US Gov’t: Radical Muslims Approved, Moderates Shunned

Muslim advisorsBy Ryan Mauro:

A 2011 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document released by The Daily Caller advises government agencies against training about the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and to shun “Muslim reformers.”

Shockingly, the advisory committee that likely influenced these guidelines includes numerous individuals affiliated with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.

The document says it is a list of “tips for federal, state and local government and law enforcement officials organizing CVE [Countering Violent Extremism], cultural awareness, counter-radicalization, or counterterrorism training.” It was produced by the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in cooperation with the National Counterterrorism Center.

The DHS suggestions in the document include:

Don’t use training premised on theories with little or no evidence to support them. Examples (from the report “Manufacturing the Muslim Menace”) of unsubstantiated theories include:

a. Many mainstream Muslim organizations have terrorist ties.

b Mainstream Muslim organizations are fronts for Islamic political organizations whose true desire is to establish Sharia law in America. Muslim Americans are using democratic processes, like litigation and free speech, to subvert democracy and install Sharia law.

The “Manufacturing the Muslim Menace” report cited depicts concerns about the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood as the fabrications of anti-Muslim bigots. Moreover, it defends the Brotherhood, saying it is a moderate group that wouldn’t use front groups in America.

In reality, solid evidence exists to the contrary – evidence ironically from the federal government’s own determinations as well as documents from the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood itself including a 1991 U.S. Muslim Brotherhood explanatory memorandum that explicitly states: “[O]ur work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within.”

The Brotherhood memorandum lists “our organizations and the organizations of our friends.”  The list includes “mainstream” Muslim-American groups—the very same groups which appear to have influenced these very same Department of Homeland Security guidelines (see below).

Specifically, the federal government designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) as unindicted co-conspirators in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation for financing Hamas. Federal prosecutors labeled these three mainstream groups as U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entities in 2007. In 2009, the designations were upheld by District Court Judge Solis because of “ample” evidence linking them to Hamas.

The Clarion Project has broken numerous stories about other Islamist groups doing exactly what the DHS dismisses in the current training document as “unsubstantiated theories.”

For example, a Pennsylvania-based group, Sankore Institute of Islamic-African Studies International (SIIASI), tells Muslims to engage in “litigation jihad” to advance Sharia law in America.

A California-based group, the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA), which issues authoritative fatwas, or religious declarations, said in a 2007 Arabic paper presented at one of its conferences it recommends that Muslims become judges and use deception to implement sharia law to the best of their ability. To call their rulings unsettling would be a gross understatement.

These are important facts but the DHS guidelines would leave law enforcement personnel ignorant of them.

On the topic of “Muslim Reformers,” the DHS document had this to say:

Don’t use trainers who answer primarily to interest groups. For example, trainers who are self-professed “Muslim reformers” may further an interest group agenda instead of delivering generally accepted unbiased information.

This is a chilling reflection of how the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups have succeeded in marginalizing their competitors. (SeeThe Clarion Project.org’s CAIR Lashes Out at Non-Islamist Muslim Group where CAIR labels their competitors as being part of an “Islamophobia” network.)

In fact, the Brotherhood groups have become treasured partners of the Obama Administration, while their opponents have been shut out of the policy process. Radical Islamists with known connections to terrorism have had an open door to the White House, but moderate Muslims are not among the list of invitees.

Read more at The Clarion Project

Obama Uses Terror-Finance Group to Push Gun Control

islamic-society-of-north-america-isna-annual-convention-2012_315x256By :

The Obama Administration’s relationship with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity, has grown beyond strictly Muslim-related issues. On May 6, Vice President Biden met with about 20 interfaith leaders including ISNA President Mohamed Magid for two hours to rally religious support for gun control.

A FBI source identified ISNA as a Muslim Brotherhood front as early as 1987. A 1991 U.S. Muslim Brotherhood memo identified ISNA as one of “our organizations and the organizations of our friends” for use in its “work in America as a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within.”

