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May 09, 2006
Caves in Afghanistan to Motown ~ Just Follow the Camel Tracks
In terror war, American 'outreach' has US Muslims wary
By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent
DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) -
When U.S. soldiers raid a cave in Afghanistan, FBI agent William Kowalski knows to expect a call at his office in Detroit.
"When a military raid goes on in Kabul, or in a cave, and they find a computer that contains an address book or names and phone numbers, invariably I'm going to get a call here that says, 'We did a raid and there was this 313 (Detroit-region) area code phone number in it. Check it out,'" Kowalski said.
The Detroit area, and especially the suburb of Dearborn, is home to the largest Arab American community in the United States, potentially fertile ground for U.S. officials looking for information and help to fight the war on terrorism.
Counterterrorism officials are trying to build closer ties to Muslim and Arab Americans through so-called outreach efforts. These include townhall meetings, discussions with community leaders and one-on-one talks with local residents at mosques, schools or cultural events.
Officials hope closer ties will encourage community members -- who are just as eager to live in safety as other Americans -- to tip off authorities to suspicious newcomers or militant activities, allowing agents to foil possible plots before it's too late.
Agents believe immigrant communities may have unique links to conflict areas and can help them distinguish between useful leads and red herrings after incidents such as the raids Kowalski described.
But many Muslim and Arab Americans fear the bridge-building initiative that began after the September 11 attacks means little more than propaganda, recruitment and spying.
"It's not about reaching out to us and including us," said community activist Kenwah Dabaja, whose family emigrated to the United States from Lebanon. "The community is nervous."
Federal, state and local counterterrorism officials say bridging this gap in understanding is key to protecting the country, but efforts are stumbling over deep-seated mistrust and suspicions.
Many Arab and Muslim Americans say they have felt the target of racism and discrimination after the 2001 attacks, and they accuse law enforcement officials of singling them out for scrutiny in the fight against terrorism.
"One thing everybody is taught in this country is that you are innocent until proven guilty, but it seems this is not working with regard to the Muslim community anymore," said Imam Hassan al-Qazwini, the Iraqi-born head of one of the largest U.S. mosques in Dearborn.
"HAVEN'T DONE ENOUGH"
One senior U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington acknowledged that "we haven't done enough" to cooperate with Arab and Muslim immigrants against terrorism.
He said the government had to beef up intelligence gathering at home by building trust between officials and Americans of Middle Eastern descent, linking local police more closely into communities and encouraging residents to volunteer information.
Government agencies as well as state and local law enforcement also say they are eager to hire Arab Americans so their workforce better reflects the community.
"Our job is to convince them (community members) that they can trust us so that they can come forward with information that will further our investigations, or points us in the right direction if they see suspicious individuals," said Kowalski, who is the FBI's acting special agent charge in Detroit.
He said the number of Arab Americans was so large in his area that almost every U.S. security investigation at home and abroad touched his community in some way.
Brian Moskowitz, the Detroit-based special agent in charge for the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said intense outreach efforts to community members since the 2001 attacks -- including monthly sessions with Arab and Muslim American leaders -- had certainly enhanced security cooperation.
"I don't think it (terrorism) is different than any other crime in the sense that you need to have your sources, your ears and eyes as close to the action as possible," he said. "Law enforcement in general terms has gotten information from the community here. They come because they feel they can."
COMMUNITY WARY
Michael Bouchard, a Detroit area sheriff who is the only Arab American running for the Senate this fall, said law enforcement had begun to take steps to improve security cooperation with the community, "but it takes time. Every time you have a long-standing misunderstanding and distrust, it takes times to break that down."
Several community members -- and even one Washington-based official who spoke on condition of anonymity -- said the authorities were probably not plugged into the communities well enough to know if any extremists were lurking there.
Dearborn activist Dabaja said government "outreach" was a misnomer. "It's not really outreach. To some it's recruiting and propaganda spreading," she said, adding there was a need for genuine closer ties.
Some community members also feared they were under surveillance, especially after the disclosure of domestic wiretapping as part of counterterrorism efforts.
Imam Qazwini praised the regular meetings senior administration and law enforcement officials have held with community leaders such as him, but he said it wasn't enough.
"Outreach means that you treat me equally and respect me like any other U.S. citizen. You don't look at me with a suspicious eye unless you have overwhelming evidence," he said.
Wild Thing's comment......
Well this ticks me off!!!! It seems very simple to me, you raid a cave in Afghanistan and find a computer with address book or names and phone numbers connecting the terrorists to (313) area code in Michigan. OK how hard is that to understand for these freaking Muslims in America. ( insert steam coming out of my nose, ears and eyes with anger and my blood boiling). BUT do the Muslims react innocently HELL NO! Once again they react with the stop picking on me BS. And complain about the outreach to kiss up to them.
Help stop the insanity! Stop giving in to the enemy, stop being diplomatic with them.
Posted by Wild Thing at May 9, 2006 01:55 AM
Comments
I was stationed at Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan during Desert Storm. WAFB was located about 150 miles North of Detroit which has one of the largest concentrations of Arabs of any city in the world. During Desert Shield / Desert Storm, it was a main concern of base officials. 26% of the total tonnage dropped by coalition forces during Desert Storm was dropped by WAFB B-52’s flying out of a sacred and sensitive are in the Middle East. Personnel and dependents at the base were briefed to be cautious and avoid the Detroit area, especially if their vehicles had the DOD and base identification stickers required for base entry.
Posted by: BobF at May 9, 2006 07:31 AM
Bob that is really something that makes me furious that anyone in our military had to be cautious like you were telling about. Thank you for sharing about this.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 9, 2006 09:56 AM
Oops, I was going to say something, but I guess I should first find a local iman to verify that I will not offend some moslem here. Damn it is getting silly.
For all their sniveling demands, what the f--- have they done for America to be worthy of being listened to!
Posted by: TomR at May 9, 2006 12:32 PM
Love your post Tom and I agree with you.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 9, 2006 01:32 PM
Dearborn, is home to the largest Arab American community in the United States. Bullshit!!! Dearborn, is home to the largest Arab community in the United States. I for one have had it with the goddamn prequalifiers to be an American, if you have to have a prequalifier then you're sure as are hell not an American, go back to your preferred land of origin and take your offspring with you. Whether it be Arab-American or Mexican-American we have coddled you long enough.
Posted by: Jack at May 9, 2006 03:24 PM
Amen Jack, double AMEN!!!! I agree with you!
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 9, 2006 07:37 PM
