Political Correctness And Terror

To go along with the Star Tribune article on the flying imams (cited below), there are items not included, though perhaps there's more to come.

Marwan Sadeddin was one of the imams. He heads the Islamic Council of Arizona. That group protested when Homeland Security refused to allow an individual with links to terrorism back into the country.

Another flying imam, Ahmad Tafish Shqeirat, has taken to teaching ... prisoners. It's no secret that domestic recruiting by radical Islamists is focused in part on our prisons. Add that to what's below from the Star Tribune.  h/t Instapundit

Clearly terrorists know enough about America to exploit us with propaganda, we've watched the MSM carry their water for years. But given that a portion of the MSM is finally paying genuine attention to those imams who were recently booted from a plane, it might be time to consider just how far certain groups will go to work against the United States.

Suspicion about imams grows as terror links pile up

Radical Islamists have been actively working America's tradition of charity to feed money to their malignant cause. The government has been fairly effective in shutting them down. So, is it really out of the question to wonder if some of the same individuals aren't re-directing their energies, seeing charges of discrimination as a means of getting America to lower her defenses?

Who are the parties involved here, who seem so interested in linking airport security with racial bigotry?

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the imams' legal representative, is an organization that "we know has ties to terrorism," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in 2003. And the Muslim American Society, which is also supporting the imams? It's the American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Chicago Tribune, which called it "the world's most influential Islamic fundamentalist group."

How about Omar Shahin, the imams' spokesman and also president of the North American Imams Federation? He is a native of Jordan, who says he became a U.S. citizen in 2003. From 2000 to 2003, Shahin served as president of Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT), that city's largest mosque.

The ICT is well known. The mosque has "an extensive history of terror links," according to terrorism expert Steven Emerson, who testified about terrorist financing before the Senate Banking Committee in July 2005.

This story needs to get beyond just a single paper. Americans should be hearing it on their nightly news. We can not continue ignoring the linkages to terror for various individuals and groups out of a misguided sense of political correctness.

It just so happens the vast majority of terrorists are Muslims from the Middle East. Looking at that group more closely is not persecution, it's common sense.

Comments

[Sulayman]

Oh this is stupid. So what if Ahmad Tafish Shqeirat is a chaplain to prisons. None of his mentees have gone to terrorism and you're just throwing around an unfounded allegation.

Marwan Sadeddin was part of a group that supported someone who had supposed links to terrorism. Heck, every single person has seven degrees of separation from a terrorist, including Bill O'Reilly and Bush. These links are alleged and tenuous. Besides, they were yanked from the flight for praying and doing something as suspicious as standing up.

This article has nothing of value. Chuck Schumer accuses CAIR of being accused of having links to terror. How many degrees of separation and accusations of a different accusation do you count?

"It just so happens the vast majority of terrorists are Muslims from the Middle East."
Actually, the US State Department says the majority of terrorism is in South America, but we don't profile that way. The NYPD proved conclusively that profiling doesn't work anyway. If you profile, you will only cause more of these scenes like the imams being pulled from the plane for no reason, only hundreds more times, thus reinforcing the stereotypes and fears.

[Buzzy]

Should we wait until one of Ahmad Tafish Shqeirat's converts commits an act of terrorism? Just how many of the 9/11 hijackers were from South America? How many were Muslim? How many from the Middle East? CAIR is a major apoligist for Islamofascism. Confront Islam every day.

[Fred Beloit]

Sulayman, it is quite clear by now that these imams were testing the tolerance of their fellow passengers and the airline for tactical terrorist activities. I'm looking forward to a trial of their lawsuit, as if this would really happen. It should provide us with much new intelligence on local enemy plans. If they don't go to court, I hope someone will sue them and force them to trial.

[seekeronos]

If I were US Air, and this does not go to criminal trial, I'd sue those Imams for disrupting the peace of their air terminal, and open it up as a class-action suit for the passengers who were so disrupted by thier conspicuous and conspiratorial activities.

[David]

A very simple question that has probably been answered - did the Flyin' Imams complete their travel? Given that some reportedly had 1-way tickets (i.e. - they REALLY needed to be at their destination), it seems like they've had a suspiciously long time to protest. Why does it matter? Well, it would be one more piece of evidence that this was a planned stunt.