Federal prosecutors labeled ISNA an unindicted co-conspirator in the terrorism-financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation, a Brotherhood “charity” housed within the ISNA building that was found to be financing Hamas. The U.S. government specifically called ISNA a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity.

The President of ISNA is Imam Mohamed Magid. In 2004, he reacted to the U.S. government’s investigations and prosecutions of groups like the Holy Land Foundation by claiming they were part of an anti-Muslim agenda. He said that parts of the U.S. government are “intent on dismantling Muslim organizations and bringing them down.”

He was among those that met with Vice President Biden to discuss the legislation mandating background checks for gun sales. Several more Obama Administration officials including Biden’s chief of staff were also there.

Other interfaith leaders at the meeting included Franklin Graham of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religion Action Center of Reform Judaism; Barrett Duke of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; Pastor Michael McBride of PICO National Network and Richard Cizik of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good.

Gun control isn’t the only political issue that the Obama Administration seeks ISNA’s support on. On March 8, Magid met with President Obama and senior advisor Valerie Jarrett for 90 minutes about immigration reform. About 10 other interfaith leaders were there. Only three days later, Magid again met with President Obama to offer “recommendations” for his trip to the Middle East.

Magid also was a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Violent Extremism Working Group and the Faith-based Security and Communications Advisory Committee. His group also met with the FBI Director regarding the agency’s review of its counter-terrorism training materials.

The Obama Administration treats ISNA as the leader of the Muslim-American community, even though only 4% of Muslim-American males and 7% of females chose ISNA as the group that best represents them in a 2011 poll. In March, the Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement said ISNA is his top Muslim outreach partner.

Read more at Front Page

Muslim Brotherhood Inside American Colleges

Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, is just one of many American universities who are "partnering" with the International Institute of Islamic Thought, a verified Muslim Brotherhood front group.

Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, is just one of many American universities who are “partnering” with the International Institute of Islamic Thought, a verified Muslim Brotherhood front group.

By Ryan Mauro:

In 1988, an FBI informant inside the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood network warned that it had a front called the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). The IIIT leadership, the source reported, said they were in the first of six phases to “institute the Islamic Revolution in the United States.” Their current objective was to “peacefully get inside the United States government and also American universities.” And they have.

The source warned that the Muslim Brotherhood in America has “unlimited funds” and has “set up political action front groups with no traceable ties to the IIIT or its various Muslim groups.” The source’s identification of IIIT as a front is verified in a 1991 U.S. Muslim Brotherhood memo. The Brotherhood itself lists IIIT as number 28 of “our organizations and the organizations of our friends,” working toward the Brotherhood’s self-defined goal, which it says is a “grandjihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within.”

IIT’s Director of Academic Outreach from 1984 to 1994  was Sayyid Syeed, a founder and former secretary-general of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Footage from 2006 shows him saying, “Our job is to change the Constitution of America” (you can view it inThe Grand Deception).

ISNA is also identified as a Muslim Brotherhood front group in the 1991 memo and was labeled as a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity by federal prosecutors. It was also designated an unindicted co-conspirator in the terrorism-financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation. Syeed is now the director of ISNA’s Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances.

Read more The Clarion Poject

 

US Naval Academy Instructor Teaching On Behalf Of US Muslim Brotherhood

By  :

According to promotional material, a United States Naval Academy professor is teaching on behalf of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a part of the US Muslim Brotherhood and where global Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi reportedly serves as a trustee. IIIT recently announced its Summer Students Program for 2013 to be held from May 26 – July 3. According to the IIIT announcement, one of the instructors for the program will be Professor Ermin Sinanovic, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland who will be teaching the following course titled “Muslim World Affairs”:

Ermin Sinanovic

Ermin Sinanovic

This course is meant to provide students who had little or no background on the Muslim world with a basic understanding of its contemporary history, its geopolitics, its diverse cultures, languages and ethnic groups. Also, the course introduces the key issues and developments that framed the relationship between the world of Islam and the West, such as the colonial encounter, the capitalist expansion of the West, the emergence of the nation-state and its institutions, the discovery of oil in the Middle East and its implications, the communication revolution and contemporary globalization and their impact on cultures, values and life styles; and finally the US foreign policy towards the Muslim world and its implications. This course will be covered in twelve hours.  Instructor: Professor Ermin Sinanovic, US Naval Academy, Maryland.

