An American Muslim Journal

Revenge or national security policy?

Osama bin Laden attacked America on a number of occasions and his bloodiest attack came on 9/11/01 in America itself.

We all know this, so why am I saying it again?  I'm restating it because it bears repeating at a time when there is a lot of talk surrounding the U.S. takedown of bin Laden in Pakistan, and now I'm seeing some folks actually suggesting that President Obama was wrong for doing it.

I've been open to questioning whether it would have been better to take bin Laden alive and I've been thinking about the implications of violating international law in order to carryout the mission that led to bin Laden's death.  But I don't for one second believe that killing a mass murderer who continued to plot and carryout murders is vengeful.

I began thinking about this when I saw a twitter post recently from a fellow Chicagoan named Azhar Usman.  Here is what he wrote:

I can't say that I know Azhar very well even though we've known one another for many years now. Generally speaking, I think he's a good guy, but what his politics and his religious views are I have not a clue.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt because I have no reason to withhold it.  I'm going to assume that he inclines towards pacifism and finds violence abhorrent in all instances.  That's about the only way I can make sense of his observation.

Bin Laden needed to be stopped.  Under President Obama's watch our intelligence agencies finally found him.  What other option was there but to go after bin Laden?

I don't know what the rules of engagement were for the soldiers who were sent on this mission, but even if they were to shoot to kill on sight, it would still not amount to vengeance.

Most people I know are largely uncritical of the entire episode.  I'm trying to think about what's happened more critically.  As I said, I've been wondering if we could have captured bin Laden instead of killing him and how that might have been a better result, and I've also been thinking about the international law implications of striking militarily inside of another country without that country's knowledge or permission.  Another issue is the possibility that key intelligence leading to bin Laden's whereabouts were obtained through the torture of Khalid Shaikh Muhammad.

I think we can be thoughtful about this situation without making absurd statements like the one made by Azhar Usman on Twitter.  Not that he cares what I think, but I'm offering him a mulligan on this one.

American Muslims to join the public policy process in Illinois

Critical decisions are being made by our state's government.  Our state has a budget crisis, our public education system is largely failing our kids, unions seem to increasingly be in some people's crosshairs and some unions seem to be defensive to point of tuning out meaningful discussions on vital issues such as the quality of teachers in our public school classrooms.  Billions of dollars in expense payments to grassroots human services providers are grossly past due with no hope on horizon of being paid.

These are some of the issues impacting Illinois residents including the 400,000 and growing American Muslim community.  That's why I believe in and support efforts to engage American Muslims in greater levels of civic engagement.

Our community - the American Muslim community in Illinois - is adept at mobilizing in times of acute crises.  We are good at using Facebook, Twitter, blogs and bus companies to bring large numbers of people together for rallies and protests and big events.  In 2009 the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, an umbrella organization of about 53 Illinois mosques and other Muslim institutions, organized the first ever "Muslim Action Day" as a one day citizen lobbying exercise in the halls of the Illinois legislature and in the governor's mansion.  In 2009 about 450 people went to Springfield.  In 2010 CIOGC took 1000 people for its second "Muslim Action Day" and tomorrow (3/9/11) CIOGC is heading down to Springfield once again for it's third annual "Illinois Muslim Action Day".

This is a great event and worthy of support from the American Muslim community at large.  My concern is that this effort has not grown into something more comprehensive since it was first created in early 2009.  A large, energetic day of advocacy in Springfield is a great annual event to highlight civic engagement of American Muslims.  That leaves 364 more days in the year to build on the momentum, excitement and relationships that flow from a day in the state's capitol.  This is where we are lacking, and this is where we need to do more work.

In 2009 I was the executive director of CIOGC, and I worked extensively on organizing Muslim Action Day. I've since moved on professionally but I remain connected to CIOGC and this year (2011) I've tried to help with the civic engagement work of CIOGC.  I'm heading down to Springfield this evening and will be a part of the events tomorrow.  My main goal is to lend my skills and energy to legislative advocacy efforts by American Muslims in between the annual Springfield event.

I'd like to see a committee formed at CIOGC to focus on legislative issues.  If that doesn't pan out or if it seems ineffective, then I think it may be time to create a public policy advocacy organization to educate and train American Muslims in Illinois about public policy advocacy.