[Officious Pedant]

Dave says tat there would be one more piece of evidence that this was a planned stunt. I would like to ask any of the oh-so-clever responders to this post if they have any evidence, a single piece, that this was a stunt? As opposed to a bunch of travelers wound so tightly with the paranoia we get from the President, the VP, and OHS, that they practically soiled themselves when they saw a group of muslim men, I mean.

And let's all try to remeber, kids, that your cowardice and fear driven assumptions have as little similarity to evidence as guesses do to facts.

[yyy]

Of course there isn't any evidence it was a stunt.

Just like the nutter that Dan quoted who was on the plane and was sure it was EITHER a thwarted terrorist attack..I guess they were going to take over the plane with seatbelt extenders...or a stunt.

It's 100% certain it wasn't a terrorist attack since no weapons or detonators were found on the men and they werent' charged with anything...thus, since the nutter on the plane STILL thinks that its 50/50 terrorist attack or set up....nutter and Dan have no credibility.

It was a clear cut case of total paranoia...what terrorist is going to draw attention to himself by praying 'loudly' and spouting off about the Bush Admin.??? before he commits his terrorist act??? That alone should have been a tip off that they weren't terrorists.

The only reason Dan and his cohorts cling to the idea that it was a set up is because they can never admit that any innocent muslim has ever been discriminated against...they ALWAYS deserve it, whatever it is...false arrest, public humiliation, tasers, sexual abuse...whatever it is they asked for it.

[larry]

right you are, yyy! not only that, but by being brusque and mean and all macho (makes finger quotes sign) "proactive" and shit, the racist rubes on that plane who - in their hate & fear & intolerance & willingness to believe that a moslem might be wanting to kill them - (the NERVE!), they went and *hurt the feelings of* the holy men of the religion of peace, and moslems everywhere.

and as us liberals know, that's The Worst Thing In The World.

i just pray they'll forgve us.....

[David]

OP,

What counts for evidence on your planet? Must we find a signed document detailing the imam's plans? The evidence (which extends well beyond a single piece) includes multiple episodes of bizarre behavior for which the imam’s religion is not an explanation, including requests for unneeded seatbelt extensions, not following commands of the crew, and sitting in a seating pattern highly reminiscent of the 9-11 attackers. Add to that a rapid, coordinated media campaign, and we actually have several pieces of evidence. All are circumstantial, and all have potential alternate explanations. Do I have enough evidence to convict them of fraud?, No. However, public opinion is not a court of law, and I am not required to prove this point beyond a reasonable doubt to raise the issue.

So no, OP, this not based on "cowardice and fear", but on a consideration of actions, alternate explanations, and history. I'm sorry that this causes cognitive dissonance with your world view. I understand that your sense of self-worth is tightly correlated with feeling superiority to those of us who take the threat of radical Islam seriously. I can assure you that aligning your world view with the facts while initially humbling, will in the end give you a firmer sense of self that is not so dependent on external validation.

Plus, you won't sound like such a prick.

[yyy]

in their hate & fear & intolerance & willingness to believe that a moslem might be wanting to kill them - (the NERVE!), they went and *hurt the feelings of* the holy men of the religion of peace, and moslems everywhere.
--------------

Well, actually, yes. That's it exactly.

What you can't seem to grasp is that just because 19 muslims attacked the world trade center it does not MEAN THAT ALL ONE BILLION MUSLIMS have similar plans to commit terrorist attacks, you can't seem to figure that out.

It's kind of like if I am mugged by a black guy and then every time I see a black person I assume they are going to mug me so I call the police to have them arrested because they are 'acting suspicious'

Paranoia is not evidence, no matter how real it feels to those who are afflicted.

I'm so sure that muslim clerics returning from a convention on improving Islamic/American relations are NO DOUBT purveyers of 'radical islam'..well of course, because they are 'all' animals, killers, followers of a brutal/thug religion, I wonder then, why after several centuries of islam have they made so few attempts at jihad, say, compared to the christian's many many evangelical/military crusades??

What evidence?

They were praying out in public, and some people thought it was TOO LOUD...yeah, really, really suspicious.

They asked for seatbelt extensions..well, yeah, I mean, guns/knives/box cutters/seat belt extensions, it's all of a piece, right?

