Posted on 10/29/2001 4:01:18 AM PST by vrwc54
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:49:29 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Fearing charges of religious persecution, the FBI for years has hesitated to investigate radical Islamic clerics in the United States despite evidence that their mosques have been used to recruit and fund suspected terrorists, present and former law enforcement officials said.
Even after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, "the veil of religion that has been draped over mosques . . . will be tough to move off," an FBI official said last week. "The Arab American community can become enraged and beat on the FBI."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
"THE FBI HAS BEEN AFRAID TO INVESTIGATE extremist Muslim leaders for fear of being accused of religious bigotry. 'Even after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, "the veil of religion that has been draped over mosques . . . will be tough to move off," an FBI official said last week. "The Arab American community can become enraged and beat on the FBI."'
Actually, as Chris Mooney has pointed out, 77% of the Arab-American community is Christian. Phil Heyman has a sensible perspective:
"You can't be in a struggle with a segment of a religious movement and not pursue them as you would any other suspected criminal," said Phillip B. Heymann, a professor of criminal law at Harvard Law School.Special treatment for religious leaders is a violation of religious freedom, too."The standard of probable cause ought to be the same for religious leaders as for others," said Heymann, who headed the criminal division of the Justice Department during the Carter administration and was briefly deputy attorney general under President Bill Clinton
But what's embarrassing is that this is transparently political ass-covering on the part of the FBI. There aren't any religious freedom issues here. They just don't want to be denounced by "Arab-Americans."
Hey, you guys told us this stuff was bad enough that we were supposed to give up a lot of freedoms for your terrorism bill. Now you're telling us you're afraid of some bad press? That makes me feel so much better."
One current FBI interest is in Rahman's followers -- the network of imams and mosques he presided over and visited in the United States. The bureau hopes to determine the names of American Muslims who were recruited and sent to Afghanistan for training at bin Laden's camps. "We don't have a clue of all those who went through that system," an FBI official said.
They could just pretend that they are "Extremist Christian Leaders". Then they could do anything from investigating them to incinerating them.
If the FBI won't go after Imans who call for the overthrow of America, maybe we ought to fire them and hire Mossad.
If it is good enough for Christian zealots, then it should be good enough for Muslim zealots.
Right !?!?!?!?
You have got to be effing kidding me.
OFFEND A FEW PEOPLE! PERSECUTE A RELIGION IF THAT RELIGION HAS, AS IT'S OVERARCHING GOAL, OUR DEATH!
If *I* ran a prison, this would be the only item allowed to be burned.
At this time, I would like to nominate Lazamataz for FBI Director. Or Supreme Leader. Or something.
"The Arab American community can become enraged and beat on the FBI"
When, in the name of that religion, terrorist groups supported by entire governments slaughter thousands of innocent Americans, the veil has already been ripped off for all to see. When leaders in that religion here in America advocate the destruction of us as the "Great Satan" and gather money for the terrorists, the veil has already been removed by their own actions.
If we are not willing, prepared and ready to seriously go after these people in our nation who are in ANY way shape of form suppotive of this after 911, we are going to lose a lot more people before we are.
Incredible statement by a supposed FBI source.
Lovely. "Don't have a clue," huh? Aren't there INS or customs records of American citizens who have recently visited Pakistan or neighboring countries? Shouldn't there be?
I don't think their anti-discrimination philsophy holds true when dealing with other groups. Guilt by association is the typical SOP for the FBI (e.g., Branch Davidians, Ku Klux Klan, FALN, Black Panthers, Randy Weaver's family and friends, various militia groups, Terry Nichols, the SLA, the list goes on and on).
I wonder what the FBI would have done if Nazism had just declared itself a religion? (In fact, it was a quasireligion -- probably as much of a religion as this Islamofascism, Hitler kept talking about how he had been chosen by Providence -- and could easily have made that claim.)
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