Daniel Pipes draws out the most important lesson of the Alamoudi case in this FrontPage piece:
In 2002, the spokesman for FBI director Robert Mueller memorably described the American Muslim Council (AMC) as the “the most mainstream Muslim group in the United States.” A year later, the Catholic bishops called the AMC “the premier, mainstream Muslim group in Washington.”Its founder and long-time chief, Abdurahman Alamoudi, was a Washington fixture. He had many meetings with both Clintons in the White House and once joined George W. Bush at a prayer service. He arranged a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner for congressional leaders. He six times lectured abroad for the State Department and founded an organization to provide Muslim chaplains for the Department of Defense. One of his former AMC employees, Faisal Gill, serves as policy director at the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence division.
In brief, as the Washington Post describes him, Alamoudi was “a pillar of the local Muslim community.”
But the one-time high-flyer last week signed a plea agreement with the U.S. government admitting his multiple crimes in return for a reduced sentence. His confession makes for startling reading.
Alamoudi acknowledges having obtained money from the Libyan government and other foreign sources, “unlawfully, knowingly, and willfully falsified, concealed and covered up by a trick, scheme and device.” He transmitted these funds to the United States, “outside of the knowledge of the United States government and without attracting the attention of law enforcement and regulatory authorities.”
In doing so, he engaged in illegal financial transactions and filed false tax returns. He lied about his overseas travels, his interest in a Swiss bank account, his affiliation with a Specially Designated Terrorist (the Hamas leader, Mousa Abu Marzook), and his membership in terrorist-related organizations....
Then there is the fact that Alamoudi’s Palm Pilot, seized at the time of his arrest, contained contact information for seven men designated as global terrorists by U.S. authorities. Also, law enforcement found an unsigned Arabic-language document in Alamoudi’s office with ideas for Hamas to undertake “operations against the Israelis to delay the peace process.” And Alamoudi has at least indirect links to Osama bin Laden through the Taibah International Aid Association, a U.S. non-profit where he served along with Abdullah A. bin Laden, Osama’s nephew....
Alamoudi is hardly the only high-profile, seemingly non-violent leader of an Islamist organization to associate with terrorists. At the Council on American-Islamic Relations, five staffers and board members have been accused or convicted of terrorism-related charges and the same has happened with leaders of the Islamic Center of Greater Cleveland, Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, and the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom.
The Alamoudi story points to the urgent need that the FBI, White House, Congress, State Department, Pentagon, and Homeland Security – as well as other institutions, public and private, throughout the West – not continue guilelessly to assume that smooth-talking Islamists are free of criminal, extremist, or terrorist ties. Or, as I put it in late 2001: “Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers.”
Militant Islam is the enemy; even its slickest adherents need to be viewed as such.
It isn't paranoia if someone is really trying to get you.
I really like Daniel Pipes:) Knowing he is in the game, and esteemed by the Bush administration gives me hope for our future!
Hmmm. Daniel Pipes.
Didn't Daniel face lions? (not that I would compare something so regal to muslims).
And he does Pipe up!
Daniel Pipes whenever he can... I'm going to stop now.
I've been noticing lately that the title 'islamist' has been basically misused. Islamist actually is a person who studies Islam and its influence on culture, politics, the world, etc. Many islamists are neither Muslims nor do they believe in the tenents of Islam, but because of their schoarship they understand the Arab/Muslim mind.
RACHELFOREVER
How about ISLAMO-FASCIST? Good news they got this geezer Almoudi but reckon there are many more out there pretending to be honest, law abiding American citizens. Trouble is their TRUE adherence
is to ISLAM and MURDEROUS MO.All the writings confirm this,THEY ARE SLAVES OF ISLAM!What's more as we all know, their infamous clerics intruct them to lie and deceive Infidels.
FBI Director Mueller gave a speech to the (Un)American Muslim Council several months ago. With Mueller's forced Islamic "sensitivity" training for FBI agents, one must wonder if Mueller is actually a Muslim terrorist/apologist/enabler or simply playing games with these moon-god worshipers in an effort to appease them, and then spy on them without raising suspicions.
I hope it's the latter but based on past FBI bungles (Minneapolis/Phoenix) I can't help but think that top FBI management still doesn't understand that the ENEMY is ISLAM, and that ALL MUSLIMS are potential TERRORISTS.
I saw Daniel Pipes here at a lecture he gave at Sydney University last week.