Since one of the men happened to be the leader of a major islamic organization and he was wrongly taken off an airplane in HANDCUFFS, questioned for five hours and refused passage by the airline, it should be no surprise that he went public or called a laywer or put out a press release.

Do you suppose that maybe as a leader who has been trying to teach America about islam, who upon leaving a convention aimed at improving understanding that maybe he was just OUTRAGED at being treated like a terrorist for basically no good reason, on no evidence whatsover.

Nevermind that aparently the pilots and airport staff and police are so lacking in faith in the TSA 'security' measures that they just assumed these guys had somehow been able to bypass all those billions in security upgrades.

As always, when I want a window into the most narrow minded, hatefilled, fear mongering mode of thought, I am amply rewarded here at Dan's hate blog.

[larry]

yyy, you're too priceless for words. your responses on this blog are SO perfect; SO ridiculous; SO representative of the 190-proof absurdity of what passes for modern liberal "thought" these days, that i sometimes wonder if you're a gop plant, posting here to make liberals look even dumber than thay are.

in an earlier thread where you & i tangled, you suggested that 1 thing that should have been done as a response to 9-11 was to - and i quote directly - "force israel & palestine to make peace", and then "wring out the needed arab & european money and troops to make the peace stick." the mind boggles. your proposed solution to a given problem was to somehow magically "force" a solution to a problem that's been unsolved for 60 years. despite the best efforts of pretty much everyone; despite the new palestinian PM - a member of hamas - recently saying they would "never recognize israel"; despite the fact that 'forcing' would mean you'd have to gun in with guns blazing, and kill a LOT of innocents caught in the crossfire. are you willing to shoot the children the brave palestinian 'insurgents' will hide behind? are you willing to bomb homes and neighborhoods the brave palestinian insurgents will launch rockets from?

no, of course not. you're a liberal. and your "forced peace" would have to be enacted by the *pixies*; and overseen by the *unciorns*. but it's such a PRETTY idea! it SOUNDS so good!

in a similar jaw-dropping vein, you actually AGREED with my humorous, make-fun-of-liberal-idiots-statement that "hurting moslem feelings is The Worst Thing In The World." you actually seem to be saying that "it's better to risk a plane being hijacked/9-11'ed by moslem swine than to risk offending them". you used words like "outrage" that they were booted off the plane. not beaten to a pulp; not thrown into prison; not summarily executed....just kicked off the plane.

amazing. astounding. appalling. the pity is, that if you're NOT a secret gop operative posting away from the bowels of fort meade, the pity is that folks like you are allowed to vote. and breed.

[yyy]

B.S.

All we need to do in order to "force" peace on Israel and the Palestinians is to tell Israel if they don't settle we will cut off their military and economic aid.

Period. Done. The country cannot survive without our billions. No guns necessary, just a statement from us to them as to who is really running the show. And I guarantee you nobody is going to pick up our slack and Israel knows it, we are they only sugar daddy on the block.

And well also, the Palestinians want their own state so it would be doubtful that they would be fighting anyone once they get what they have been asking for for the last 60 years, see, they are fighting the Israelis because they consider them an illegal occupying army, get it?

No, of course not.

I am OUTRAGED every time I fly for the disgusting way that I am treated like a criminal, and mind you I don't look anything like an arab male of any age.

Don't you understand that a real terrorist is never going to act like those imams did??? Never going to draw attention to himself like that...the whole thing was absurd...just like the arab college kids arrested as terrorist for having a bunch of cell phones in the car and some digital photos of a bridge. RIDICULOUS.

IF we are this stupid then another successful attack is clearly going to happen since we are spending all our time hassling people who are innocent.

However, I know you are too dumb to understand this idea...that being arab doesn't make you suspcious or a terrorist...and that people's 'feelings' and prejudices are not evidence.

You are a lost cause, it must suck to be so full of fear though, all the time, wondering when the bloodthirsty arabs are going to take over and make you read the koran.

Nutters.

As far as innocent people being taken off a plane in handcuffs and interrogated for several hours by the FBI because of a bunch of paranoid nutters on a plane, yepper, put me down as AGAINST THAT.

