20 Oct

Hillary’s Staff Tells A Whopper



Hillary, Not as in the Mount Everest Guy
NYT
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: October 17, 2006
For more than a decade, one piece of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s informal biography has been that she was named for Sir Edmund Hillary, the conqueror of Mount Everest. The story was even recounted in Bill Clinton’s autobiography.
But yesterday, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign said she was not named for Sir Edmund after all.

“It was a sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter, to great results I might add,” said Jennifer Hanley, a spokeswoman for the campaign.

In May 1953, Sir Edmund and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In 1995, shortly after meeting Sir Edmund, Mrs. Clinton said that her mother, Dorothy Rodham, had long told her she was named for the famous mountaineer.

“It had two l’s, which is how she thought she was supposed to spell Hillary,” Mrs. Clinton said at the time, after meeting Sir Edmund. “So when I was born, she called me Hillary, and she always told me it’s because of Sir Edmund Hillary.”

Even though Bill Clinton repeated the story in his 2004 autobiography, “My Life,” Hillary Clinton did not mention it in her own autobiography, “Living History,” which was published in 2003.
But one big hole has been poked in the story over the years, both in cyberspace and elsewhere: Sir Edmund became famous only after climbing Everest in 1953. Mrs. Clinton, as it happens, was born in 1947.


Wild Thing’s comment…..
LMAO this is so funny! And Bill Clinton repeated it in his book. No one bothered to even check it out first. hahahahha

20 Oct

House Intel Chair Suspends Staff Member



WASHINGTON — House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra has suspended a Democratic staff member because of concerns he may have leaked a high-level intelligence assessment to The New York Times last month.
The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has suspended a Democratic staff member pending an investigation into whether he leaked a high-level intelligence assessment to the news media.
The committee’s top Democrat said the suspension was “without basis.”
The staff member, who was not identified, was suspended this week by Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., his spokesman said Thursday evening. The aide is being denied access to classified information pending the outcome of a review, said the spokesman, Jamal Ware.
The leak to The New York Times of a National Intelligence Estimate on global terror trends caused a political uproar last month. In the assessment, completed in April, analysts from the government’s 16 spy agencies concluded that the Iraq war has become a “cause celebre” for Islamic extremists, breeding deep resentment of the U.S. that probably will get worse before it gets better.
President Bush suggested the document was leaked for “political purposes” weeks before the midterm elections. He later made public four pages of the estimate’s key findings.
In a letter to Hoekstra dated Sept. 29, Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., a committee member, said the Democratic staffer requested the document from National Intelligence Director John Negroponte three days before a Sept. 23 story by the Times on its conclusions.

“I have no credible information to say any classified information was leaked from the committee’s minority staff, but the implications of such would be dramatic,” LaHood said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “This may, in fact, be only coincidence, and simply ‘look bad.’ But coincidence, in this town, is rare.”

Ware, Hoekstra’s spokesman, said: “Chairman Hoekstra considers security highly important, and the coincidence certainly merits a review.”

The Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, Jane Harman of California, wrote to Hoekstra that she was “appalled” by his action, which was “without basis.”

“I demand that you immediately reinstate the staffer’s access to classified information,” she said.

A conference call to the committee’s nine Democrats on Wednesday to inform them of the aide’s suspension prompted outrage, said two congressional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal committee business.
The officials said that the National Intelligence Estimate was marked “secret,” rather than “top secret” or another more restrictive classification. As a result, thousands of people would have had access to it, including the intelligence, armed services and international relations committees of the House.
The officials said the staff member acted appropriately in requesting the document on behalf of a committee member.
Relations between Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have soured in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, Harman unilaterally released the executive summary of an independent investigator’s review into the actions of a jailed former congressman, Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif. The report found that he abused his position on the committee to help ensure lucrative contracts went to associates, in exchange for bribes.
Hoekstra called Harman’s decision to release the document “disturbing and beyond the pale.”
Bush allies have been on a campaign to stop leaks to the news media, particularly targeting the New York Times.

In June, the House approved a Republican-drafted resolution condemning news organizations for revealing a covert government program to track terrorist financing, saying the disclosure had “placed the lives of Americans in danger.”

The resolution, which passed on a largely party-line vote, did not specifically name the news organizations, but it was aimed at the Times and other news media that reported earlier that month on a secret CIA-Treasury program to track millions of financial records in search of terrorists.
The New York Times did not respond to a telephone message seeking comment Thursday night.


Wild Thing’s comment……
“Suspended”? How about arrested and cuffed??