Dear Rep. King - my mosque is all clear of extremism... take us off your hit list

 

What’s happening in American mosques?  Rep. Peter King (R-NY) wants us to believe that nefarious, dubious, felonious and maybe even evil work is happening inside of them.  

On Sunday, March 6, 2011, a few days before Rep. King’s “hearings” on Capitol Hill, I decided to drop into my local mosque in Rolling Meadows, Illinois to get a reality check on what’s happening, and to see for myself if my mosque is in fact fomenting “extremism”  as Mr. King claims.

I confess, I do not currently attend this mosque on a daily basis.  As such, maybe I’ve been ignorant of this alleged “extremism” right under my nose!  I decided it was time to do a little citizen investigative journalism.

I got to the mosque around 9:45am.  There were a few people milling about setting up for some kind of presentation.  In a large hall there were about 100 chairs lined up and at the head of the room was a long table with name cards on them.  There was a screen and a powerpoint projector.

The people I saw seemed to be some seriously religious folks.  The women were wearing scarves on their heads and the men had beards.  Some of the men were even more seriously religious looking with their skull caps, and then there were the men who were obviously the head honchos of the mosque (or so I assumed) with their beards, skull caps and those long robe-like gowns that I keep getting as gifts from people coming back from Hajj but which I can never get myself to wear.

“Oh boy,” I thought to myself.  “What have I walked into?”

I’ve been to this mosque before so the layout was familiar to me.    It is split into three sections - a prayer area, a section with classrooms, a library and a computer lab, and then a large multi-purpose space.  I walked into the multi-purpose room.

It was a busy Sunday at the mosque.  Every part of it was being used.  To my right were a set of double doors leading to the school section.  About 200 kids from KG through high school were in classrooms on that side of the building.  By the time I arrived most of the kids were in the classrooms working on memorizing passages of the Quran, learning the Arabic alphabet and learning the basic religious beliefs that every Muslim is supposed to know.

I walked through the double doors and took a peek down the hall.  At one end was a library and computer lab.  The rest of the hallway had doors leading into small classrooms filled with desk-chairs, large whiteboards and artwork done by the kids.  I didn’t find an militant chanting or breast-thumping in the classrooms.  Wasn’t that supposed to be going according to Rep. King?  Maybe that was during the next period.

I turned back and went into the library.  I looked around for signs of “radical” books.  I didn’t find any that called for killing “infidels” or “waging war” but I did find one on the importance of good dental hygiene and another on the proper technique for performing wudu (ritual washing of oneself before prayer).

 

I also found a bunch of kids story books.  There were quite a few copies of the Holy Quran, books on the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and on his sayings too.  Imagine that...  

The only time I did a double take was when my eyes glanced over a DVD about the Crusades!  Gotcha! Perhaps this was one of those slick al Qaeda propaganda pieces that CNN talks about being sold by street vendors in Iraq.  On my second glance I noted that it was a documentary from The History Channel.

I went back into the multi-purpose room where all the chairs were set up.  It was beginning to fill up.  As I walked back through the double doors I saw an easel with a large handwritten sign that read “Money Matters”.  

Aha!  So that’s what was happening.  The mosque was holding a seminar on money.  Very interesting. Perhaps there would be some unsavory information about funding “extremism” here.

I took seat off to the far right of the speakers’ table where I could see the panelists, the presentations and the audience.  I sat through presentation after presentation waiting for discussions on how to raise money for “operations” or something similarly dubious.  Instead I got presentations on the ins and outs of medicare, something about a medicare “donut hole”, why auto insurance gap coverage is needed on leased cars, and why I should never buy stuff online while at places like Panera Bread because the public wi-fi networks in such places are not secure and that could lead to identity theft.

The presentations were given by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals.  Everything was in English.   Most of the information was interesting.  None of it struck me as very “extreme” or “radical”.

This was all happening in the public spaces of the mosque.  I was sitting about 5 feet from another, smaller room next to the multi-purpose room.  People were walking in and out of this other room all morning.  I got up and sat closer to the door.  I even snuck a quick peek into this smaller room.

What I saw surprised me.  There was a meeting going on.  Perhaps it was a “secret” meeting!

As I listened (okay, as I eavesdropped) I was able to discern the plot that these men were hatching. There was a bus involved.  They had 25 people recruited so far.  They talked about the capitol building in Springfield.

