Embattled Muslim aide to leave Pentagon job (FLASH!!! More on Major Coughlin Story)

The Investigative Project on Terrorism. ^ | 11 February 2008 | The Investigative Project on Terrorism.

[K-oneTexas]

Embattled Muslim aide to leave Pentagon job
Hesham Islam's 'resume didn't add up,' official says

WorldNetDaily
February 11, 2008

In a stunning turn of events, a high-level Muslim military aide blamed for costing an intelligence contractor his job will step down from his own Pentagon post, WND has learned.

Meanwhile, his rival, Maj. Stephen Coughlin, a leading authority on Islamic war doctrine, may stay in the Pentagon, moving from the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the office of the secretary of defense. However, sources say a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey is trying to block his new contract.

The top Pentagon aide, Egyptian-born Hesham H. Islam, came under a cloud of suspicion after reports raised doubt about his resume and contacts he had made with radical Muslims. He is expected to leave the government next month, officials say.

Islam and Coughlin recently quarreled over intelligence briefings Coughlin presented showing a close connection between the religion of Islam and terrorism. Coughlin's contract with the Joint Chiefs, which ends in March, was not renewed.

But as a result of the ensuing firestorm that played out in the conservative press – led by Washington Times Pentagon reporter Bill Gertz – Islam was put under a microscope, and questions were raised regarding his background.

For example, Claudia Rosett of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies wrote a column challenging key claims in Islam's official biography. Within days, a Defense Department profile of Islam was removed from the department's website.

A Pentagon spokesman said it was "taken down in an attempt to reduce the rhetoric and the emotion surrounding this issue while we try to determine the facts."

A senior U.S. official says the life story Islam presented now appears sketchy.

"His resume didn't add up, and he knows it," the official said. "He's voluntarily leaving the government in March."

At the same time, a report by terror expert Steven Emerson revealed that Islam, as special assistant to the deputy secretary of defense, has scheduled at least two meetings in the Pentagon with Syrian-tied radicals – including a leading member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood – in direct violation of U.S. policy.

As WND previously reported, FBI officials believe Islam is involved with the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and is helping its front groups run "influence operations" against the U.S. government.

"He's a Muslim brother," an FBI official told WND. "He's a bad actor, and he's made other unreported nefarious contacts."

Islam has worked closely in the Pentagon with Muslim chaplain Abuhena M. Saifulislam, who as WND also previously reported, received his trained at a radical Islamic school in Northern Virginia that was raided by federal authorities after 9/11.

Islam, whose son is active in the military, obtained one of the highest security clearances for classified information. Sources confirm he has sat in on Pentagon meetings in which intelligence clearance was restricted at the Top Secret/SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) level.

The Pentagon had no comment. And Islam, who has not been accused of any crimes, has refused interviews.

Emerson says Islam prescribed a steady diet of Muslim Brotherhood-connected outreach for his unwitting boss, deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England.

For example, England spoke at the Islamic Society of North America's 2006 convention and last year even hosted a luncheon with ISNA officials in the Pentagon. At the time, federal prosecutors had linked ISNA to the Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy in the U.S. and named the group as an unindicted co-conspirator in a major terrorism-financing case.

In one intelligence briefing, Coughlin argued that the Pentagon should end its outreach programs with ISNA, which also put him at odds with Islam.

Pentagon insiders say Eric S. Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, has sought to stop the awarding of a new contract to Coughlin. Edelman served as ambassador to Turkey from 2003 to 2005.

Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., who co-chairs the House Anti-Terrorism Caucus, has been fighting to keep Coughlin in the Pentagon, where she says his blunt analysis of the Islamic enemy is sorely needed.

Citing federal court documents introduced as evidence in a recent major terror case, she also warns that U.S. front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood are conspiring to destroy America from within.

"Our enemies have clearly stated their intention to infiltrate us, much like the Russians did during the Cold war," Myrick said. "We had no problem analyzing and acting on that information then."

"I know that some people will refuse to admit there is a subversive movement going on here, but let me remind you that we have underestimated the will and capability of our enemy for more than 30 years," she added. "They are patient and determined to achieve their radical agenda."