According to his bio, Ermin Sinanovic is:

…an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, USA. He studied for an MA and a PhD in Political Science at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. Prof. Sinanovic obtained two BAs (one in Qur’an and Sunnah Studies, the other in Political Science) and an MA (Islamic Civilization) from the International Islamic University Malaysia. His research interests include transnational Islamic revival, Southeast Asian politics, Islamic movements, Middle East politics, Islamic political thought, and Islam and politics in general. At the Naval Academy, Prof. Sinanovic teaches courses on Southeast Asian politics, Middle East politics, and Islam and politics. He speaks Bosnian, English, Arabic, and Malay. “

One of the other instructors at the IIIT summer program will be US Muslim Brotherhood leader Louay Safi, identified in the announcement as affiliated with the College of Islamic Studies of the Qatar Foundation. In 2009 Louay Safi, also an official at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), was at the center of a controversy when it was learned that the US Defense Department brought him to Fort Hood as an instructor and that he had been lecturing on Islam to troops in Fort Hood who were about to deploy to Afghanistan. In February 2010, the activities and lectures of Dr. Safi on all military bases were suspended pending  criminal by the U.S. military. A shooting took place at Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas on November 5, 2009 in which a single gunman killed 13 people and over 30 people were injured in the worst shooting ever to take place on an American military base. The only suspect in the shooting is Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old U.S. Army major serving as a psychiatrist. Dr. Safi has also been recently identified as a leading member of the Syrian National Council, a Syrian opposition group dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Read more at Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch

 

As this excerpt from the Discover The Networks Profile of IIIT shows, the “see no Jihad” propaganda will no doubt be a part of Ermin Sinanovic’s course instruction:

 

In the early 1990s, IIIT invented and promoted the term “Islamophobia,” a term which implies that any societal fear associated with Islam is necessarily irrational, even if that fear stems from the fact that Islam’s prophet and its modern-day imams call on believers to kill infidels, or from the fact that the 9/11 attacks were carried out to implement those calls. Moreover, the term suggests that any negative societal reaction to such exhortations to violence reflects a bigotry that itself should be feared.

Former IIIT member Abdur-Rahman Muhammad — who was with that organization when the word was formally created, and who has since rejected IIIT’s ideology and terminated his membership in disgust — now reveals the original intent behind the concept of Islamophobia: “This loathsome term is nothing more than a thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks for the purpose of beating down critics.” In short, in its very origins, “Islamophobia” was a term designed as a weapon to advance a totalitarian cause by stigmatizing critics and silencing them. This plan was an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood’s deceptive “General Strategic Goal for North America.”

Although the term was coined in the early 1990s, “Islamophobia” did not become the focus of an active Brotherhood campaign until after 9/11.

Controlled by the extremist, Saudi-based Wahhabi movement, IIIT maintains that reports about mosques distributing hate-filled literature are untrue, and claims that the concept of jihad in no way condones or connotes violence. As an IIIT public-relations flyer puts it: “Jihad does not mean ‘holy war.’ Literally, jihad in Arabic means to strive, struggle and exert effort. It is a central and broad Islamic concept that includes struggle against evil inclinations within oneself, struggle to improve the quality of life in society, struggle in the battlefield for self-defense or fighting against tyranny or oppression.” The back of the flyer contains a list of recommended websites and books on Islam. Among the authors of these books are such apologists for extremism as John EspositoKaren Armstrong, Hassan Hathout, and Bill Baker.