Oh!  My!  Gosh!  I whipped out my smartphone.  Should I tweet it or should I call 911?  Maybe both? Which one first?  Facebook?  No worries - my Twitter feeds to Facebook so that’s covered.  What about a blog post?  As I tried to figure out how best to alert the world to this deadly plan one of the men walked out of the room.

“Salaams Junaid!” 

Oh snap!  He knew me.  It was Mohammad*, a guy who lived in the subdivision down the road from my house.

“Hey Mohammad.  Salaams” I replied.  “What’ up?”  Did he know I was eavesdropping?  Was my life in danger?

“Are you going to Springfield for the Muslim Action Day this year” he asked me.

The lightbulb went on in my head.  False alarm.  This was hardly some violent plot.

“Yeah, I am going.”

Mohammad smiled and said “I’ll put your name on our bus list then.”

“I’m actually driving down the night before” I told Mohammad.  We then talked about connecting while we were in Springfield on Wednesday, March 9th for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago’s third annual “Illinois Muslim Action Day”.  I helped organize the first IMAD in 2009 and this year I decided to help out a bit with the public education reform agenda.  Mohammad and talked about the issues and agreed to meet up in Springfield.

At about 12:30pm school ended and the classrooms emptied out into the multi-purpose room.  By this time the personal finance seminar was over and a large row of tables with doughnuts, cookies, juice and pizza was set out.  The children streamed into the multi-purpose room and headed straight to the food table, helped themselves to some snacks and then, much to the dismay of their teachers, began running around playing tag, tossing around mini footballs and pulling out Transformers and Pokemon toys from their school bags to show off and trade.  Is any of this extreme?  Radical?

By about 1:00 pm the heart of the mosque sprang to life as the Adhan (the Muslim call to prayer) was announced from the prayer room and the moms and dads and teachers began corralling the kids and moving them towards the prayer room.  The mosque attendees removed their shoes, many disregarding the 20+ year old rule against leaving shoes in front of the doorways, and headed into the prayer room for Zuhr (early afternoon prayer) salat.

The mosque remained busy for about another hour after Zuhr salat as moms and dads socialized and the kids played.  Slowly the mosque emptied out as families trickled out of the mosque and went on their way.

The 4 or 5 hours I spent at this mosque on this particular Sunday seemed pretty benign to me.  I saw kids learning to read Arabic, parents learning about “529” education accounts, and mosque organizers working on getting the members more engaged in civic action.

Yes, the Muslims in this mosque looked a lot like their co-religionists in Pakistan and in the Middle East with their beards, headscarves and other aspects of their physical appearance.  But so what?  The vast majority of Muslims in those foreign countries are peace-loving regular people too.

The activities of the mosque seemed very mundane.  And as the day progressed the crowd at the mosque grew and there were women who did not cover their hair and men who were clean shaven.  No fist fights broke out as a result of these two groups of Muslims converging on to a shared religious space.

In fact, many of the people at this mosque - regardless of their outward appearance - seemed to be concerned about the same things: funding their kids’ education, making sure their kids learned the basics of their faith and getting the community more involved in civic life.

So much for radicalization in our mosque.

Rep. King - please take our mosque off your hit...errr....checklist.  There’s no radicalization going on here.

_____________________________________________________________________________

*This conversation didn't actually occur this way.  I consider this a piece of literary non-fiction and to that end I've created some composite characters and invented some conversations.

Texas Insider » Sharia Law or the Constitution? America Must Choose

But a dilemma exists in our nation today concerning whether or how the First Amendment should properly be applied to Islam. This essay will show that the ultimate outcome of blanket protection for Islam in all its manifestations on the grounds of “religious freedom” would be the establishment of Islamic law and government, or Sharia, alongside or in place of civil law and government in this country.

via www.texasinsider.org

This is an essay by William G. Boykin.  Yeah, that's right, it's the same gentleman who once said this:

"George Bush was not elected by a majority of voters in the United States. He was appointed by God."

"We in the army of God, in the house of God, kingdom of God have been raised for such a time as this."

"I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."

Holy...moly!  This guy is a complete nut-job.

