Bad/Good Press: Council on American-Islamic Relations

Politics International Politics
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news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u … 0585issues

from Investors Business Daily

IBD is not a small newspaper and it is good to see that at least someone is shining some light on the CAIR. Sad, but not surprising that the article comes from a business paper and not the MSM.

[quote]War On Terror: An American Muslim pressure group has come out strongly against police profiling of young Muslim men behaving suspiciously at train stations. But the group doesn’t have our best interests at heart.

The terror-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, says two New York officials’ push for such targeted profiling on city subways is offensive and ignorant.

"Terror comes in all shapes and sizes," insists Wissam Nasr, director of CAIR’s New York branch.

Never mind that eight young Muslim men bombed London’s tube. Or that 19 young Muslim men attacked New York in 2001. Or that every suspect on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists is a Muslim man, with nearly half going by the name Mohammed.

CAIR’s national spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, says police should ignore such obvious terror traits and search riders at random, while paying close attention only to people "sweating." Never mind that during New York’s balmy summer months, that would include folks who don’t remotely fit the terrorist profile.

CAIR should know better than anyone who does fit the terrorist profile. Three of its own officials were recently convicted of terror-related crimes. One even worked for Hooper. He’s now in prison for conspiring to kill Americans.

A lawsuit filed against CAIR by the family of former FBI official John P. O’Neill, who was killed on 9-11, charges that the group, which evolved from a known Hamas front, is “a key player in international terrorism.”

Congress is investigating CAIR and has repeatedly invited its executive director to deny the mounting terror charges under oath. But Nihad Awad, a Palestinian American, refuses. If CAIR is not tied to terrorism, why not clear the air at a televised hearing?

Tellingly, CAIR after 9-11 refused to single out al-Qaida or Osama bin Laden for condemnation. After the London bombings, it endorsed an anti-terror edict so broad it was meaningless – and one that was loaded with qualifiers.

Instead of condemning attacks against British or American or Israeli non-Muslims, it hedged by denouncing “all acts of terrorism targeting civilians” and “innocent lives” – leaving non-Muslims to wonder if they fall into those categories, knowing that jihadists don’t necessarily consider them innocent or civilian.

(The vaguely worded edict was written by Hooper pal Taha Jaber al-Alwani, who happens to be an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing terror case against Sami al-Arian, the alleged U.S. leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.)

We wonder who and what CAIR, which calls itself a civil-rights defender, is really protecting when it fights targeted profiling at train stations and airports.

CAIR may talk a good patriotic and moderate game. But it has a secret agenda to Islamize America.

Before 9-11, its founder and chairman, Omar Ahmad, also a Palestinian American, told a Muslim audience: "Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Quran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."

Before coming to Washington, Hooper himself is on record stating: “I wouldn’t want to create the impression that I wouldn’t like the government of the United States to be Islamic.”

Hooper is also on record claiming CAIR receives no “support from any overseas group or government.” But land records revealed in the book “Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington” put the lie to that claim.

It turns out that an anti-Israeli foundation run by the crown prince of Dubai owns the very deed to CAIR’s headquarters located almost in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol. The foundation has held telethons to support families of Palestinian suicide bombers.

Against these facts,
it’s hard to trust anything CAIR says regarding the fight against terror.
It’s plain the group has ulterior motives.

Politicians from Washington to New York should ignore its aggressive lobbying against targeted profiling, a move that could save thousands of constituents’ lives.

If anyone should be profiled, it’s CAIR.[/quote]

:bravo:

Great shot across the bow!

Imagine telling NY to not profile Arab-looking men and women! I’m hopeful that an excess of democracy will not destroy our democracy.

Using the PC-culture that has sadly grown to outrageous levels in America to get bombs on the trains would be more than tragic…but vastly stupid…on America’s part.