Name ……………. Party ………………….State
Peter Hoekstra………… Republican…………… Michigan
Ray LaHood …………….Republican ……………Illinois
Terry Everett ……………Republican …………..Alabama
Elton Gallegly …………….Republican …………California
Heather Wilson …………Republican ………….New Mexico
Jo Ann Davis …………….Republican ………….Virginia
Mac Thornberry………… Republican…………. Texas
John McHugh…………… Republican…………… New York
Todd Tiahrt ………………..Republican……………. Kansas
Mike Rogers…………….. Republican…………… Michigan
Rick Renzi …………………Republican ………….. Arizona
Darrell Issa ………………….Republican …………. California
Jane Harman ………………….Democrat …………….California
Alcee L. Hastings………….. Democrat ……………… Florida
Silvestre Reyes ……………..Democrat ……………… Texas
Leonard L. Boswell ………..Democrat ……………… Iowa
Robert E. (Bud) Cramer, Jr ……….Democrat ………..Alabama
Anna G. Eshoo………………… Democrat …………….. California
Rush D. Holt …………………..Democrat ……………… New Jersey
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger………… Democrat ……….Maryland
John Tierney……………………… Democrat ………………..Massachusetts

20 Oct
19 Oct

Mc Cain Is Such A Drama Queen



McCain: “I’d just commit suicide” if Democrats take control of Senate
Radio Iowa
by O. Kay Henderson
Arizona Senator and probable 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain jokingly says he would “commit suicide” if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate in this November’s election.
McCain was in Iowa today (Wednesday), campaigning with GOP Congressmen Steve King and Tom Latham as well as Republican congressional candidate Jeff Lamberti. McCain spoke at a mid-day news conference in Des Moines, where McCain was asked what his reaction would be to a Democratic take-over of the Senate.

“I think I’d just commit suicide,” McCain said, as the Republicans standing beside him burst into laughter. “I don’t want to face that eventuality because I don’t think it’s going to happen…I think it’s going to be tough, but I think we’ll do o.k.”

A few moments later McCain turned to Congressman Latham and joked that Latham would probably commit suicide first, as polls suggest control of the House is likely to swing to Democrats in this year’s election.
According to McCain, the current “tenor” of campaigns is too negative and he hopes the courts can help stop new groups called “527s” which are able to skirt campaign contribution limits. “The 527s are pernicious evil that needs to be eliminated,” McCain said.

“We have a Federal Elections Commission that will not enforce the law and they are an absolute national disgrace.” McCain said.

McCain was also asked to address foreign policy issues. McCain said Democrats, like fellow Senator John Kerry, were wrong to criticize the Bush Administration in the hours following North Korea’s test of a nuclear weapon.

“I think at the time of the crisis, we should probably support the president,” McCain said. “I was disappointed that the Democrats almost immediately started criticizing President Bush’s policies. I thought it was a time we should rally behind the president.”

As for the world’s other hot-spot — Iraq, McCain backs Bush’s recent promise to Iraq’s prime minister that the U.S. will stay as long as it takes to win that war. McCain believes the U.S. should have more troops on the ground in Iraq — and they should be full-time, not part-time, soldiers.

“We need a much larger Army and Marine Corps. When you look at the deployment of the Iowa National Guard and the magnificent service they have rendered, it’s really incredible but it’s too much of a strain on the Guard,” McCain said. “You just can’t keep asking our Guard people to go back and back and back.”

McCain, an opponent of the federal tax break for corn-based ethanol, visited an ethanol plant in Nevada early this afternoon. McCain said with “technological improvements” in the production of ethanol, combined with ever-more expensive petroleum, he supports expanded federal spending on research that will benefit the industry, but he still opposes direct subsidies for the ethanol industry.


Wild Thing’s comment…….
OK, here is the thing, if we don’t win I will be angry, and also terrified at what the Dems will do to destroy this country even more then they already have.
But I am not going to commit suicide over it. I won’t have to, the Dems will have the entire country of the United States killed as we know it. And I need to stay alive to fight back in whatever way I can even if it is in emails, letters and phone calls telling them off. Plus this little ole Blog where we can rant and cheer and use to hang out with others of like mind.
McCain is known for having a temper, he has been rude to people that have actually come out to support him at some of his speech thingies. Unstable comes to mind, but to even kid about suicide, hey he is one of our leaders in government such as he is, and that kind of statement is right out of the Alec Baldwin mentality.
Good grief Charlie Brown!