I guess this three star bigot decided that he doesn't need to hide his true feelings any longer.  That wasn't always the case.  After taking heat for this "my God vs. his God" comment he went on 60 Minutes to rehab his image and to ostensibly clarify his comments.  In that interview, when asked about the "God vs. God" comment he said this:

“No, that’s not what I meant at all. Look, I’m a Christian. I make no apologies for that," says Boykin. "But I’m also not foolish enough to deliberately offend or in any way ostracize any religion. ... I’m not anti-Islam, I’m not anti-Allah.” via CBS News

What is strange is that in his interview with 60 Minutes Lt. Gen. Boykin recognized Islam as a religion. His essay at TexasInsider.org re-hashs the bigoted and indefensible idea that Islam is not a religion.

Just as I'd call out a Muslim who espoused hatred for Christians, Jews or any other faith, I'm going to have to call out Lt. Gen. Boykin.  He is a bigot.  He is an Islamophobe.

What scares me is that this man has seen about as much combat as any senior officer in our military (this was according to the 60 Minutes interview).  This is a man who is trained to kill, has killed and is vocal in his post-military life.  I shudder to think at the crazy plans he's hatching in his head and in his home.

Scary.

 

FoxNews.com: Gitmo Repeat Offender Rate Continues to Rise

via FoxNews.com: 

New data from the nation's top intelligence official shows that the number of Guantanamo Bay detainees returning to the battlefield continues to grow at an extraordinary rate.

The report from the director of national intelligence says that 150 of the 598 detainees who have been transferred out of Guantanamo's detention camps, about 25 percent, are now confirmed or suspected of returning to the battlefield.

I'm glad FoxNews.com brought this issue to our attention.  Too bad the reporting is so limited.  One thing I would like to know - and will try to find out from news sources that usually do some digging when they write about important events - are the circumstances surrounding the release of Guantanamo Bay detainees that are the subject of this article.  Did they complete their sentences?  Did they get paroled?  Pardoned?  Exonerated?  Transferred to other countries (and if so, on what terms and conditions)?

Recidivism is something we Americans know a lot about.  We incarcerate a lot of our own people.  And sadly, there is a fairly high rate of recidivism in most states (although I've heard that some states have instituted thoughtful reforms and are seeing positive results as a consequence).

Maybe we should apply some of what we've learned from studying recidivism in our society to the situation at the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay.  We know that many ex-felons re-offend because, after serving their terms of imprisonment, they return to a life no better equipped to live lawfully then when they went in.  They have no job skills, their underlying addictions have gone un-treated or if treated, there are limited aftercare resources and in some instances these folks simply don't have money and housing to sustain them.  I realize that the ex-felons have a responsibility to be law-abiding citizens and that the foregoing issues do not excuse criminal behavior, but these are examples of factors that contribute to recidivism.

Is the military providing some kind rehabilitation for the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay?  I don't think they are, and in fact, I think the very poor treatment at Guantanamo Bay is likely creating or adding to a hatred of America.

I'm going to guess that the people released were people who, after years and years of languishing in this prison, were confirmed not to be terrorists.  We all know by now that there were numerous such detainees.  So, thanks to American lawyers' efforts on these detainees behalf, some of these innocent men have been set free.  If some of these men are now joining the fight against us, then I would guess that we (the U.S.) played a big role in radicalizing them.  The innocent men released came in to Guantanamo Bay without any justification, but over the years of torture and degrading conditions and generally being held without any legal recourse, they may have developed a hatred against us.  Is that so hard to believe?

The FoxNews.com article seems to suggest that the answer is to not release the people held at Guantanamo Bay.  Perhaps a more thoughtful solution would be to create some meaningful legal framework for detainees to contest their detention, to treat the detainees humanely and to put the best of American values on display to these men.  That way, when the innocent men are vetted and eventually released, they may come out with a little less bitterness against us.

 

 

REUTERS: U.S. judge dismisses targeted-kill program lawsuit

Via Reuters.com:

A judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to halt the Obama administration's program to capture or kill American citizens who join militant groups abroad, a case involving a Muslim cleric in Yemen.

U.S. District Judge John Bates threw out the lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds. Bates said the father lacked legal standing to bring the case and that his claims presented political questions that cannot be decided by the courts, requiring dismissal of the lawsuit without addressing the heart of the allegations.

Our government assassinating American citizens may be many things - among them political - but it is at its core a fundamental due process issue and that's the kind of issue courts exist to address.  I wonder how much of this dismissal was based on the standing issue - which is a real issue in litigation - and how much is based on the political ramifications of the underlying policy?

