Islamists have penetrated U.S. prisons, law enforcement, and armed forces

Steve Quayle ^ | September 29, 2003 | Daniel Pipes

[Mossad1967]

THE news last week that two Muslim military personnel, James Yee and Ahmad al-Halabi, had been arrested on suspicion of aiding Al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantnamo Bay (with another three Muslim servicemen under watch) seemed to prompt much surprise. It should not have.

It has been obvious for months that Islamists who despise America have penetrated U.S. prisons, law enforcement, and armed forces. In February, a milestone Wall Street Journal article established that imams who consider Osama bin Laden "a hero of Allah" dominate the Islamic chaplaincy in the New York state prison system.

In March, I documented the case of FBI Special Agent Gamal Abdel-Hafiz: His superiors not only overlooked this immigrant's pattern of pro-Islamist behavior, they promoted him.

And at least six prior cases of Islamist servicemen have come to light:

Ali Mohamed: An Egyptian immigrant who after discharge from the U.S. Army went to work for Osama bin Laden, Mohamed pleaded guilty to helping plan the 1998 bombing surveillance of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. He's now in prison serving his sentence.

Semi Osman: An ethnic Lebanese immigrant and non-U.S. citizen who served in both the Army and Naval Reserve, Osman was arrested in 2002 and accused of "material support for terrorists." He pleaded guilty to a weapons violation and served his sentence.

Abdul Raheem Al Arshad Ali: An African-American convert to Islam and former Marine, he awaits trial in prison for supplying a semiautomatic handgun to Semi Osman.

Jeffrey Leon Battle: An African-American convert and Army reservist, Battle awaits trial in prison on charges of "enlisting in the Reserves to receive military training to use against America."

John Allen Muhammad: An African-American convert and Army veteran, Muhammad is suspected of having thrown a grenade at a fellow soldier in 1991. He awaits trial in prison as one of two charged in last year's Beltway sniper killings.

Hasan Akbar: Another African-American convert, Akbar awaits trial in prison for two counts of premeditated murder and three charges of attempted murder in a March fragging incident against his fellow soldiers.

The Akbar incident prompted Deanne Stillman of Slate magazine to conclude that Islamists "may be infiltrating the military in order to undermine it."

That infiltration also has a mundane quality; take the example of Nabil Elibiary: An Islamist who protests the "defaming" of bin Laden and defends polygamy, he also led the holiday prayer service at an Air Force base early this year.

Executive-branch insistence on "terrorism" being the enemy, rather than militant Islam, permits this Islamist penetration.

And it continues. The Defense Department responded last week to the chaplain's arrest by defending its hiring practices. Only under external pressure, notably from Sens. Chuck Schumer and Jon Kyl, did it agree to reassess them. Even then, the Pentagon insisted on reviewing the appointments of all 2,800 military chaplains - rather than the 12 Muslims among them.

Political correctness run amok! Which Christian or Jewish chaplains would be accused (as the Washington Times has reported of their Muslim colleague Yee) of "sedition aiding the enemy, spying, espionage and failure to obey a general order? By pretending not to see that the enemy emerges from one source, the authorities dilute their focus, render their review nearly meaningless and endanger security.

The U.S. government needs to use common sense and focus on militant Islam. It should consider such steps as:

* Breaking off contact with organizations (like the Islamic Society of North America and the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Council) that place Islamists in government jobs.

* Suspending presently employed Muslim personnel who got their jobs through those institutions until their loyalty can be confirmed.

* Working instead with anti-Islamist Muslim groups, such as the Islamic Supreme Council of America for Sunni Muslims and the American Muslim Congress for Shi'ites.

* Confirming that government-employed Muslims do, as many of them swore under oath, "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." A mechanism is needed to identify employees with an Islamist outlook and expel them from government service.

Ironically, the Defense Department finds it easier to kill Islamists in Afghanistan than to exclude them from its own ranks. But only if the latter is carried out can Americans be confident their government is fully protecting them.

Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and author of "Militant Islam Reaches America."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09292003/postopinion/opedcolumnists/6697.htm

[Mossad1967]

These traitors are everywhere.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Enormous sums of $$$ are probably available to entice.

[Peach]

And a lot of them are Democrats!

[Mossad1967]

Depressing, isn't it?

[Pearls Before Swine]

These traitors are everywhere.

One man's traitor is another man's invader. Tighten immigration controls and seal the borders!

[Peach]

Definitely depressing. Unfortunately, the adults won't always be in charge in Washington and we can look for things to get worse when they come into power again.

[XBob]

this is only the tiny tippy top of the iceberg of hate and fanatacism of militant islam, perpetuated by foolish, stupid liberals

[2banana]

A funny thing....

The US Amry hires thousands of translators for work in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some are even US citizens. Nearly all are Muslim.

The US Amry works and fights along side with the rebuilding Afghan army and newly reconstituted Iraq army. Nearly all of them are Muslim too.

The US Amry (mostly Special Forces) conquered Afghanistan with the huge help of anti-Taliban forcess (Northern Alliance, etc.). Guess what, most of them were Muslim too.

In all the above cases, the Muslim individuals have abundant and ample opportunity to kill US soldiers if they wanted to (along with a death wish).

My point - is it a trend of some loony fanatic individuals...

[appalachian_dweller]

>> Tighten immigration controls and seal the borders <<

Let's take it further. Stop ALL immigration for at least 10 years. Close and militarize the borders. Unauthorized crossing will be met with DEADLY force. Round up all aliens (illegal AND legal) and ship them home. Stop all monetary aid to all countries. ALL OF IT! Take that money and use it to fix the problems in the back yard like power generation and transmission, education, etc.

[Mossad1967]

They have infiltrated our entire infrastructure. INMHO, we've done it to ourselves. Excellent Immigration policy.

[KevinDavis]

So basically live in isolation from the world until all of those problems has been fixed correct?

[Mossad1967]

...or face possible destruction.

[Gucho]

Time to invest in immigration control ASAP.

[Travis McGee]

Radical Islam is an insane murder cult, "moderate" Islam is its Trojan Horse in the West.

And in our military, and the FBI, the CIA, the NSA...

[Truth666]

"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious.But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known, and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very hall of government itself. For the traitor appears no traitor. He speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in hearts of men. He rots the soul of a nation. He works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city. He infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A Murderer Is Less To Be Feared." - Cicero, 42 B.C.

[Chuckster]

I am astonished to hear it!

[appalachian_dweller]

I've got nothing against interacting with other countries. No problem at all.

I keep hearing from the gov't that we don't have money for this and we don't have money for that. Then they turn around and give $300 million to the PA.

How 'bout taking care of ourselves first. Is that so terribly wrong?

[KEVLAR]

Funny how the do-not-call list issue can go through several courts, congress and the president in less than a week for a fix, yet issues like immigration and tort reform see no action at all. I take that back, it's not funny, it's pathetic.

[lodwick]

Jackass government: too stupid p.c. to identify and deal with the problem.

[Mossad1967]

To hell with the No Call List. I'd rather get a call at dinner time from a telemarketer, than inhale anthrax or VX on my way to work. Talk about screwed up priorities!