating our actions against terrorists with the attacks of terrorists on civilians, it’s time to stop and think about how much self-loathing is too much.

It’s been a busy weekend for our most important Middle Eastern partners for peace, the Iranians. Friday, 08/20/2010:

Iran’s defense minister says military forces have successfully test-fired a missile with enhanced guidance systems to hit ground targets.

Saturday, 08/21/2010:

Iran has crossed a new nuclear threshold, but it’s one the Obama administration isn’t worried about.

[...]

“Because the Bush administration did such a good job of neutralizing the Bushehr reactor, we don’t view it as a proliferation threat,” said a White House official, who requested anonymity to discuss the issue freely.

Some experts, however, disagree. They warn that Iran could still use Bushehr to enhance its uranium enrichment program – located some 300 miles away at Natanz – that the U.N. Security Council is demanding be halted amid charges that it is part of a secret nuclear arms development project. Iran denies the allegation.

Sunday, 08/22/2010:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is hailing the country’s first domestically built drone bomber.  The unmanned aircraft, unveiled Sunday, is the latest in a series of Iranian announcements of military advances.

Somehow I doubt President Obama’s assurances are having much impact on Israeli planning. Israel doesn’t have the luxury of being that stupid.

Media coverage of Israel’s refusal to let a stunt backed by Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood break its blockade of Gaza is standard fare, when you consider that most news outlets employ people who hate Israel. Take, for instance, an AP story today about another “aid” ship seized by Israel, “Israel remains defiant, seizes Gaza-bound aid ship:”

A defiant Israel enforced its 3-year-old blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday, with naval commandos swiftly commandeering a Gaza-bound aid vessel carrying an Irish Nobel laureate and other activists and forcing it to head to an Israeli port instead.

The bloodless takeover stood in marked contrast to a deadly raid of another Gaza aid ship this week. However, it was unlikely to halt snowballing international outrage and demands that Israel lift or at least loosen the devastating closure that confines 1.5 million Palestinians to a small sliver of land and only allows in basic humanitarian goods.

Israel’s blockade is the only defense of a nation beset on all sides by enemies who want to push them into the sea. Wouldn’t it be more intuitive to label the continued “aid vessel” traffic as “defiant,” instead of the Israeli government? Hamas - the elected governing party of Gaza – is dedicated to Israel’s destruction. The useful idiots crying about Israel’s blockade have no excuse save ignorance for siding with genocidal maniacs, but they do so proudly.

As for those truly suffering in Gaza – how is it that Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Hamas escape blame? Why is Israel the only nation demonized for the suffering of people used as pawns in an ongoing effort to destroy the Jewish state? To read the Associated Press take on the situation, you’d think enforcing a blockade was worse than regularly launching rockets at Israeli civilians. Don’t worry, the AP mentions that pesky “rockets and mortars” issue… in paragraph 28.

Charles Krauthammer’s weekend article at National Review provides invaluable context. A highlight that I found more than a little shocking:

Oh, but weren’t the Gaza-bound ships on a mission of humanitarian relief? No. Otherwise they would have accepted Israel’s offer to bring their supplies to an Israeli port, be inspected for military materiel, and have the rest trucked by Israel into Gaza – as every week 10,000 tons of food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies are sent by Israel to Gaza.

The plight of Gaza’s people can be blamed on many parties. Israel may be on the list, but they’re definitely not at the top. Nonetheless, the Associated Press continues reporting as if Israel is the root cause of every problem in the Middle East. Who will clueless Westerners blame if Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran (but I repeat myself) have their way?

The Washington Post reports on President Obama’s West Point graduation speech:

President Obama on Saturday offered a glimpse of a new national security doctrine that distances his administration from George W. Bush’s policy of preemptive war, emphasizing global institutions and America’s role in promoting democratic values.

That’s the first paragraph of the Post summary, and already it’s clear Obama’s national security doctrine stretches no further than whatever was programmed into the teleprompter yesterday. How has America promoted democratic values on Obama’s watch? By waiting months before even paying lip service to Iranian dissidents dying in the streets? By criticizing Arizona to the hapless Mexican president, the Communist government in China, and anyone else who will listen? By betraying the Poles, Czechs, and Israelis at every opportunity?

“Yes, we are clear-eyed about the shortfalls of our international system. But America has not succeeded by stepping outside the currents of international cooperation,” he said. “We have succeeded by steering those currents in the direction of liberty and justice — so nations thrive by meeting their responsibilities, and face consequences when they don’t.”

This is, to apply my favorite British phrase, bollocks on stilts. The currents of international cooperation are flowing nicely for anyone President Obama fears may not support toothless UN sanctions against Iran. If you’re wondering what sort of consequences nations face for failing to meet their responsibilities, just ask the Iranian mullahs.

And yet, as he calls for global cooperation, Obama has intensified the U.S. war in Afghanistan. And his administration has repeatedly confronted the dangers of Islamic terrorism on U.S. soil, including unsuccessful attempts to down a Detroit-bound airliner and explode a car bomb in New York’s Times Square.

Emphasis mine. The Obama administration has done everything in its power to avoid confronting the danger of Islamic terrorism. The Attorney General is scarcely willing to utter the phrase “radical Islam.” Based on the Post’s summary, Obama’s West Point speech was an exercise in revisionist history and empty rhetoric.

Turning to the full transcript, one sentence in particular stands out:

“But more than any other nation, the United States of America has underwritten global security for over six decades — a time that, for all its problems, has seen walls come down, and markets open, and billions lifted from poverty, unparalleled scientific progress and advancing frontiers of human liberty.”

This is absolutely true, and incredibly important. And President Obama, whose domestic goals guarantee America will no longer be able to afford anywhere near the military might necessary to assist allies and deter enemies, does not care.