CAIR Books Radicals for Fundraising Banquets

Hassan Shibly, Nihad Awad, Zair Shakir, Kifah Mustafa and Siraj Wahhaj (clock-wise from left)

Hassan Shibly, Nihad Awad, Zair Shakir, Kifah Mustafa and Siraj Wahhaj (clock-wise from left)

By Ryan Mauro:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is using Islamist radicals to raise money throughout the country, according to a Clarion Project review of their fundraising banquets. CAIR calls itself “America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group,” but has been labeled a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity by the federal government and attacks the integrity of its moderate Muslim rivals.

The Cincinatti and Columbus, OH chapters of CAIR turned to Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a cleric with indisputable credentials as a radical Islamist, for their fundraisers. He has been recorded saying “America is the most wicked government on the face of the planet Earth” and “If only Muslims were clever politically, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional government with a caliphate.”

In 1995, Wahhaj was named as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Commenting afterwards in a sermon,  Wahhaj said, “I’m not frightened by no list, by no government! I thank Allah. I’m honored that they thought enough of me to put me on a list.”

The Chicago chapter of CAIR had some fundraising help from keynote speaker Zaid Shakir, Safaa Zarzour and Kifah Mustafa.

Shakir’s radicalism has been documented in detail by the Clarion Project. This includes preaching that Hezbollah’s bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon was not a terrorist attack, justifying attacks on U.S. soldiers and expressing a hope to see America governed by Sharia law.  Safaa Zarzour has served as the Secretary-General of the Islamic Society of North America, another unindicted co-conspirator labeled as a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity.

Kifah Mustapha is designated as an unindicted co-conspirator in the terrorism-financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation. He is listed among “individuals/entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and/or its organizations.” The Palestine Committee was set up by the Brotherhood to support Hamas in the U.S. Mustapha’s mosque has extensive links to the Brotherhood and he sang in a band that performed pro-Hamas songs.

Remarkably, 56 public officials in Illinois endorsed CAIR-Chicago for the event, including Governor Pat Quinn, Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The Minnesota chapter of CAIR’s fundraiser did not feature any prominent radicals as speakers, unlike last year when Kifah Mustapha was booked. Despite CAIR’s well-documented Islamist background, Rep. Keith Ellison and Senator Amy Klobuchar spoke at its banquet.

Noticeably absent as a sponsor was Best Buy. Last year, The Clarion Project initiated a petition (signed by 12,000 people) that called for a boycott of Best Buy until they agreed to stop its donations to CAIR-Minnesota. However, this year’s sponsors include Walmart, the University of Minnesota Law School and the Hamline University School of Law. They were joined by American Muslims for Palestine, an Islamist group, and the Muslim American Society, another U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity.

The Michigan chapter of CAIR was helped by Imam Suhaib Webb of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. There is video of him saying that homosexuals are cursed. The Clarion Project has also documented his mosque’s extremism time and time again, including strong links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Read more at The Clarion Project

The Human Cost of Jihad Denial

usa-boston_bombing-AP-photo-620x385By :

Wednesday brought new confirmation of the increasingly obvious fact that the U.S. intelligence apparatus in the age of Barack Obama is woefully unprepared to deal with the foremost threat to the safety of Americans today: Islamic jihad terrorism.

Nor is this lack of preparedness due to a lack of funding (Lord knows there is plenty of that for anything Obama wants to do) or other resources. There are many people who are deeply knowledgeable in the ideology and belief system that inspires Islamic jihad terror, and they are ready and willing to share their knowledge with intelligence officials – indeed, many of them did so during the Bush Administration and the early years of the Obama Administration, before his 2011 purge the counter-terror training materials of the truth about Islam and jihad.

That purge came after hard-Left journalistic propagandist Spencer Ackerman wrote a series of “exposes” that supposedly exposed “Islamophobia” in government counterterror training — that is, truthful information about Islam and jihad. See here and here for details. Then Farhana Khera, Executive Director of an Islamic organization called Muslim Advocates, wrote a letter on October 19, 2011 to Barack Obama’s then-Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and current CIA director John Brennan. The letter was signed by 57 organizations, including many with ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA); Islamic Relief USA; the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); the Muslim American Society (MAS); and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

The letter demanded that Obama officials “purge all federal government training materials of biased materials” – that is, materials that they claimed were biased against Islam – and “implement a mandatory re-training program for FBI agents, U.S. Army officers, and all federal, state and local law enforcement who have been subjected to biased training.”

