Conservative Feud Grows Over Muslims White House Staffers

Halafire Media Network ^ | february 24, 2003 | alt.muslim

[Calpernia]

Conservative Feud Grows Over Muslims White House Staffers

It is a little-known fact that one or more Muslims have been on the White House staff continuously for the past 10 years, working behind the scenes in various capacities. All of these people worked their way up the ladder, overcoming suspicion and doubt and getting various security clearances along the way. Especially after 9/11, Muslims in the White House have had to prove themselves time and time again, as if being Muslim and a loyal American was an oxymoron. This week, conservative strategist Grover Norquist, who has worked to integrate Muslims into the Republican party, slammed conservative pundit Frank Gaffney, accusing him of smearing the names of two Muslim White House staffers and unfairly charging Norquist with giving White House access to "radical Muslims." Gaffney, who has long been a critic of Muslim contacts with the White House, offered no specific charges against the two staffers, but did try to link them (six-degrees-of-separation style) to Hamas & Hezbollah. Norquist sent a letter to Gaffney accusing him of questioning the loyalty of Ali Tulbah, an associate director of Cabinet affairs in the White House, and former public liason officer Suhail Khan. "This is the second time that a Muslim working for President George W. Bush has been subjected to an attack by you because of his faith," wrote Mr. Norquist. "You have made similarly dishonest allegations against Suhail Khan while he worked inside the White House." While at the White House, Khan served as a liason between the White House and Muslim communities, helping recruit Muslim support for the war on terror. He also helped honor Muslim police and firefighter heroes of 9/11. Tulbah has helped put together "best practices" guidelines for Muslim charities to insure no money goes to support terrorism. Norquist scoffed at suggestions that Muslim staffers would be conduits for terror, saying that they have "a higher security clearance than Frank Gaffney will ever have."

[jwalsh07]

Any muslim capable of obtaining a security clearance to work at the White House has been thouroughly vetted. Of that I am quite sure.

I would suggest you reread this sentence paying close attention to the word "work".

[jwalsh07]

As far as justifying the invitation of these groups to the White House as "constitutional," how many open Nazi sympathizers were invited to the Roosevelt White House for consultation on domestic issues after December, 1941? It is still by invitation only, I believe?

What are you talking about? I never made any such claim. I suggest you reread my entire post. You have managed to totally mangle the plain meaning of what I said.

[jwalsh07]

My point is NOT that there cannot be such thoroughly vetted people who would be safe to be in the WH. I just think the job has to be done again and by people with no obvious compromising characteristics such as Clintonian contamination and/or a religious bias one way or the other.

Well Sal, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. My opinion is that the Bush/Cheney White House is run by competent men and women who look askance at prophylactics on the Christmas Tree.

It is inconceivable to me that people of their caliber have not already revetted post 9/11/01.

[reg45]

Has history ever known a happy, peaceful Muslim society?

Yes, for example: The Moorish period in Spain!

[Contra]

I would not want these types working in the government period, much less the White House, for the same reason that I wouldn't want Mary Matalin (wife of James Carville) working in the White House, too much of a risk.

[FreedomPoster]

>>Why doesn't Islam get declared a cult already?

Because it's too dang big, and doing something about it would be painful. And because we need the help of some, like the Turks (in a weird secular Muslim limbo) and the Qataris (need a protector).

[jwalsh07]

You use of the words Islamists and Muslim as synonyms is incorrect and sophistry.

Let's get down to the bottom line. What is it you propse to do with American citizens who are Muslim?

[Sabertooth]

Muslims are like Christians. There are varying degrees of obedience. We have all kinds on campus, from full burkah to tank tops. Some told me they only attend mosque on holy days.

There is a fundamental difference, and it's seen when these religions go through their cyclical "revivals."

In revival, Christians seek to emulate Jesus, who fed, healed, and evangelized.

In their revival, Muslims seek to emulate Mohammed, who conquered, plundered, and proselytized at the edge of a sword.

[cajun-jack]

there was a lady on sean hannity the other day telling him about norquist.

[Sabertooth]

Any muslim capable of obtaining a security clearance to work at the White House has been thouroughly vetted. Of that I am quite sure.

Suhail Khan, the White House Aide mentioned in the article, is the son of the late Mahboob Khan, a California cleric at whose mosque Ayman Al Zawahiri raised funds for Al Qaeda in 1995.

Reminds me of another case...

Abdullah Al Arian, an inttern for Congressman David Bonior, is the son of Sami Al Arian, who is under indictment for raising money for Palestinian Islamic Jihad and funding terrorist attacks on Israel.

I'm not as confident in the vetting of Suhail Khan as you appear to be.

[Sabertooth]

Norquist, according to Debbie Schlosser is a Muslim apologist who was repsonsible for that idiotic statement of Bush's about Islam being a "peaceful" religion.

Point of information: Norquist is a Protestant of some denomination. Otherwise, I concur.

[MadelineZapeezda]

They were wined and dined routinely during the Klintoon administration

[TLBSHOW]

and they keep coming.........

The Bush administration has been careful to separate the terrorists from Muslims generally. The problem is he has done so in the company of some Muslim leaders who do not preach or practice what the president says they do.

As the New Republic reported in its Nov. 7, 2001, issue, on the afternoon of Sept. 26 of that year, the president met with 15 prominent Muslim and Arab-Americans at the White House. At that time he said, "The teachings of Islam are teachings of peace and good. " Writer Franklin Foer noted that many of the leaders had not unambiguously rejected terror as the president suggested. "To the president's left sat Dr. Yahya Basha, president of the American Muslim Council, an organization whose leaders have repeatedly called Hamas'freedom fighters.' Also in attendance was Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who on the afternoon of Sept. 11 told a Los Angeles public radio audience that'we should put the State of Israel on the suspect list.' And sitting right next to President Bush was Muzammil Siddiqi, president of the Islamic Society of North America, who (in the fall of 2000) told a Washington crowd chanting pro-Hezbollah slogans,'America has to learn if you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come. "'

Some will claim this is guilt by association. It is more like an association of the guilty. Large numbers of such people have invaded this nation through immigration, intent on causing us harm. The Justice Department is right to find them, root them out and arrest or deport them. The sooner, the better - before they can do more damage to our nation and our people.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20030225.shtml

[Michael2001]

I don't trust 'em.

[Bella_Bru]

He was referring to Christian Reconstructionists who are as nutty as you can get. They are by no means representative of Christians in general, or on FR.

[Bella_Bru]

Mabelkitty, do you support ideas such as:

"death penalty be used to punish those guilty of 'apostasy (abandonment of the faith), heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, 'sodomy or homosexuality,' incest, striking a parent, incorrigible juvenile delinquency, and in the case of women, 'unchastity before marriage.' Non-capital crimes would be sanctioned with whipping, indentured servitude or slavery."

Sounds like radical Islam, eh? Well, it is from the leaders of the Reconstructionist Christian movement.

[AppyPappy]

Yes but that is not true for all Muslims. That's the point.

[E Rocc]

Has history ever known a happy, peaceful Muslim society?

Yes, for example: The Moorish period in Spain!

The Ottoman Empire, by the standards of its time. It had a steady inflow of Jewish and Christian refugees from Europe.

-Eric