Private undercover team exposes nationwide network of radical, anti-U.S. Islamic centers

Insight Magazine ^ | June 12-18, 2007

[Ooh-Ah]

Hundreds of Islamic centers in the United States have become a hot-bed of extremist activity; they promote violence, terrorism and hatred against America.

“Our initial investigation has concluded there are between 400 to 500 radical Islamic centers in the U.S.,” said David Gaubatz, the director of counterintelligence and counterterrorism for the Society of Americans for National Existence. “In those places, they preach an extreme version of Islam that says America and the West is the enemy. They espouse violence, hatred and the need for terrorism.”

Gaubatz is a former senior U.S. intelligence official, who now works for the Mapping Shari’a in America Project (www.mappingsharia.com), which is supported by SANE, a national non-profit group devoted to investigating the 2,300 Islamic centers in the U.S. for extremist activity.

Gaubatz and his investigators are currently active and will soon form a team of about 12. They pose as people interested in converting to Islam or who are current Muslims. Their goal is to infiltrate mosques and Muslim centers. Recently, he and his team penetrated the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, located in Falls Church, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Sporting a beard and Muslim dress, Gaubatz said he went on May 18 to the center, pretending to be an American interested in becoming a convert to Islam. He discovered the center espoused terrorism and jihad against America.

“They are teaching what they call Jihad Qital, which means physical jihad,” Gaubatz said. “They’re teaching violence and hatred of the United States.”

Gaubatz said that he met the two primary clerics at Dar Al-Hijrah, Imam Shaker Elsayed and Imam Johari Abdulmalik. Both men have been trained in Saudi Arabia. He says another key individual is Yusef Estes, an informal senior leader at the center and an internationally influential Muslim scholar who was trained in Saudi Arabia.

“They put me through the process of learning their faith and ideology,” Gaubatz said. “They felt close to me and they gave me literature and CDs. They told me to study. The literature is very Jihad Qital.”

He said that the Islamic center has deep ties to Saudi Arabia and espouses Wahhabism, a virulent and puritanical version of Islam.

“Many members of the mosque provided me literature to study. Most of the literature they gave me was from Saudi Arabia,” he said. “Their literature preaches that America and the West are decadent and evil, and that Muslims have a moral duty to engage in violence against the infidels.”

Gaubatz says that Dar Al-Hijrah and other radical Islamic centers in the U.S. are funded by Saudi Arabia, which is the primary sponsor of the Wahhabist brand of Islam.

“The ultimate goal for those at Dar Al-Hijrah is to instill Sharia law in the U.S. and have America adhere to the Islamic faith,” he said. “They want America to be an Islamic state.”

Gaubatz said that the imams at the center encouraged him to read the works of their “friends”—some of whom have been convicted for terrorism-related activities. According to Gaubatz, one of those “friends” he was encouraged to read is Ali Al-Tamimi, a radical Islamist author, who was convicted of inciting terrorism in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network.

Al-Tamimi was born and raised in the U.S., and then as a teenager went to Saudi Arabia to study Islam. He lectured often at the Center for Islamic Information and Education in Falls Church, Virginia. He was a founding member of the center, which is also known as Dar al-Arqam.

The Virginia Jihad Network was a group of radical Islamists who were charged with engaging in terrorist plots. Nine members of the group were convicted of using and possessing various weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and explosives.

Al-Tamimi was later convicted of being the spiritual leader of the group and of having encouraged them to wage Jihad on the U.S.

Gaubatz maintains that he and his team of field workers at the Mapping Shari’a in America Project are not only focusing on major metropolitan areas. Although there is plenty of Islamist activity in cities such as Detroit, Dearborn, Michigan and Washington, he says radical Muslims are also establishing education and religious centers in small towns.

“They’re branching out and teaching the Jihadist ideology in small towns across America, especially in rural areas in places like Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina,” Gaubatz said.

He says that a terrorist atrocity on U.S. soil similar to what happened on 9/11 is inevitable unless Americans take decisive measures.

“If we let our guard down, another 9/11—maybe even something worse—is going to happen again,” he said. “We need to be proactive rather than reactive.”