The only thing missing from this little saga is Jason Bourne and Operation Blackbriar.  Of course Hollywood got it right and portrayed our system in its best light by showing that assassination of U.S. citizens was reprehensible.  In that case the CIA man - Noah Vosen - who saw himself as the "sharp end of the stick" with full authority to use extrajudicial "lethal action" was the bad guy.

I'm beginning to wonder if there is a real "Noah Vosen" heading up a real "Operation Blackbriar"...  And if Judge Bates is right then can the real "Noah Vosen" do just about anything with impunity now?

Attention Muslims in Illinois: It's election time so get involved & go vote...umm...unless you're busy

Midterm elections are here.  On November 2, 2010 a tiny fraction of Illinois' US citizen residents will head to the polls to elect our next governor, our junior U.S. senator, members of Congress, state senators and representatives, the state attorney general and on and on.  This is a time for American Muslims to get involved.  In an ideal world, that is.

How many of us have complained about the policies of our government?  Admit it, we do it a lot!  No matter where we are - at work, talking amongst ourselves while our kids play at the park, at a Cubs game or at the mosque - it comes up.  Here are some topics that have come up in my own conversations:

"How are the schools in your area?"

"My property taxes are way too high but my appeals were denied."

"My Mom's working part-time just to get health insurance; when does Obama's healthcare law kick in?"

"Why does Rep. So-And-So say such anti-immigrant stuff?"

And admit this too: these conversation almost always include a prescriptive lament that goes something like this: "yeah, we really need to do something."  Ho-hum.  Haven't we all said this stuff?  

Sure we have.  I have a long list of exculpatory rationale I keep on hand to excuse myself for actually doing anything meaningful.  Come to think of it, if there were a market for pre-packaged, creative excuses, I could become an excuse-marketing entrepreneur.  I'm that good! 

I'll share an example of a conversation that illustrates my adeptness at complaining without actually doing anything about it.  The setting is a children's birthday party at someone's home on a Saturday night.  This is the conversation between me and two other fathers:

Mo:    "I liked that thing you posted about home-schooling on facebook."

Me:    "Thanks."

Joe:   "What was it?"

Me:    "I asked if anyone was considering home schooling instead of sending their kids to the U-46 secondary schools."

Mo:    "You said you would do that for your kids if the schools didn't improve too.  That's ballsy."

Joe:    "Really?  You'd home school?  You and your wife think that's a better alternative?"

Me:    "Well, I haven't actually discussed it with my wife yet...  But yeah, I think she'd agree with me on it.  But the point is that the secondary education in our school district is bad."

Mo:    "Yeah, it's really bad.  I decided to move out of the district because of it.  I was forced to buy this multi-million dollar home just to give my kids a better education."

Me:    "You're a good man, Charlie Brown."

Mo:    "It really sucks, ya know.  Honestly - and I know people who don't know me won't believe this -  but I feel awkward living in a gated community on these huge lots.  And the kids at the school have all the latest PSP and other electronics and we don't have any choice but to buy the crap too."

Joe:    "Back to the schools, though.  Junaid, I sent you an email about this legislation to bring more money to U-46 over the summer, remember?"

Me:    "Dude!  I do remember getting something from you.  I was swamped with family stuff at the time.  I've been taking the kids biking and swimming weekly, plus we've been having friends over almost every weekend for cook-outs, we've had the weekend trips to the beach house in western Michigan and then the week long vacation to the Bahamas.  Seriously, dude, it's been rough."

Mo:    "I applaud you for doing so much for your family, man.  I've been working like a dog just to keep up.  That indoor swimming pool is so expensive to maintain!  You're lucky you don't have one of these - trust me!"

Joe:    "Yeah, it sounds like a brutal schedule bro.  But the thing I sent you - it was about legislation to bring more money to U-46 and we need to get the grassroots to speak to their state legislators to support it.  I wanted you to bring some of your neighbors together to talk about it at your house."

Me:    "Damn dude!  I would've loved to have helped with that!  I'll definitely do something the next time."

Joe:    "Well, actually, the bill passed but the Gov vetoed it.  It's coming up in the November veto session.  We need some help going door to door to get petitions signed asking the legislators to over-turn the veto.  We could use your help."

Me:    "Absolutely dude!  Is $50 good?"

Joe:    "No bro, I need you and your neighbors to help with the canvassing effort.  Our U-46 Citizens Advisory Committee has a petition with all the relevant info on it.  We're focusing on this effort precinct by precinct.  If you could take charge of your precinct that would be a great help!"