The Obama Administration immediately complied. Dwight C. Holton, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, emphasized that same day that training materials for the FBI would be purged of everything that Islamic supremacists deemed offensive: “I want to be perfectly clear about this: training materials that portray Islam as a religion of violence or with a tendency towards violence are wrong, they are offensive, and they are contrary to everything that this president, this attorney general and Department of Justice stands for. They will not be tolerated.”

Read more at Front Page

Air Force Recruits Chaplains From MB Front Group

AirForceAd HP

The ad as it appeared in ISNA’s magazine, “Islamic Horizons.”

By Ryan Mauro:

The U.S. Air Force has confirmed to The Clarion Project that it paid nearly $5,000 for advertisements in the magazine of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism-financing trial that was also labeled a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity by the government. The Air Force said it would continue to consider paying ISNA for ads.

An advertisement for the U.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps is in theMarch-April issue of Islamic Horizons, ISNA’s magazine.ClarionProject.org asked the Air Force about the advertisement and included facts about ISNA. Air Force spokesperson Captain Lindsey Hahn responded:

“The Department of Defense does not endorse any one religion or religious organization, and provides free access of religion for all members of the military services.  The Department respects (and supports by its policy) the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs. In order to recruit chaplains capable to provide for the diverse needs of Airmen and their families, Air Force chaplain recruiters advertise in a wide variety of religious organization publications

MN1Qxe3GTljH“The Islamic Society of North America is one of  many religious organizations recognized by the Department of Defense that satisfy the ecclesiastical requirements to endorse qualified religious ministry professionals to serve as chaplains within the Military Departments.

“This ad ran twice in the Islamic Horizons magazine to create awareness for Air Force chaplain recruiting efforts in the Muslim community. It cost $4800 total.”

When asked whether the U.S. Air Force will reconsider paying ISNA for advertisement space in the future, the spokesperson repeated the earlier statement.

There are three takeaways here. First, the U.S. Air Force gave nearly $5,000 of taxpayer money to ISNA. Second, the Air Force says ISNA is qualified to endorse Muslim chaplains for the military. And lastly, even when provided with the facts about ISNA, the Air Force says it will consider future payments to ISNA for ads.

Read more at The Clarion Project

ISNA Longs to Replace Spain with Islamic ‘Andalusia’

ISNA's article about Andalucia

ISNA’s article about Andalucia

The Muslim Brotherhood and their U.S. groups are not hiding the fact that they are committed to resurrecting the caliphate.

By Ryan Mauro:

Islamists long for the days of when Spain was under an Islamic state called Andalusia. The Muslim Brotherhood’s founder preached that Spain must return to the House of Islam. The Islamic Society of North America, a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity, printed a recent article referring to Andalusia as a “paradise” that will return when “the only victor is Allah.”

“Thus Andalusia, Sicily, the Balkans, the Italian coast, as well as the islands of the Mediterranean, are all of them Muslim Mediterranean colonies and they must return to the Islamic fold … [The Roman Empire] was founded on cupidity and lust. It is thus our duty to rebuild the Islamic Empire …,” said Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna.

The U.S. Muslim Brotherhood listed the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) first among “our organizations and the organizations of our friends” in a 1991 document. The U.S. government likewise labeled it a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity when it designated ISNA an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation. Yet, a top White House official recently said ISNA is “his primary means of outreach to the American Muslim community.”

The reverence for Andalusia is on display in the March-April issue of ISNA’s magazine, Islamic Horizons. It includes an article titled, “Andalucia: Paradise Still Lost?” Underneath the title, it is stated, “Muslims in Spain retrieve some of their past status through better outreach.”

