Posted on 09/11/2001 2:43:38 PM PDT by Lex
Expert testifies Islamic terrorists flocking to U.S.
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, January 31, 2000
WASHINGTON -- The United States and Canada have become havens for Islamic terrorists from the Middle East, a congressional panel has been told.
Despite counterterrorism legislation, the United States and Canada have become a haven for such terrorist groups as the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Lebanese Hizbullah, the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, the Egyptian Al Gamat Al Islamiya and the Al Qaida group, led by Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden.
Counterterrorism expert Steven Emerson cited the liberal climate in the United States, the ability to hide under mainstream religious identification, loopholes in immigration procedures, ease of penetration of borders, compartmentalization of terrorist cells around loosely structured terrorist movements.
Emerson said Islamic groups in the United States benefit from the exploitation of freedoms of religion and speech , absence of a vigilant media and lack of government scrutiny regarding fundraising.
"The list of major international terrorists and militants allowed to enter the United States in recent years or actually granted green cards and citizenship is nothing less than staggering," Emerson told the House Judiciary Committee last week.
The terrorists who entered the United States over the last few years include Wadih Hage, secretary as Bin Laden, Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, Ayman Zawahiri, leader of the Egyptian Al Jihad organization, Emerson said.
The Lebanese Hizbullah has been particularly active in both Canada and the United States, Emerson said. Mohammed Hussein Husseini, arrested in March 1997, provided a video of Hizbullah targets. At the same time, Canada charged two Saudi born men who had entered Canada the previous year with being members of Islamic terrorist organizations.
"For a number of reasons, Canada is an attractive venue for terrorists," he said. "Long borders and coastlines offer many points of entry, which can facilitate movement to and from various sites around the world, particularly the United States. As a wealthy industrial society, Canada is an excellent location in which to raise money in the name of causes abroad. The nation accepts large numbers of immigrants and refugees, and consequently has significant emigre communities, which can be a source of haven and support."
Emerson, who has exposed Islamic terrorism in the United States has become the target of American Muslim groups. This has included efforts to prevent Emerson from testifying to Congress.
On Tuesday, after a sustained effort, Emerson was invited to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.
"The aim of this campaign is to prevent me, as well as others, from speaking and writing about the threat of militant Islamic fundamentalism on American soil, and thus prevent the public from being properly informed," he told the committee.
"The very success of these organizations and their supporters, fronting under the false veneer of being 'moderate' and 'mainstream,' in creating a chilling climate where free speech on this issue has been suppressed, has become a factor in allowing foreign terrorists to operate in the United States below the radar screen and thus avoid the scrutiny from either the media, public officials or law enforcement."
Monday, January 31, 2000
Right. A hard dose of Truth and Tribulation has a way of polarizing the lukewarm into being either hot or cold. We haven't seen people today, like we did yesterday, who say they are Christians and who want to oppose Israel and support the Palis which is an antisemitic, antichrist position. Quite possibly the attitude towards a shipload of "refugees" sitting off the coast of Australia has changed for many as well. Could be some ecumenicalists who want to embrace all the "refugees" may now consider that the "refugee" may be a suicide bomber.
I've wondered if any of those gas station owners charging $3 to $5 per gallon for gas in the Midwest today have Mideast terror connections/sympathies.
As I noted earlier..the American /Canadian border is a sive..we have only a handful of border patrol..and little accountability at the border..
The bridges to Canada remain open tonight..easy come easy go!!
You are correct. The thinly veiled and disgusting anti-Americanism among many politicians and citizens is suddenly brought into the bright light.
The tut-tutting Bush-blaming, America-blaming no longer has any quarter, and anyone who continues with it in this need for unity is siding with scum-sucking murderers.
The pertinent question for these hypocritical wafflers is, are you pro-American or anti-American. No in-between. And if you are anti-American, and you want to continue to find wrong only with our victimized nation, this is your time to get the F out.
Steve Emerson: I think interestingly enough that many of the militant Islamic groups have tried to stay away from violence [on American soil], even though they’ve carried out violence against American targets overseas largely — Beirut, Lebanon in ’83, the U.S.S. Cole — and they had the World Trade Center here. But they want to have the U.S. remain sort of a safe haven, so they can raise their funds, tens of millions of dollars tax free, where they can recruit. Look, I have conference transcripts that were held just in the past week, where they talked about Israel and the United States in the same language they used in Durban, but here they mentioned it in Chicago. And these are militant Islamic groups that meet routinely, here in the United States, literally three or four times a month, with upwards of 4 or 5,000 people attending. Nobody covers this, the media is thoroughly negligent in not reporting this.
Emerson: I think for the time being the pattern we see is to go after major military targets or diplomatic targets overseas, by and large in areas where we are exposed, where we can’t protect ourselves. And they’re going to find the weak spot, and you know that every single time you build a wall that’s 30 feet high they’re gonna find a bomb that goes 33 feet high.
Emerson: If you look at counter-terrorism or stopping terrorism as a series of concentric circles, you put a circle around yourself so you build a better wall, a better protective suit. You build better perimeters at the entry points of the United States. But the most effective counter-terrorist doctrine is to go after the terrorists themselves. And I think we make a big mistake in this country when we allow militant Islamic representatives to gather at the White House or at the State Department as was done repeatedly by the Clinton administration, which allowed the message of militant Islam to be legitimized. That’s the worst message we can give because that sends a message overseas that we’re weak. (cont.)
You are so right - why do you we allow people from a rival, enemy civilization to move here? Oh, I know - it would be "racist" to bar them. And they make such good workers, I'm sure.
Somebody reported to radio talkshow host Bob Grant that it's party time in Paterson, New Jersey and someone else reported to Jay Diamond later that there's dancing in the street near a mosque in Flushing, Queens (many Muslims live in both areas). Any confirmation?
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