Me:    "Dude!  It's gonna be tough.  I'd love to help but on the weekdays I get home late from work, I gotta help the kids with their homework and then I work out.  I'd be happy to give up the 3 hours I surf the web every night and post crap to facebook, but my neighbors wouldn't like me knocking on their doors at 10pm.  Damn, that sucks!"

Joe:    "Yeah, 6 to 8:30pm is probably the best time to canvass on weekdays.  Well, what about the weekends?"

Me:    "Weekends?  Man, I've got the kids soccer practice, soccer games, Sunday school, my weekly long run, and on top of that I have the Iowa games on Saturday and the Bears game on Sunday.  Plus, I'm doing this fantasy football league at work as a team-building exercise and that takes a ton of time."

Joe:  "Hmmm.  What about for an hour on Saturdays evenings?  Most Iowa games kick off at 11am, right?"

Me:    "True.  I'll have to talk to the wife.  I'm totally up for it but she's usually got stuff with my family or her family in the evenings!"

Mo:    "I know what you mean.  These weekend dinner parties are a killer!"

Joe:    "Sure."

Names have been changed to protect the identities plus this is a made up conversation but it's "on-the-mark" in terms of my mad-excuse-making-skills.  Take note of the way I deftly employ legitimate fatherly obligations against proposed civic-engagement.  Brilliant.

So, my fellow "concerned fellow Muslim US citizens with lots of complaints but very little time to do anything to address your concerns", to you I say, gear up with the excuses or get else you'll need to actually get out and do something!

______________________________________________________________

If you've run out of excuses and - GASP - are going to get involved, here are some links to help you out:

Project Vote Smart - Illinois

Registering to Vote in Illinois (a pdf brochure)

Voter Turnout Is Key for Democrats in 2010

Illinois State Board of Elections

Senator Michael Noland

Rep. Fred Crespo

Gov. Pat Quinn

Toni Preckwinkle for Cook County Board President

Melissa Bean for Congress

Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate

David Miller for Comptroller

Lisa Madigan for Illinois Attorney General

Greg Brownfield for Illinois House 

Michelle Mussman for Illinois House

Corinne M. Pierog for Illinois Senate 

U.S. charitable tax exemption helps support sniper equipment, Israeli settlements in Israel

Muslim charities are targeted for hyper-scrutiny by our government without an adequate set of guidelines or direction from the U.S. Treasury/DOJ to American Muslims who seek to fulfill their religious duty to give charity (zakat) to people in need at home and abroad.

President Obama promised American Muslims assistance last year in safeguarding American citizens' religious obligation to pay zakat.  I'm not sure anything has come of that promise to date and now we are just a little over 1 month away from Ramadan.  Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting and the time when many Muslims choose to fulfill their annual charity obligation.

At the same time that we are stymied from giving to needy causes for fear of governmental seizure and also possible criminal prosecution (or worse), it appears that our government is allowing Americans to benefit from federal IRS benefits in the form of charitable tax exemptions for donations to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.

The New York Times published a damning and detailed article on American donations to purchase sniper equipment and for paramilitary training under the guise of educational and charitable giving.

The New York Times wrote this in the article:

A New York Times examination of public records in the United States and Israel identified at least 40 American groups that have collected more than $200 million in tax-deductible gifts for Jewish settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the last decade. The money goes mostly to schools, synagogues, recreation centers and the like, legitimate expenditures under the tax law. But it has also paid for more legally questionable commodities: housing as well as guard dogs, bulletproof vests, rifle scopes and vehicles to secure outposts deep in occupied areas.

How long will we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot?  I strongly support measures to curtail funding of terrorism (whether its advanced by Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians or Atheists).  I condemn anti-Semitism.  And I am appalled that our government allows us to continue this shameful support of clearly illegal and immoral activities such as building settlements and supporting oppressors.  

Shame on us if we let this go on un-checked.

President Obama, Muslims and Terrorism - M. Zudhi Jasser thinks Obama is not doing enough

M. Zudhi Jasser recently wrote this:

I hope after Nidal Hasan, after the American jihadis in Pakistan, and now after the Christmas bomber radicalized in London, that you see our need for clear leadership against political Islam and its ubiquitous permeating militant manifestations. We need a leader who recognizes that this conflict is most significantly within Muslim communities as we Muslims struggle with the conflict between theocracy and democracy, sharia and liberty, Islamism and freedom, and salafism and modernity. The longer you squander your leadership and stay silent on this, the more vulnerable we will be.