He guessed there that 10 to 15% of the Umma (of at least a billion people) have contracted the affliction of Islamo-fascism. If so, some numbers (conservatively based on UN statistics): Saudi Arabia would roughly contain between 2 and 3 million Jihadists, Pakistan, 16 million to 24 million; Iraq, 2-1/2 to 3-3/4 million; 7 - 10-1/2 million in Iran, likewise in Egypt; 1-1/4 - 2 million in Malaysia and 22 - 33 million in Indonesia, with a MINIMUM tally on the Earth of between 100 and 150 million, ensconced nowadays in nearly every corner of it.
Presumably, THE REST of the 850 to 900 million Moslems, then, must be a mixture of those who are either apathetic to the ideology of political, militant Islamism or are not well disposed towards it - the “moderates”. But, at this stage in the misnamed “War on Terror”, by the looks of things, any “moderates” within this great majority are barely expressing, in public, their vaunted discomfort with the Jihadis (who are lodged everywhere within their communities across the planet) - let alone DOING anything concrete about them.
Dr Pipes explained that they were today effectively muzzled via systematic intimidation and coercion, by diverse Islamo-fascist elements, in a multitude of assorted ways, on an array of different levels. “Moderates” are almost totally COWED and badly require protection from and aid against those nefariously hijacking their religion, for their aggressive and horrible purposes.
Even if he’s correct - and he hasn’t SERIOUSLY UNDERESTIMATED the fraction of radicals, their supporters and sympathizers in the dar el-Islam (which could easily be argued) - and even if the right types of shielding and help are rendered for the “moderates”, commencing tonight, it’ll nevertheless be a LONG time before any but minor dividends from this assistance arrive on stream, geostrategically - and, as President Bush lately reiterated, the War’s liable to be lengthy.
Unfortunately, whether they’re there or not, any Moslem “moderates” can’t be counted upon for much impact in this struggle for years, or decades, to come - though (it goes without saying), those who GENUINELY wish to be of benefit in the West’s permanent abolition of Islamo-fascism would be most warmly welcome indeed to make their various contributions.
It must be seen in the West that for any Moslems to do so, however - specially at first, before an adequate volume of them accrue in open opposition to the Jihadis - generally does means they’re OSTRACIZED from their families and cultures, hiding and running for their lives in many cases.
Have to shudder at the sheer TOTALITARIANISM, which rules in such societies, to make it so - depending directly upon maintaining ignorance, superstition and utmost, deadly FEAR for its baneful persistence over a quarter of the planet. Further, it evokes chills to ponder what it says about people, dwelling beneath such harsh oppression, unrelieved for (Literally) millennia.
Alexander the Great’s Empire (like Napoleon’s) existed for about a dozen years, but the Byzantines limped on for 1,058; the Ottoman Empire went for 625, the Hapsburg for 636. The “greater” Roman Empire lasted less than 500 years, the British Empire carried on for a bit over 300. Nazism proposed a Third Reich of 1,000 years, but was around for a brutal 12, while Communism (surviving today in China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos, with derivative “socialist” variants in Zimbabwe, Syria and Burma) fell in Russia after a “paltry” 74 years.
(George Orwell, in his excellent novel “1984”, projected a dynamic of three contesting tyrannies, amorally devised to endure in power, plausibly FOREVER. So did Aldous Huxley in the form of the universal power-structure he contrived for his brilliant book, “Brave New World”.)
The cruel, dark despotism of Islam’s hung on - and periodically expanded (with exceptions when it’s been actively repelled, as at Vienna, 1683) - so far, for 1,382 years; ever since Mohamad and his Company (el-Ikhwan), driven out of Mecca, first seized Medina. This has to be some type of record in History, but hardly a positive one for suffering humanity….
I've been noticing lately that the title 'islamist' has been basically misused. Islamist actually is a person who studies Islam and its influence on culture, politics, the world, etc. Many islamists are neither Muslims nor do they believe in the tenents of Islam, but because of their schoarship they understand the Arab/Muslim mind.
Posted by: rachelforever at August 4, 2004 01:11 PM
Are you completely stupid?
Islam is the "cult" of Muhammad. A "muslim' is a follower of Islam.
An "Islamist" is a ????
Muslim.
Damn your smart....
Now tell me ms thoughtfull what is a Christian?
Hmmmmm......
"christianist"
???
The FBI better start locking as many as possible away, the might not be allowed to soon :
www.danielpipes.org/article/1971