Gaubatz says that his investigative team is composed of individuals of various faiths, whose goal is to protect the American homeland from Islamic extremism.

“We have a team consisting of Christians, Jews and Muslims—there are several Muslims, in fact, on our team—who go undercover and try to penetrate radical mosques in this country,” he said. “This is not about being anti-Muslim. It is about being anti-extremism, anti-Jihadism and anti-terrorism.

“Our mission is to get at the truth—to find out the truth about what’s really going on in our country.”

[Old Sarge]

Big deal - what did Paris have for dinner tonight?

And didn’t the ending of The Sopranos suck?

Oh, what’s going to happen to Anna Nicole’s baby?

( /sarcasm voice BARLEY off)

[Pining_4_TX]

The government is doing something about it! It is bringing in thousands of Iraqi refugees to bolster their numbers. There, now don’t you feel better?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the ping!

[LibertarianInExile]

“Members of these radical centers that are here illegally will get Z (Amnesty) Visas. Then our government will wholeheartedly protect their civil rights and help them to bring their families over. It is all part of a master plan. The Islamofascists will see how stupid that we are and will feel so sorry for us that they will decide not to kill us. /s”

Bump to your post AND tag line.

[Cindy]

Thank you for the ping Ernest.

[BBell]

“Their literature preaches that America and the West are decadent and evil, and that Muslims have a moral duty to engage in violence against the infidels.”

With the exception of the part about violence and infidels I’ve heard Christians say similar things. I guess that is the difference between Christians and Muslims. Christians preach a moral duty to convert sinners. Muslims, well we know what they preach.

[cowdog77]

“If we let our guard down, another 9/11—maybe even something worse—is going to happen again,” he said. “We need to be proactive rather than reactive.”
______________________________
If there are 400-500 centers............we’ve ALREADY let our guard down and can’t be proactive.

[SunkenCiv]

well, there is one way...

Six extremists killed

[WesternPacific]

How do you know they/we aren’t?

Previously I would have said the same thing, but I realized I was giving our government too much credit. I had always given them the benefit of doubt. I have come to the conclusion that the actions or inaction of this administration over the past year or so has convinced me that this administration is as clueless and incompetent as they appear.

[P-Marlowe]

I suspect a decent percentage of the attendees are FBI informants. Or at least I hope so!

Dream on. The house oversight committee would have leaked that information to the NYTimes along with the names of the informants a long time ago. Unfortunately Muslims have free reign to preach hate and plot terrorism because our Congress hates America as much as these jihadists.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Just say NO to Amnesty!! Keep calling!! It’s NOT OVER!!

U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121

U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121

White House comments: (202) 456-1111

Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep

Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

[gitmo]

It seems strange....the government doesn’t even ask for your support in the war on terrorism...

Why would the government want support for a bumper sticker? I don't get it. < /edwards>

[Degaston]

If they are effective then you wouldn’t see any signs of it. Think “undercover”.

[prairiebreeze]

bump for later read and mail

[expatguy]

You must be kidding.

[Eye of Unk]

I seem to vaguely remember a document that started with these words: "We The People" Our leaders are not doing anything to defend our country of threats INSIDE our country, We The People should decide if its sufficient reason to act upon it ourselves. Of all those militias across the country do they actually do anything? Or would they? I am getting fed up with the lame duck president and the possibility of a an even worse president candidate. Because I live in Alaska i get to say maybe we should consider leaving the US, secession I think its called. We desperately need to clean house all across the US.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Because you can have a religion and preach whatever you want, and because we have freedom of speech. I hope the government monitors the group to watch if they take actions, but every person in this country has a right to argue and persuade people about opinions.

[angcat]

The local cities kiss the ass of the Muslims Westchester County NY is a prime example. They are catering to a group of people who in the future will eventually know or be part of the next attack on NY.

[Travis McGee]

“I’m shocked! Shocked!”

(not)

[PGalt]

Must read Hugh Fitzgerald (Jihadwatch) comments on this here...http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016922.php#more