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I am outraged by this slanderous suggestion that somehow the Middle East or Muslim nations or groups are somehow any more dysfunctional than any other group. Clearly, this is not the case OR if there are incidents, they are based on root causes which need to be addressed. If you were not such a sanctimonious hypocrite you would realize that, so what about the Indians huh? some Americans 97 years ago were lynched in one county in Alabama and once a taxi driver who lost his job in NY was not given welfare even though he really needed it. Couple that with the fact that sometimes innocent people go to jail in the US, why there was one example of a guy who was just released but clearly that is comparable to the gulags cuz you guys have like 500 people caught fighting on the battlefields of Afghanistan but were they given due process? had access to a counselor? What if they feel upset about being locked up? ever think of that? Got anything to say about women not being able to play at the Augusta Country Club? What about people who cannot get jobs in this very country or those who do not get a good education. AmeriKKKa is all about oppression too my man but you just refuse to see it because everyone has their rights enshrined in law, and benefits from our democratic tradition, but there are imperfections in AmeriKKKa too so my friend, it is no better than Saddam, the mullahs or anyone else. Can’t you see that?

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uhm…er…

GO YANKEES! :smiley:

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Well said!..Here! Here!..and lest we be accused of “ganging up” on dear JDSmith…I must add…“Oh Fred, you just don’t get it!”

The CAIR is the public arm of the Islamic Smoke-Screen Club.
In the USA it has regional representatives who are quite ‘camera-friendly’ who say the appropriate words and make the needed ‘tsk tsk’ when another beheading or bomd is exploded.
Meanwhile back in the mosque the business of jihad/terrorism goes on.

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Well, at least your outrage is consistent at questioning motives simply because of ethnic origin or religious affiliation.

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First, the Council on American-Islamic Relations is just one group of people who got together, formed an organization, picked a name for it, claim to have certain objectives, but may or may not be honest or honorable. In no way do the acts or statements of individuals within this one group impugn anyone outside the group, much less all muslims or all ayrabs, as Fred would have us believe.

By analogy, consider this. The following are purported “hate groups” that commit hate crimes in the US:

Can we therefore conclude that all conservative citizens, all members of Christian churches, and all white people are bad people? Obviously not. The groups speak only for themselves, as with the CAIR.

As for racial or ethnic profiling, that’s been a very controversial issue since long before 9/11 and the widespread public prejudices against ayrabs. In 1944 the US Supreme Court, in a case known as Korematsu v. United States, upheld the shipping off to camps and imprisonment of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 because, in essence, anyone of Japanese descent living on the West Coast of the US was presumed to be a traitor. Today, most of us would probably feel that decision, and that action, was wrong.

African-americans have also long complained of racial profiling. So many blacks claim that police use tiny alleged driving violations as a pretext for stopping them, when in fact they were stopped because they are black, that a common description has developed for such traffic violations: DWB or Driving While Black. And I recall several cases that received a lot of press where respected, well-educated, professional black men were treated very abusively by law enforcement even though they really didn’t do anything, and the only plausible explanation is they were mistreated due to their race. I’m sure most black people will tell you it happens all the time – one just has to get used to being constantly treated as a suspect.

And now it’s ayrabs, or indians, pakis, muslims, or other olive-complected peoples’ turns. Yes, we need to be vigilant for terrorists, but if these people complain about wrongful harassment based on their skin color or other such attributes, such claims should be taken seriously. The case of the Brazilian in London who was guilty of nothing other than being scared and got shot to death as a result is a good example. I’m not saying it’s easy to go after terrorists without violating the civil rights of law abiding muslims, pakis, indians, iraqis, etc., but very serious efforts should be made to do exactly that.

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First, the CAIR is the recognized “voice” of Muslims in America. It therefore must stand greater scrutiny. When the Christian groups you mentioned get invited to the White House or start speaking in behalf of the Christians of America, then you have a point.

The Japanese internment was complicated but overused as a red herring to prevent appropriate measures against terrorism. Is anyone suggesting here that all Arab-Americans be interned? No. So stop setting up strawmen.

Third, despite the media hoopla, it was in fact discovered by several studies that driving while black was in fact more hype than reality. I can try to track down those studies again but the issue certainly disappeared pretty fast when it was no longer the flavor of choice. Why else would that have happened if it were still a serious and ongoing or ever was a problem?

