Congressional Xenophobic Hearings
- Thread starter QueEx
- Start date
<font size="4">
Congress sets hearings on 'Muslim threat'</font size>
House Homeland Security Committee
Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y. testifies
on Capitol Hill in February. A coalition
of over 100 interfaith, nonprofit and
governmental organizations plans to
rally today in New York City against
King's hearings on Muslims' role in
homegrown terrorism
Muslims in America aren't cooperating enough with law enforcement to counter the radicalization of young followers by al-Qaida-linked groups, said a House leader on terrorism issues, renewing debate about religion's role in motivating extremists and what the U.S. can do without alienating the Islamic world.
Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, asserted that al-Qaida terrorists are targeting Muslim youth in this country, previewing his hearing Thursday on the extent of the problem and the Muslim community's response.
"The overwhelming majority of Muslims are outstanding Americans, but at this stage in our history there's an effort ... to radicalize elements within the Muslim community," he said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
"It's there and that's where the threat is coming from at this time," King said.
In New York City, a coalition of over 100 interfaith, nonprofit and governmental organizations rallied Sunday against King's hearing, saying it will send the wrong message to U.S. Muslims by "demonizing" them. The committee hasn't released a witness list yet for the hearing.
People at the rally Sunday were carrying signs saying "Today I am a Muslim, too."
Ellison calls terror hearing a witch hunthttp://www.startribune.com/politics/national/117499163.html
<iframe src="http://widget.newsinc.com/single.htm?WID=2&VID=23344421&freewheel=69016&sitesection=ndnsubss" height="320" width="425" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"></iframe>
WASHINGTON - Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison will go before a House panel on homegrown Islamic terrorism later this week, but he won't be sitting with fellow members of Congress.
He'll be at the witness table.
Ellison, a Muslim whose Minneapolis district has been fertile recruitment ground for Al-Shabab insurgents in Somalia, calls the GOP-led inquiry a "McCarthyistic" witch hunt that could demonize Muslims. As a star witness in the hearing, Ellison will be spotlighted nationally as the face of American Muslims.
But Ellison's spotlight is multidimensional lately. Supporting protesters from Cairo, Egypt, to Madison, Wis., he's been styling himself as an old-fashioned "power-to-the-people" activist who also carries the title Congressman.
"I'm an activist who happens to be a congressman," said Ellison, who was arrested at the Sudanese embassy two years ago to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. "Elective office is an extension of how to make a freer, safer, fairer world."
White House seeks to reassure Muslimshttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-white-house-muslims-20110307,0,2796257.storyhttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-white-house-muslims-20110307,0,2796257.story
Ahead of congressional hearings into homegrown Islamic terrorism, an Obama national security advisor tells one group: 'Muslim Americans are not part of the problem. You're part of the solution.'
The White House took a preemptive step to defuse an emerging controversy Sunday, sending out a top aide to reassure American Muslims that the U.S. government doesn't see them as a collective threat.
Denis McDonough, deputy national security advisor to President Obama, addressed a largely Muslim audience days before congressional hearings into homegrown Islamic terrorism. The hearings, which sparked protests in New York on Sunday, will be led by Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
In his speech to members of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, McDonough said, "The bottom line is this: When it comes to preventing violent extremism and terrorism in the United States, Muslim Americans are not part of the problem; you're part of the solution."
The Obama administration is clearly worried that the hearings, which begin Thursday, could open a rift with Muslim leaders, whose cooperation is needed to foil terrorist recruitment. A message from McDonough's speech was that the Muslim community is vital to a larger strategy of preventing the radicalization of American youths.
"Our challenge, and the goal that President Obama has insisted that we also focus on, is on the front end: preventing Al Qaeda from recruiting and radicalizing people in America in the first place," McDonough said. "And we know this isn't the job of government alone. It has to be a partnership with you — the communities being targeted most directly by Al Qaeda."
Congress sets hearings on 'Muslim threat'</font size>
House Homeland Security Committee
Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y. testifies
on Capitol Hill in February. A coalition
of over 100 interfaith, nonprofit and
governmental organizations plans to
rally today in New York City against
King's hearings on Muslims' role in
homegrown terrorism
Muslims in America aren't cooperating enough with law enforcement to counter the radicalization of young followers by al-Qaida-linked groups, said a House leader on terrorism issues, renewing debate about religion's role in motivating extremists and what the U.S. can do without alienating the Islamic world.
Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, asserted that al-Qaida terrorists are targeting Muslim youth in this country, previewing his hearing Thursday on the extent of the problem and the Muslim community's response.
"The overwhelming majority of Muslims are outstanding Americans, but at this stage in our history there's an effort ... to radicalize elements within the Muslim community," he said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
"It's there and that's where the threat is coming from at this time," King said.
In New York City, a coalition of over 100 interfaith, nonprofit and governmental organizations rallied Sunday against King's hearing, saying it will send the wrong message to U.S. Muslims by "demonizing" them. The committee hasn't released a witness list yet for the hearing.
People at the rally Sunday were carrying signs saying "Today I am a Muslim, too."
<iframe src="http://widget.newsinc.com/single.htm?WID=2&VID=23344421&freewheel=69016&sitesection=ndnsubss" height="320" width="425" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"></iframe>
WASHINGTON - Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison will go before a House panel on homegrown Islamic terrorism later this week, but he won't be sitting with fellow members of Congress.
He'll be at the witness table.
Ellison, a Muslim whose Minneapolis district has been fertile recruitment ground for Al-Shabab insurgents in Somalia, calls the GOP-led inquiry a "McCarthyistic" witch hunt that could demonize Muslims. As a star witness in the hearing, Ellison will be spotlighted nationally as the face of American Muslims.
But Ellison's spotlight is multidimensional lately. Supporting protesters from Cairo, Egypt, to Madison, Wis., he's been styling himself as an old-fashioned "power-to-the-people" activist who also carries the title Congressman.
"I'm an activist who happens to be a congressman," said Ellison, who was arrested at the Sudanese embassy two years ago to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. "Elective office is an extension of how to make a freer, safer, fairer world."
White House seeks to reassure Muslimshttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-white-house-muslims-20110307,0,2796257.storyhttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-white-house-muslims-20110307,0,2796257.story
Ahead of congressional hearings into homegrown Islamic terrorism, an Obama national security advisor tells one group: 'Muslim Americans are not part of the problem. You're part of the solution.'
The White House took a preemptive step to defuse an emerging controversy Sunday, sending out a top aide to reassure American Muslims that the U.S. government doesn't see them as a collective threat.
Denis McDonough, deputy national security advisor to President Obama, addressed a largely Muslim audience days before congressional hearings into homegrown Islamic terrorism. The hearings, which sparked protests in New York on Sunday, will be led by Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
In his speech to members of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, McDonough said, "The bottom line is this: When it comes to preventing violent extremism and terrorism in the United States, Muslim Americans are not part of the problem; you're part of the solution."
The Obama administration is clearly worried that the hearings, which begin Thursday, could open a rift with Muslim leaders, whose cooperation is needed to foil terrorist recruitment. A message from McDonough's speech was that the Muslim community is vital to a larger strategy of preventing the radicalization of American youths.
"Our challenge, and the goal that President Obama has insisted that we also focus on, is on the front end: preventing Al Qaeda from recruiting and radicalizing people in America in the first place," McDonough said. "And we know this isn't the job of government alone. It has to be a partnership with you — the communities being targeted most directly by Al Qaeda."
Muslim Congressman Andre Carsonhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12661941
Muslim Democratic Congressman Andre Carson said he wanted to tell "the Peter Kings of the world, we will not take your xenophobic behaviour".
Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana, one of two Muslims in Congress, addresses the "Today, I Am A Muslim, Too" rally to protest against a planned congressional hearing on the role of Muslims in homegrown terrorism, Sunday, March 6, 2011 in New York. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., says affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalizing some American Muslims and that he plans to hold hearings on the threat they pose to the U.S.
