 |
|
Gee, maybe now someone will listen.
For years, I’ve warned about the GOP’s Grover Norquist problem.
Just last week, he was front and center at the Gang of 8′s amnesty
press conference — despite longtime concerns expressed on this blog and
by national security advocates and activists about his dangerous
Islamist alliances and progressive proclivities.
Now we learn that Norquist’s convicted terrorist pal and former funder, Abdurahman Alamoudi, was the first president of the radical mosque attended by the Boston bomber brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev:
The mosque attended by the two brothers accused in the
Boston Marathon double bombing has been associated with other terrorism
suspects, has invited radical speakers to a sister mosque in Boston and
is affiliated with a Muslim group that critics say nurses grievances
that can lead to extremism.
Several people who attended the Islamic Society of Boston mosque in
Cambridge, Mass., have been investigated for Islamic terrorism,
including a conviction of the mosque’s first president, Abdulrahman
Alamoudi, in connection with an assassination plot against a Saudi
prince.
…• Alamoudi, who signed the articles of incorporation as the
Cambridge mosque’s president, was sentenced to 23 years in federal court
in Alexandria, Va., in 2004 for his role as a facilitator in what
federal prosecutors called a Libyan assassination plot against
then-crown prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Abdullah is now the Saudi
king.
Alamoudi, as I’ve documented repeatedly here, provided seed money to Norquist’s Muslim outreach effort during the Bush years. Flashback 2003:
Alamoudi’s arrest is part of a larger Justice Department
investigation of terrorism funding focused on Saudi-backed Islamic
foundations and businesses based in Herndon, Va. (Alamoudi is also
responsible for founding the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans
Affairs Council to “certify Muslim chaplains hired by the military,”
including Capt. James “Youssef” Yee — charged last week with taking
classified information home from Guantanamo Bay.) A so-called
“moderate,” Alamoudi is on record praising the terrorist group Hezbollah
and proclaiming: “We are all followers of Hamas.”
Norquist’s lobbying firm is registered as a lobbyist for Alamoudi.
Alamoudi provided seed money for Norquist’s Islamic Institute, which
shares space with Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform group. The
institute is run by Alamoudi deputy and former AMC government relations
director Khaled Saffuri. Saffuri and Norquist have worked closely with
Bush senior adviser Karl Rove to give radical Muslim activists access to
the White House. No doubt because of their efforts, Alamoudi was
invited to a White House prayer service after the Sept. 11 attacks.
If any Democrat activist had such shady connections, conservatives
would be on him like white on rice. Instead, Norquist has gotten away
with smearing his critics — most notably, former Reagan official Frank
Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy, one of the most decent and
patriotic Republicans I’ve had the honor of meeting — as hatemongers.
Another refresher course via Insight magazine on how Norquist tried to silence and smear his critics by playing the race card:
I’ve continued to try and educate/warn young conservatives about Norquist:Norquist was Alamoudi’s most influential Washington
facilitator, authorities believe, noting that Norquist reminds friend
and foe alike that he is close to the president’s powerful political
strategist, Karl Rove.
Norquist, who previously has denied any suggestion that his work
facilitated any wrongdoing, not only introduced Alamoudi to Washington
GOP power circles but also Sammy Al Arian, whom prosecutors arrested
earlier this year for alleged terrorist activities. Federal
law-enforcement sources say they are focusing on some of Norquist’s
associates and financial ties to terrorist groups.
Alamoudi ran, directed, founded or funded at least 15 Muslim
political-action and charitable groups that have taken over the public
voice of Islamic Americans. Through a mix of civil-rights complaints,
Old Left-style political coalitions and sheer persistence, Alamoudi
helped inch the image of U.S.-based Islamists toward the political
mainstream and induced politicians to embrace his organizations. He
sought to secure the support first of the Clinton administration in
seeking to repeal certain antiterrorist laws, but when Bill Clinton
failed to deliver, Alamoudi defected to Bush, then governor of Texas.
Alamoudi and other Muslim leaders met with Bush in Austin in July
[2000], offering to support his bid for the White House in exchange for
Bush’s commitment to repeal certain antiterrorist laws.
That meeting, sources say, began a somewhat strained relationship
between the self-appointed Muslim leaders and the Bush team. Some senior
Bush advisers voiced caution to Rove, who is said to have disregarded
such concerns, seeing instead an opportunity to bring another ethnic and
religious group into the GOP big tent. A photo of the Austin event
shows Bush with Alamoudi standing over his left shoulder, flanked by the
former head of the Pakistani Communist Party, several open supporters
of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups and other individuals
Insight is trying to identify.
Canceled checks obtained by Insight show Alamoudi provided seed money
to start a GOP-oriented Muslim group called the Islamic Institute,
which Norquist originally chaired and now is led by former Alamoudi aide
and former AMC staffer Khaled Saffuri. A White House memo obtained by
Insight prepared for coordinating Muslim and Arab-American
“public-liaison” events with the White House shows that the Islamic
Institute was instrumental in establishing the connection. The memo,
from early 2001, provides lists of invitees and the name, date of birth
and Social Security number of each. Norquist, as the first chairman of
the Islamic Institute, tops the list.
Alamoudi and others, including Norquist, tried to keep critics at bay by branding them as “racists” and “bigots.”
Dear young people at CPAC: Before you cheer Grover Norquist, ask: Who is Abdurahman Alamoudi? ==> http://michellemalkin.com/2004/07/30/what-say-you-now-grover-norquist/ …
And I asked back in 2009 when Norquist hosted an RNC chairman debate:
Will the next RNC chairman remain silent about Norquist’s
security-undermining strategic alliances? Will the next RNC chairman
openly reject the same race-card-playing strategies that have corrupted a
money-grubbing party establishment? Or will the field of candidates
kiss the ring and hold their tongues?
The guaranteed silence on these issues today will speak volumes.
***
The RNC debate is over. There was much pandering and kowtowing and pledging to increase minority outreach efforts.
What no RNC candidate would say:
I will never engage in “outreach” efforts at the cost of our security and sovereignty.
Will conservatives remain silent now?