[aristeides]

Individual agents may have monitored these guys, but they were not allowed to do anything more. If Al-Arian was known to be a threat, would he have been allowed to meet with Bush and then visit the White House?

[swarthyguy]

>>If Al-Arian was known to be a threat, would he have been allowed to meet with Bush and then visit the White House?


Depends if the person who had the President's ear vouched for his bonafides. Not as an islami but as a "moderate".

And institutionally and higher up, we never considered these guys a threat.

[philman_36]

If Al-Arian was known to be a threat, would he have been allowed to meet with Bush and then visit the White House?
You throw in the "if" when, to me anyway, there is, and was, no "if".
He was known to be a threat and any who say otherwise are ignorant, then and now.
In part...http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/al-arian_indict_022003.pdf...
26. From in or about 1984, the exact date being unknown to the grand jury, and continuing until in or about the date of this Indictment, in the Middle District of Florida and elsewhere,
A list of names and aka's...
and others, known and unknown, being persons employed by and associated with the enterprise described in Section A of this Count; that is, the PIJ Enterprise, which enterprise engaged in, and its activities affected, interstate and foreign commerce, knowingly, willfully, and unlawfully did combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together and with each other and with other persons, both known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962 (c) ; that is, to conduct and participate, directly and indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of that enterprise, through a pattern of racketeering activity, as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1961( 1) and ( 5) , consisting of:
(a) multiple acts involving murder, in violation of Florida Statutes 782.04; 777.04( 3) ;
(b) multiple acts involving extortion in violation of Florida Statutes 836.05, 777.011 and 777.04;
(c) acts indictable under title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(a) (2) and (h) [ money laundering ] ;
(d) acts indictable under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1952 [interstate or foreign travel or transportation and use of any facilities in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to promote and carry on an unlawful activity] ;
(e) acts indictable under Title 18, United States Code, Section 956 [conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure persons in a foreign country] ;
(f) acts indictable under Title 18, United States Code, Section 2339B [ providing material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations ] ; and
(g) acts indictable under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1546 [ fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents ] .

From in or about 1984 it was known that Al-Arian was a threat!
And one more "if" crusher...November 1994 - A PBS documentary, "Jihad in America" alleges Al-Arian is the head of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group's domestic support network. The documentary was created by Steve Emerson.
1996 - Federal agents say in unsealed court documents that they have probable cause to believe the think tank and the charity are fronts for international terrorists.
And one more "we didn't know" buster...SAMI AL-ARIAN FACT SHEET
Snip...On a videotape of a 1991 conference in Cleveland, Ohio, seized by FBI agents, (found in a 1995 raid on his home) al-Arian is introduced as “the president of the Islamic Committee for Palestine, and a short briefing about the Islamic Committee for Palestine, it is the active arm of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine, and we like to call it the Islamic Committee for Palestine here for security reasons.” After being introduced, Al-Arian stated, “Let us continue the protests. Let us damn America. Let us damn Israel. Let us damn their allies until death.”
Of course, the Cartoon put a stop to most of this so as not to hurt the feelings/reputation of the muslim community and the American people at large remained mostly ignorant of most of these things.

The "apologetics" in this whole thing is sickening!