<font size="4">
American Muslims Fear Demonization in Congresshttp://www.voanews.com/english/news...-Fear-Demonization-in-Congress-117547853.html</font size>
<object width="480" height="300" id="kickWidget_45137_301823" name="kickWidget_45137_301823" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://serve.a-widget.com/service/getWidgetSwf.kickAction">
<!-- Firefox uses the 'data' attribute above, IE/Safari uses the param below -->
<param name="movie" value="http://serve.a-widget.com/service/getWidgetSwf.kickAction"></param>
<param name="FlashVars" value="affiliateSiteId=45137&widgetId=301823&width=480&height=300&autoPlay=0&playOnLoad=0&varsToAppendToLinks=widgetID%3D11111&revision=178&mediaType_mediaID=video_1539164" ></param>
<param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" ></param>
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" ></param>
</object>
<font size="3">
The Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, New York Congressman Peter King, will begin Congressional hearings on March 10 into what he calls the "radicalization" of American Muslims. King says he has an obligation to investigate what he claims is a real terrorist threat from certain elements of the Muslim community in the United States. But critics say the hearings could demonize millions of law-abiding Americans who make up that community.
</font size>
American Muslims Fear Demonization in Congresshttp://www.voanews.com/english/news...-Fear-Demonization-in-Congress-117547853.html</font size>
<object width="480" height="300" id="kickWidget_45137_301823" name="kickWidget_45137_301823" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://serve.a-widget.com/service/getWidgetSwf.kickAction">
<!-- Firefox uses the 'data' attribute above, IE/Safari uses the param below -->
<param name="movie" value="http://serve.a-widget.com/service/getWidgetSwf.kickAction"></param>
<param name="FlashVars" value="affiliateSiteId=45137&widgetId=301823&width=480&height=300&autoPlay=0&playOnLoad=0&varsToAppendToLinks=widgetID%3D11111&revision=178&mediaType_mediaID=video_1539164" ></param>
<param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" ></param>
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" ></param>
</object>
<font size="3">
The Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, New York Congressman Peter King, will begin Congressional hearings on March 10 into what he calls the "radicalization" of American Muslims. King says he has an obligation to investigate what he claims is a real terrorist threat from certain elements of the Muslim community in the United States. But critics say the hearings could demonize millions of law-abiding Americans who make up that community.
- <font size="3">Congressman King’s constituents gathered outside his Long Island office recently to voice their opinions on the radicalization hearings. As opponents sang a peace song, </font size>
- <font size="3">Congressman King's supporters countered with, "We support King! Another pro-King demonstrator shouted that the Koran encourages Muslims to kill infidels.
</font size>
- <font size="3">Congressman King’s . . . web site features a CNN story in which he repeats a controversial suggestion about the extent of American Muslim radicalization.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">"In 2004, I said 80 percent of the mosques [in America] were controlled by extremists,"</span> King said. "That was based on testimony in 2000 from Sheikh Kabbani, who was testifying in a State Department hearing. Now, I do not know today, if it could be more than 80 percent, it could be less than 80 percent."</font size>
</font size>
Republicans divided over Muslim hearings
'Among rank-and-file people, we have great support,' said Peter King. | AP Photo
The top two House Republican leaders are divided over how to handle the bubbling controversy surrounding Homeland Security Chairman Peter King’s hearing into “radicalization” in the American Muslim community.
- Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress, is <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">squarely behind King</span> as he takes shots from civil libertarians and religious groups over his decision to target one group in his investigation of the causes of terrorism.
- But Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">keeping their distance from King</span>, perhaps trying to avoid letting this issue become a distraction for the GOP majority.
“Chairman King is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee” is all Boehner spokesman Michael Steel would say when asked about the controversy. McCarthy’s office declined to comment.
“Endorsing a controversial hearing can raise the visibility of it to a level in the news that could take the leadership off its message that they’re trying to sell, which is growing jobs, cutting spending,” said Ron Bonjean, who served as spokesman to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.).
Peter King -- What makes him tick?
Representative Peter T. King of the House Homeland Security Committee will hold hearings on American
Muslim radicalization.
CNN - Dana Bash, CNN Senior Correspondent, March 8, 2011:
Walk into Rep. Peter King's Capitol Hill office, and you are overwhelmed with how much the September 11, 2001, attacks consume the New York Republican. There are photos on the walls of funerals he attended, images of a smoky Brooklyn bridge, and baseball caps with sayings including "USS New York, Never Forget."