Fourth, the fact remains that while the vast majority of Arabs and Muslims are NOT terrorists, the vast majority of terrorists are still Arabs, Muslims and male. Specifically 17-40 would be a good group to look at. I think that given these variables, it is entirely appropriate to give these people greater scrutiny. Every time, I get to the airport, I am subjected to lengthy questioning over and over and over and over again because I have stamps from Iran, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, etc. etc. in my passport. What can I do about it? Not much, but do I recognize that there might be a reason for questioning someone about frequent travel to the Middle East? You betcha.

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I certainly agree with you here. Yet, it seems hypocritical of the CAIR with its proven links to terrorist groups and terrorists to be asking for “good natured” non-biased screening.

And for the love of good discussion, can we not start saying that agreement with credibly-biased screening means ALL Arab-looking people are guilty until proven innocent?

The CAIR is asking the police to insert their heads into their asses, and though I doubt the CAIR is behind any terrorism planning in NYC, it certainly seems to be encouraging it by prying the door open for any numnuts blinded by hate or fear or revenge or whatever “their” excuse is this month to slip in and blow people up…

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I have no idea what you mean by that. The CAIR objected to racial profiling. I simply stated that racial profiling has long been a controversial issue and gave that as an example. I never suggested that anyone here was urging internment of all Ayrabs. Just pointing out that the issue has been around for a long time, sometimes profiling may seem like a legitimate law enforcement/security strategy, but sometimes it can go to far and constitute violations of the civil rights of innocent individuals, so it’s a delicate balancing act.

Please do that. I suspect they were studies conducted by David Duke and the Imperial Dragons of White Supremacy. Ask any real live black person and I’m sure they will tell you they have been a victim of DWB or other racial profiling.

I doubt it’s due to the stamps in your passport. More likely due to the shower cap you’re wearing.

Seriously, I never said people who are from or have traveled to or from such places shouldn’t be subject to heightened scrutiny. I never said I’m opposed to racial profiling. I recognize the above may be ONE legitimate factor among others in trying to determine if a person poses a risk. But I believe that innocent muslims or olive-complected people who complain about being harassed due to racial profiling also have a valid point. It’s a sensitive and controversial balancing act with legitimate arguments on both sides and the same issues have existed and been debated in the courts for decades, except that now they apply to a different category of suspicious people.

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[quote]The most recent study of Driving While Black (DWB) reveals the phenomenon is largely a myth. It has been “proven” to be a routine practice by law enforcement personnel (LEP). The accounts in the mainstream media indicate there is a “tremendous” amount of evidence of this practice, but it just isn’t so. A February 2003 study published in Criminology, a journal of the American Society of Criminology tells the tale. Richard J. Lundman, an Ohio State University Sociology professor, and Robert L. Kaufman, the Chair of Ohio State

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[quote=“fred smith”][quote]. . .[color=red]the results raise the question of whether police really are treating minorities differently than whites[/color], or whether minorities are perceiving a difference. [/b]While[color=red] this study can

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Ah but that’s just it MT. The study like others before it has not been able to determine intent, it has merely noted discrepancies in percentages of who gets stopped. Your report notes differences in stopping rates but it too cannot prove racist intent so what exactly was your point? to show that there is “concern?” Fine with me, but what have you “proved?”

The study I cited was able to determine however differences in perception about why motorists were stopped. You have conveniently ignored this point. Also, why then is there no discrepancy between black and white women drivers?

Now, let’s take the racial equation out of this and let me ask you a question: why do young men pay more for car insurance than older women? Is that fair? Is that insurance profiling?

Also, would you stop a car playing loud music more often than one with no loud music? would you stop a car at 1:30 pm or 1:30 am? I have frequently been followed by cops after leaving bars in the US at closing time, wonder why that is? They usually don’t stop me though, but I have been followed for quite some time. Must not have stopped me though because they could eventually see through the dark that I was white?

Several of the Driving While Black police profiling investigations turned up the same results. If you factor in broken tail lights, car appearance, time of day, neighborhood and behavior of driver and passengers, the differential is narrowed considerably.

Would you expect more police stops at 9 am or 4 am? Would you expect more in a rich suburb or a slum? Would you expect more stops around high crime areas? Would you expect more stops around bars? in speed-trap zones?