Norquistian Suhail Khan is the subject of a fawning softball interview in which he repeats the usual false charges against those who have questioned his numerous ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic supremacist groups. The interviewer asks him why people like me hate him — watch the video above, in which I challenge him (again) to debate me, and tell me which one of us is the wild-eyed, frothing hater.
The interviewer also assumes that “core Islamic teachings are compatible with conservatism.” Which “conservativism” — the American variety or what the mainstream media calls “conservatism” in places like Saudi Arabia and Iran? Are stoning adulterers, amputating the hands of thieves, murdering apostates, and denying basic rights to women and non-Muslims among the “core Islamic teachings” that are “compatible with conservatism”?
“Profiles in Liberty: Suhail Khan of The American Conservative Union,” by Matt Naugle for United Liberty, August 7:
MN: Is there such thing as a moderate Muslim? Since core Islamic teachings are compatible with conservatism, how should conservatives approach the issues of Islamic extremism and terrorism?
SK: I prefer the term “mainstream” to “moderate.” A follower of mainstream Islam is someone who believes in God, loves his or her family, their neighbor (regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity), and serves their country.
Violent extremism is a scourge that must be stopped, and I believe the best way to do so is by encouraging people to learn more about their own faith from authentic sources (and not self-proclaimed extremists in the media or on the internet). In doing so, we”d witness the best of faith defeat the worst of religion.
MN: For such a friendly guy, you have the worst search engine results of anyone I know. Why does David Horowitz, Frank Gaffney, Robert Spencer, and Pam Geller hate you so much?
SK: It’s been a sad and ugly phenomenon that, since the 9/11 tragedy, the individuals you cited and a few others have waged a hateful campaign of unfounded allegations against several Americans serving our country based on the faith background of these public servants. I”ve unfortunately been one of those subject to these baseless attacks. Having undergone a thorough background check and obtained the security clearances necessary to serve in the various sensitive positions in which I”ve had the honor to serve, these tired accusations fall into the shameful category of wild conspiracy theories of the past where others””Blacks, Jews, Irish, Italians, Japanese, Catholics, Mormons””Americans all, have been targeted. Time and time again, we”ve risen above the hate to unite as Americans. I”m proud that President Bush, Ed Meese, the late Paul Weyrich, Morton Blackwell, Cleta Mitchell, Speaker John Boehner, Senator John McCain, Senator Marco Rubio, and many other leading conservative, Jewish and Christian leaders have condemned these unfair attacks.
Khan names many people who are clearly compromised. But my friend and patron Paul Weyrich does not deserve to be on this list. In fact, he brought me in to speak at a CNP event back in 2003 or 2004 specifically to counter Grover Norquist’s baneful pro-Muslim Brotherhood influence.
There are in fact those who wish our nation harm, and these murderous terrorists must be defeated. And in doing so, we should work with all freedom-loving people in this important cause. Likewise, we should resist the call to respond to the hate of our enemies with a bigoted hatred of our own making. We are Americans, and we can take great pride in the fact that, regardless of ethnic and religious heritage, we stand united as one American people.
Re avoiding “hatred,” see again the video above.
Re the charges against Khan, are they really just “bigotry”? See for yourself: Paul Sperry summarized the evidence in the New York Post in January 2011:
* In June 2001, Khan personally accepted an award from the now-notorious Abdurahman Alamoudi, then head of the American Muslim Council.
* “We have with us a dear brother,” Alamoudi said as he prepared to honor Khan with a plaque at the group’s annual conference. “I’m really proud to be with Suhail Khan. Some of you saw him today in the White House, but inshallah [Allah willing], you will see him in better places in the White House, inshallah.”
Khan thanked his patron, saying “Abdurahman Alamoudi has been very supportive of me. . . . I hope, inshallah, we can keep working together.”
Just days earlier, Sen. Arlen Specter of the Judiciary Committee had cited a New York Post report documenting how Alamoudi had supported terrorists and “declared an interest in destroying America.” By 2003, Alamoudi had been busted for plotting a terrorist attack; the top al Qaeda fundraiser is now serving 23 years in federal prison.
* In September 2001, four days before the 9/11 attacks, Khan spoke at the Islamic Society of North America’s convention. Introducing him was Jamal Barzinji, whose offices and home were raided by federal agents after 9/11. “Barzinji is not only closely associated with PIJ [Palestinian Islamic Jihad], but also with Hamas,” according to the search-warrant affidavit. (A lawyer for Barzinji, who has not been charged, says he is the victim of a government “witch hunt.”)
At the event, Khan shared his experiences from “inside” the White House, and praised his late father, Mahboob Khan, for helping found ISNA — which the government now says is a front for the radical Muslim Brotherhood and has raised money for jihad. The founding documents of the Brotherhood’s operation in America (recently seized by the FBI) reveal that it is in this country to “destroy” the Constitution and replace it with Islamic law.
Khan’s father also helped found the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara, Calif. This Khan family mosque is listed in the Muslim Brotherhood’s own documents as one of “our organizations.” In the 1990s, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, it hosted Ayman al-Zawahiri — now al Qaeda’s No. 2 — as he toured the US raising money.