King says he doesn't have a monopoly on grief -- but it is what drives him.
"If you ask me what I think of about going to work every day, its 9/11 and preventing another 9/11. There were too many people I knew," he told CNN in an interview in his office.
That's why he says he is determined to use his powerful post as House Homeland Security committee chairman to hold a highly controversial hearing on what he has dubbed radicalization of Muslims in the United States.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">"I have no choice, I have to hold these hearings,</span> these hearings are absolutely essential," says King. <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">"There are elements in that community that are being radicalized, and I believe that the leadership, the leaders of that community, do not face up to that reality. Too many cases are not cooperative, not willing to speak out and condemn this type of radicalization that is going on,"</span> he insists.
King once had a close bond with leaders in the Muslim American community. In the 1990s, he broke with fellow Republicans and backed President Bill Clinton's military efforts in the Balkans to defend Muslims there.
But King says after 9/11 a switch flipped.
The New York Times - SCOTT SHANE, March 8, 2011:
WASHINGTON — For Representative Peter T. King, as he seizes the national spotlight this week with a hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims, it is the most awkward of résumé entries. Long before he became an outspoken voice in Congress about the threat from terrorism, <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">he was a fervent supporter of a terrorist group</span>, the Irish Republican Armyhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/refer...ish_republican_army/index.html?inline=nyt-org.
I.R.A. vs. Al Qaeda - Difference Without a Distinction ???
Of comparisons between the terrorism of the I.R.A. and that of Al Qaeda and its affiliates, Mr. King said: “I understand why people who are misinformed might see a parallel. The fact is, the I.R.A. never attacked the United States. And my loyalty is to the United States.”
[Some of] Mr. King’s critics acknowledge a fundamental difference between the violence carried out by the I.R.A., which usually sought with varying success to minimize civilian casualties, and that of Al Qaeda, which has done the opposite. The I.R.A. was responsible for 1,826 of 3,528 deaths during the Northern Irish conflict between 1969 and 2001, including those of several hundred civilians, said the historian Malcolm Sutton.
“King’s exactly right to say there’s a difference of approach between the I.R.A. and Al Qaeda,” said Tom Parker, a counterterrorism specialist at Amnesty International and a former British military intelligence officer. “But I personally consider both of them terrorist groups.”
What troubles him, Mr. Parker said, is that Mr. King “understands the pull of ancestral ties. He took a great interest in a terrorist struggle overseas. He’s a guy who could bring real insight to this situation.” Instead, he said, “he is damaging cooperation from the greatest allies the U.S. has in counterterrorism.”
Some who have been close to Mr. King agree. Niall O’Dowd, an Irish-born New York publisher and writer who worked with him on the peace process in the 1990s, broke publicly with him Monday on his Web site, IrishCentral.com, describing Mr. King’s “strange journey from Irish radical to Muslim inquisitor.”
In Northern Ireland, Mr. O’Dowd said, they saw a Catholic community “demonized” by its Protestant and British critics and worked to bring it to the peace table. Seeing his old friend similarly “demonize” Muslims has shocked him, he said.
“I honestly feel Peter is wrong, and his own experience in Northern Ireland teaches him that,” Mr. O’Dowd said. “He’s a very honest, working-class Irish guy from Queens who’s had an amazing career. Now I see a man turning back on himself, and I don’t know why.”
Thanks, Que.
e d i t o r i a l
Paranoia in the House
A fringe group of conservatives believes that Islamic
fundamentalists have infiltrated the deepest recesses
of the U.S. government. That's nonsense.
Then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has a word with aide Huma Abedin. Sen. John McCain defended
Abedin on Wednesday against claims that she's connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. (Charles
Dharapak / Associated Press / April 2, 2008)
SOURCE: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-muslims-mccain-abedin-20120720,0,458735.story
Paranoia in the House
A fringe group of conservatives believes that Islamic
fundamentalists have infiltrated the deepest recesses
of the U.S. government. That's nonsense.