Via NRO

Didn't Dr. Jasser listen to President Obama's speech to the Muslim world?  In that speech President Obama made it quite clear that America's fight is with violent extremists within the the Muslims world and not with Islam.

President Obama is handling our foreign affairs and our national security a lot better than his predecessor.

Domestic radicalization and FBI-American Muslim Relations: What is the best strategy?

Should the 5 young American Muslims picked up in Pakistan be charged with any crimes in the United States?

"Charging them and throwing them in jail is not the solution," said Nihad Awad, national head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which approached the FBI on behalf of the families. "The government has to show some appreciation for the actions of the parents and the community. That will encourage other families to come forward."

The men, ages 18 to 24, traveled overseas just after Thanksgiving without telling their families and were arrested near Lahore on Dec. 8. A Pakistani court this week ordered them held for up to 10 more days of interrogation, but officials say their likely return to the United States could take months. Pakistani officials say the men were in touch with a Taliban recruiter and were aiming to join up with al-Qaeda and battle U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

No one has been charged, and the men's friends and spiritual advisers say they never saw any sign of radical beliefs or activities.

Federal prosecutors in Alexandria, where any criminal case would probably be brought, declined to comment. But law enforcement sources say prosecutors are likely to consider charges that include providing material support to terrorist organizations. Prosecutors face complexities that include whether the men's reported admissions to Pakistani authorities are admissible in a U.S. court and whether any statements were coerced.

Via the Washington Post

Did these 5 guys actually commit any crimes by the time they were apprehended?  What is to be gained by not charging them?  Does a greater prospect of domestic radicalization portend an even more strained relationship between American Muslims and the FBI?

There is an argument for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to be lenient with these 5 young men.  There is a lot to be gained for restraining the full force of the law and instead trading leniency for a more concrete and collaborative strategy that brings together the American Muslim community and the FBI in order to curtail future radicalization within the American Muslim community and to also accelerate the weeding out of those violent extremists who now dwell amongst us.  Also, these men may be good candidates for de-programming or de-radicalization.  With that de-programming comes the opportunity to learn a great deal about what caused them to snap in the first place.

Some of the questions I would like answered include: (1) How did these 5 young men conceal their hatred for America so well?  (2) Was the radicalization an acute event with some particular event causing these young men to snap?  (3)  What kind of religious environment did they have in their home?  and (4)  What kind of involvement did they have in their mosque and how did they view that involvement (were they using the mosque as a cover or did they in fact seek and receive spiritual guidance there)?  These are some of the questions I would like to have answered, because I think answers to these questions will be helpful in understanding the thinking of these young men.

If Holder decides to prosecute them aggressively with the severest possible charges, then we run the risk of these men becoming recalcitrant and opting to use the criminal prosecution as a soapbox for their ideas.  The recent prosecution (and conviction) of Ehsanul Islam Sadequee in Atlanta, GA for terrorism related charges is an example of just such a situation.  Sadequee, a 23 year old U.S. citizen, opted to defend himself, and in so doing, he seems to have squandered his opportunity to defend himself in exchange for sermonizing and speech-making on Islam.

On the other hand, being lenient could send the wrong message to other would be hirabis.  Being lenient on these 5 young men may suggest to other would be violent extremists in our midst to continue with their schemes and plots with greater impugnity.

The one factor that may (should) tip the scale in favor of leniency is the fact that the families actively sought the help of the FBI.  That is precisely the kind of cooperation the FBI wants.  The American Muslim community in the DC area is no stranger to the sordid history of the FBI with American Muslims but they recognized that the FBI is a valuable resources in protecting American Muslims as well as the broader community and in the interest of protecting these 5 young American Muslims, the families reached out.  Thankfully, and possibly as a direct result of this early outreach, these 5 young men were scooped up in Pakistan before they could harm anyone (including themselves).

Sooner or later we will reckon with the fact that we cannot alienate and marginalize American Muslims and still expect to garner this community's support in rooting out extremism within the American Muslim community.  Partnering with the American Muslim community is the only way, short of shredding our Constitution, to combat home-grown hirabah.  This is an opportunity to begin mending fences and building some trust between the American Muslim community and the FBI.