The article exalts Andalusia and inspires readers to believe that it can be brought back. The author closes the article by talking about Muslims like a cleric in Spain “who are the hope to making the motto [‘the only victor is Allah’] come true.”

When Islamists talk fondly of Andalusia, they are talking fondly of an Islamic state. The Cordoba Initiative, the group behind the “Ground Zero Mosque” project, named itself after the capital of an Islamic caliphate in Andalusia. Cordoba was shown a pristine example of religious coexistence and just rule.

Read more at The Clarion Project

Massachusetts Governor’s problems may be bigger than previously thought

The Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center

The Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center

by :

This is a bit of a continuation from a post from yesterday. Before continuing, you may want to check this out first. Upon doing so, take note of the relationship between Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick – a Democrat – and the Muslim American Society (MAS).

That relationship, when viewed in the context of the video below only makes Patrick’s relationship with the Muslim community in Boston all the more troubling.

With that as a foundation, let’s take a look at another story of terrorism in Boston. In October of 2010, a would-be Muslim terrorist from Sudbury, MA – a suburb of Boston – named Tarek Mehanna was arrested before he could carry out his plot to gun down shoppers in a mall. Stories like these don’t get nearly the attention that successful attacks do but in this case, Mehanna’s intent and connections are quite newsworthy in light of the marathon bombings.

In fact, Mehanna’s co-conspirator – Ahmad Abousamra – is really the ‘person of interest’ in this case. As you’ll see in the video, Mehanna met Abousamra at the Islamic Center of New England (ICNE), an entity linked to the broader Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which has long been identified as a Muslim Brotherhood group in the U.S.

Read the rest at  Shoebat.com

 

 

Interview with Charles Jacobs of Americans for Peace and Tolerance:

 

 

Related articles

Make No Mistake, It Was Jihad

By MICHAEL B. MUKASEY

If your concern about the threat posed by the Tsarnaev brothers is limited to assuring that they will never be in a position to repeat their grisly acts, rest easy.

The elder, Tamerlan—apparently named for the 14th-century Muslim conqueror famous for building pyramids of his victims’ skulls to commemorate his triumphs over infidels—is dead. The younger, Dzhokhar, will stand trial when his wounds heal, in a proceeding where the most likely uncertainty will be the penalty. No doubt there will be some legal swordplay over his interrogation by the FBI’s High-Value Interrogation Group without receiving Miranda warnings. But the only downside for the government in that duel is that his statements may not be used against him at trial. This is not much of a risk when you consider the other available evidence, including photo images of him at the scene of the bombings and his own reported confession to the victim whose car he helped hijack during last week’s terror in Boston.

But if your concern is over the larger threat that inheres in who the Tsarnaev brothers were and are, what they did, and what they represent, then worry—a lot.

For starters, you can worry about how the High-Value Interrogation Group, or HIG, will do its work. That unit was finally put in place by the FBI after so-called underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up the airplane in which he was traveling as it flew over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009 and was advised of his Miranda rights. The CIA interrogation program that might have handled the interview had by then been dismantled by President Obama.

image

(Zuma Press) In the White House Situation Room on April 19, President Obama meets with his national-security team, including FBI Director Robert Mueller to his immediate left.

At the behest of such Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups as the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America, and other self-proclaimed spokesmen for American Muslims, the FBI has bowdlerized its training materials to exclude references to militant Islamism. Does this delicacy infect the FBI’s interrogation group as well?

Will we see another performance like the Army’s after-action report following Maj. Nidal Hasan‘s rampage at Fort Hood in November 2009, preceded by his shout “allahu akhbar”—a report that spoke nothing of militant Islam but referred to the incident as “workplace violence”? If tone is set at the top, recall that the Army chief of staff at the time said the most tragic result of Fort Hood would be if it interfered with the Army’s diversity program.

Read more at WSJ

Mr. Mukasey served as attorney general of the United States from 2007 to 2009 and as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York from 1988 to 2006.

 

Interview with Michael Mukasey starts at 3:26