See, there WAS NO RISK OF THE PLANE BEING HIJACKED except in the minds of a bunch of arab hating nutters like you who think that every arab is a potential or probable terrorist...there was no reasonable or probable cause to force them to leave the airplane, let alone in handcuffs...except paranoia.

[larry]

this must be what it's like trying to have a conversation on geopolitical realities with an insane person. "if we only make a wish really really *really* hard this time, perhaps the pixies and unicorns will make it come true!"

you're too beautiful for this world, yyy. i truly think that - try as we might - we'll never be able to reach your rarified level of mind; or to understand the great & beautiful truths you insist are attainable, if we would only cross our fingers just right, or refrain from stepping on 'east-to-west' cracks on sidewalks, or whatever.

i think you should express your disappointment with us, your slow and wayward underlings, by....oh, let's see.... by not voting.

that'll show us!

[seekeronos]

All I gotta say to this is... yikes.

yyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... why....?

Or maybe how? How can you possibly set aside any notion that a hateful, evil "religion" such as Islam (which teaches Jihad, the overthrow of non-islamic entities with violent force) could possibly do harm to Americans or attempt to terrorize an American flight?

Perhaps you are right in that those imams were only making a statement by being so over the top obnoxious, and dropping such huge hints like sitting in the same pattern as the 9-11 hijackers, requesting the belt extenders when none of them were big, fat, disgustingly overweight slobs by any stretch of the imagination... that they all but guaranteed that some security or police would come to take them away in the hopes that they would have thier civil rights violated, and thus bring the holy wrath of the CAIR and the ACLU upon us all?

Or are you just insane?

I might actually agree that they had no intent of hijacking anything... but to ignore such overt signs of belligerence - and run the risk of having those Islamist "nutters" hijack an airplane, would be a grave and nearly unforgiveable sin.

I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter if you "look" Arab or Persian or not... if you act like a bleeding nutter in an air terminal or on a plane, people WILL call your sorry butt out, and summmon the correct security personnel to deal with you.

As for someone not exhibiting such obvious signs of nutterdom, wel.... anything is possible. But since terrorists typically like to make a show of things as a calling card of sorts... it doesn:t seem to likely that John Q. Whiteboy is going to pop on in with six of his mates to hijack a American jet. At least not for Allah. And last time I checked, most recent terrorists have an uncanny knack for being radical Islamists.

Oh, and the Jihadists have been consistently butchering people for several centuries. The Crusades were about four (or five if you count the abortive "Childrens' Crusade) major campaigns occuring at odd times between the tenth thru thirteenth centuries, largely contesting the possession of the city of Jerusalem. And it was not geerally "Christian", but rather, it was supported and ordered by the Holy See (the Vatican). The Orthodox Patriarchates and the persecuted groups of Bible-believing Christians were not involved in it to any degree.

As for the military actions themselves, the battles were largely confined to the Levant (what would be modern day Israel), and was never opened into a wider conflict into the Arabic world.

The Jihadists on thier part, brought thier evil armies - raping and pillaging all the way to Vienna on at least two occassions, and had threatened France through Moorish Spain until they were repelled by Charles Martel in the eigth century. Little has changed for the worshippers of the Great Pedophile Mohammed (who will bow his knee before King Jesus Christ on the day of judgment).

As for you being "profiled" for passing as a terrorist... I dunno what to tell you. Consider cutting and bleaching your hair out, or shaving down the excess body hair perhaps... or try not to look so much like a five-day unwashed granola-munching hippie. And if you are a man, I suppose that there are other steps we can take to improve your appearance.

Cheers!

[larry]

while we're on the topic of 'insane things', why was bill clinton violating the constitutional rights of princess diana by tapping her phones and spying on her?

that's just.....that's just *WRONG*, man. and for all we know, he had her whacked, too. what IS it with these democrats and their contempt for other people's rights anyway?? when democrats do stuff like this, hurting feelings and stuff, it makes other people hate us, y'know.

[Fred Beloit]

Stupidious Pendant, that is why some of us want to see a trial. Look. SP, it works like this. First we have suspicions based on reports, then accusations, then lawsuits, then trials, during which evedence is presented. And please can't you make any points without being insulting? And, yyy, what a great pleasure it is to, er, encounter you again. Hope all is well with you and the family.