Then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has a word with aide Huma Abedin. Sen. John McCain defended
Abedin on Wednesday against claims that she's connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. (Charles
Dharapak / Associated Press / April 2, 2008)
July 20, 2012
In the 1950s, Sen. Joe McCarthy and other paranoid anti-communists saw Reds under the bed — and in the State Department. Today a fringe group of conservatives believes similarly that Islamic fundamentalists have infiltrated the deepest recesses of the American government. In refuting such an aspersion made by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) against a State Department official, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has struck a profile in courage that should encourage other conservatives to distance themselves from crackpot conspiracy theories.
On Wednesday McCain defended Huma Abedin, a Muslim American who serves as deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In a letter to the inspector general of the State Department, Bachmann and four other Republican representatives had warned that Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide, "has three family members — her late father, her mother and her brother — connected to Muslim Brotherhood operatives and/or organizations." The letter was one of five sent to inspectors general of various agencies citing "serious security concerns" about Muslim Brotherhood penetration.
McCain said the attacks on Abedin "have no logic, no basis and no merit, and they need to stop now. I have every confidence in Huma's loyalty to our country, and everyone else should as well." On Thursday, House SpeakerJohn A. Boehner(R-Ohio) added, "Accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous."
It's gratifying that leaders like McCain and Boehner have come to the defense of a well-regarded victim of guilt by tenuous association. But the Republican Party as a whole needs to dissociate itself from the larger neo-McCarthyite worldview that informs Bachmann's ravings. The letters to the inspectors general cited the Center for Security Policy, a group founded by Frank Gaffney, a radio host and former Reagan administration official. The group's website offers a breathless video tutorial about the stealth "civilization jihad" being pursued by the Muslim Brotherhood through the "penetration and subversion of this country's civil society and governing institutions."
Such delusions have consequences. On July 15, Clinton's motorcade in Alexandria, Egypt, was pelted with shoes and tomatoes by protesters who accused the United States of having supported the election of President Mohamed Morsi, the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. A New York Times report traced that sentiment in part to a July 4 installment of Gaffney's online radio program.
The notion of an Islamic Fifth Column in this country is poisonous not only to domestic tranquillity but also to effective diplomacy. Leaders of both parties should repudiate it.
In the 1950s, Sen. Joe McCarthy and other paranoid anti-communists saw Reds under the bed — and in the State Department. Today a fringe group of conservatives believes similarly that Islamic fundamentalists have infiltrated the deepest recesses of the American government. In refuting such an aspersion made by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) against a State Department official, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has struck a profile in courage that should encourage other conservatives to distance themselves from crackpot conspiracy theories.
On Wednesday McCain defended Huma Abedin, a Muslim American who serves as deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In a letter to the inspector general of the State Department, Bachmann and four other Republican representatives had warned that Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide, "has three family members — her late father, her mother and her brother — connected to Muslim Brotherhood operatives and/or organizations." The letter was one of five sent to inspectors general of various agencies citing "serious security concerns" about Muslim Brotherhood penetration.
McCain said the attacks on Abedin "have no logic, no basis and no merit, and they need to stop now. I have every confidence in Huma's loyalty to our country, and everyone else should as well." On Thursday, House SpeakerJohn A. Boehner(R-Ohio) added, "Accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous."
It's gratifying that leaders like McCain and Boehner have come to the defense of a well-regarded victim of guilt by tenuous association. But the Republican Party as a whole needs to dissociate itself from the larger neo-McCarthyite worldview that informs Bachmann's ravings. The letters to the inspectors general cited the Center for Security Policy, a group founded by Frank Gaffney, a radio host and former Reagan administration official. The group's website offers a breathless video tutorial about the stealth "civilization jihad" being pursued by the Muslim Brotherhood through the "penetration and subversion of this country's civil society and governing institutions."
Such delusions have consequences. On July 15, Clinton's motorcade in Alexandria, Egypt, was pelted with shoes and tomatoes by protesters who accused the United States of having supported the election of President Mohamed Morsi, the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. A New York Times report traced that sentiment in part to a July 4 installment of Gaffney's online radio program.
The notion of an Islamic Fifth Column in this country is poisonous not only to domestic tranquillity but also to effective diplomacy. Leaders of both parties should repudiate it.
SOURCE: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-muslims-mccain-abedin-20120720,0,458735.story
Similar threads