Editor's Note: For more on the Hesham Islam story, click here and here.

[neodad]

Egyptian-born Hesham H. Islam

The name says it all.

[SatinDoll]

Good. Now we need to go and start chopping out the dead wood in the State Department and the CIA.

[Lancey Howard]

Sounds like yet another crooked State Department scheme is unraveling.

[Chgogal]

FYI!

[RDTF]

good

[BARLF]

Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C.,

North Carolina needs to keep this good lady in the House,too.

Bless her for speaking out.

England needs to go since he's clueless about our enemies.

[GOPJ]

bttt

[khnyny]

OMG.

“Islam, whose son is active in the military, obtained one of the highest security clearances for classified information. Sources confirm he has sat in on Pentagon meetings in which intelligence clearance was restricted at the Top Secret/SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) level.”

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Now lets go over and check the State Department!

How many more of these spys have we got in sensitive areas?

[khnyny]

Meanwhile, his rival, Maj. Stephen Coughlin, a leading authority on Islamic war doctrine, may stay in the Pentagon, moving from the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the office of the secretary of defense. However, sources say a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey is trying to block his new contract.

Who's the asshat former Ambassador?

[khnyny]

Perhaps Gordon Prouty? Husband of Nada Nadim Prouty?

[processing please hold]

bttt

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

["Islam and Coughlin recently quarreled over intelligence briefings Coughlin presented showing a close connection between the religion of Islam and terrorism."]

THIS is still under "debate"?

["Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., who co-chairs the House Anti-Terrorism Caucus, has been fighting to keep Coughlin in the Pentagon, where she says his blunt analysis of the Islamic enemy is sorely needed. "]

Abso-f*cking-lutely!

[mojo114]

If this is true it is a very good thing. World Net Daily has been suspect of late. I use the trust the sight but we have been screwed before by them.

[kellynla]

You’re running seven hours behind the pack on this one. LOL
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1968654/posts

[Chgogal]

Way too many! We might as well just close down State and the C.I.A. They are useless!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967795/posts

And for more posts regarding Hesham and Coughlin:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTQ1ZjE0MWZlYWI2ODVjYzU3MjcyZjBkMzcxNzBjNTQ

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963178/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1962314/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1958792/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1955172/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1953474/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1949183/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948200/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1952167/posts?page=58
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963616/posts

[Cindy]

That’s a very good question Ernest and I wish I knew the answer.

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963607/posts?page=499#499

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

"I know that some people will refuse to admit there is a subversive movement going on here, but let me remind you that we have underestimated the will and capability of our enemy for more than 30 years," she added. "They are patient and determined to achieve their radical agenda."

**********************************

There is a book that all should read***************

Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left (Paperback)
by David Horowitz (Author)

**********************

By Kat Bakhu (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

I had long wondered why people on the Left had the propensity to speak more positively about people who would slit their throats than they do about their own country, which affords them more freedom and opportunity than anywhere else. David Horowitz has answered that question thoroughly and convincingly in his Unholy Alliance. Where I felt bewildered and confused, I now feel crystal clear. Unholy Alliance is such a great book.

It begins with the leftist movements at the beginning of the 20th Century, and works its way up to the present day, exploring the anti-American attitude of these movements in detail. Horowitz shows that the enemies of the US back then are largely the same group today, operating under the same misperceptions, making the same mistakes, and pursuing the same impossible utopia.

Individual chapters are included on the Patriot Act (I was persuaded that it is a GOOD thing); the democratic flip-flop on Iraq once G.W. Bush implemented what they agreed with Clinton needed to be done; the driving components of the current anti-war movement; as well as chapters on individual personalities who are major spokespeople of the Left. Horowitz covers a lot of ground, and he covers it concisely and clearly. Unholy Alliance is richly informative without ever being boring or plodding.

This book is so illuminating that I simply cannot do justice to it here. I love people who reason so clearly that they help me get my own reasoning clear. Horowitz is just that type of person! In the terrain of mindless clichés (no-blood-for-oil, etc.), he is a breath of real fresh air.