19 Oct

Ahmadinejad: ‘I Have a Connection With God”



Iran President Ahmadinejad: ‘I Have a Connection With God, Since God Said That the Infidels Will Have No Way to Harm the Believers’; ‘We Have Only One Step Remaining Before We Attain the Summit of Nuclear Technology’; The West ‘Will Not Dare To Attack Us’




God might have a different take on this subject and so might the USA

MEMRI
In an Iftar address to an audience of his supporters, including members of the Union of Islamic Engineers and supporters of the Khat-e Emam, on October 14, 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that he had a connection with God, and promised that Iran would continue to develop nuclear energy, and would not give in to the West’s demand to suspend its uranium enrichment “even for one single day.”
The parts of Ahmadinejad’s address regarding his connection with God were reported by the independent Iranian news agency Iran News, which is active within Iran, on October 15, 2006, under the title “A Different Report by Iran News on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s New Shocking Address at the Iftar of the Engineers Union.”
Like Ahmadinejad, other members of Iran’s upper echelons have also recently expressed their objections to a suspension of uranium enrichment like that undertaken by the previous president, the reformist Mohammad Khatami.
At a meeting with the heads of Iran’s ruling authorities, Iran’s Supreme Leader ‘Ali Khamenei said:

“Had we not taken the path we took two years ago, i.e. consented to suspend uranium enrichment, perhaps today we would be kicking ourselves, saying ‘Why didn’t we try that path?’ But today we are moving ahead towards our goal, with complete confidence and with absolute control, and [today] no one can claim any longer that we were mistaken in the path we took [i.e. our current refusal to suspend enrichment] in the nuclear issue, because we did try the other path i.e. consent to suspend enrichment…”

The reformist daily Aftab-e Yazd reported that Ahmadinejad had said in his address that Iran “must stand firm in its nuclear policy; we have one more step, and if we pass that, this matter will be attained.”

A few days previously, on October 11, 2006, Ahmadinejad had made similar statements on the nuclear issue, in a speech in the city of Shahriyar:

“…The enemies are completely paralyzed, and cannot in any way confront the Iranian people. If our people maintain unity and solidarity, they [i.e. the enemies] must expect a great Iranian victory, because we have only one step remaining before we attain the summit of nuclear technology.”

In that speech, Ahmadinejad underlined the West’s inability to act: “The enemy will never confront us. An attack on Iran is nonsense.”

The following are the main points of the Iran News report of Ahmadinejad’s Iftar speech:
The Second Islamic Revolution

“…I told you that the second wave of the 1979 Islamic Revolution has already begun [with my election to the presidency in 2005, and that it is bigger and more terrible than the first…”

The Connection to God and the Anticipated Muslim Victory Over the Infidels

“On the nuclear issue, I have said to my friends on many occasions, ‘Don’t worry. They i.e. the Westerners are only making noise.’ But my friends don’t believe me, and say, ‘You are connected to some place!’ I always say: ‘Now the West is disarmed vis-à-vis Iran on the nuclear issue, and does not know how to end this matter with us.’ But my friends say: ‘You are uttering divine words! Then they will laugh at us!’

“Believe me, legally speaking, and in the eyes of public opinion, we have absolutely succeeded. I say this out of knowledge. Someone asked me: ‘So and so said that you have a connection.’ I said: ‘Yes, I have.’ He asked me: ‘Really, you have a connection? With whom?’ I answered: ‘I have a connection with God,’ since God said that the infidels will have no way to harm the believers. Well, but only if we are believers, because God said: You will be the victors. But the same friends say that Ahmadinejad says strange things.

“If we are really believers, God will show us victory, and this miracle. Is it necessary today for a female camel to emerge from the heart of the mountain so that my friends will accept the miracle? Wasn’t the Islamic Revolution enough of a miracle? Wasn’t the Imam Ayatollah Khomeini a miracle?… “

Iran’s Nuclear Policy

“They Westerners did two ugly things. First, they attacked Lebanon in order to extract concessions from us i.e. Iran. Second, they took the nuclear issue to the U.N. Security Council. Of course, now they are sunk in a quagmire, and don’t know what to do with us. We, for our part, did not retreat one millimeter. First, because if we retreat even a little, that is, if we agree to suspend uranium enrichment even] for a single day, they will say that the Iranians retreat under pressure. And second, if we do this, they will tell the entire world that the Iranians have finally stopped their uranium enrichment. Didn’t we stop the enrichment in the previous round of talks? What did we gain by that?…

“I say that now, by the grace of God, we have gone most of the way; be confident that they will not dare to attack us.”

Attitude Towards the U.S. and Bush

“… The president of America is like us. That is, he too is inspired… but [his] inspiration is of the satanic kind. Satan gives inspiration to the president of America…

“With regard to the news that U.S. aircraft carriers have been sent to the Persian Gulf, I say to you now to let your minds be at ease. If two warships come, let them come… Why did you say nothing two months ago, when 140 of their warships left? Actually, I think that the fact that they are coming means that there is no possibility that anything will happen.

“What is dangerous is if they leave the region; then, it will be clear that they have a plan. That is exactly what I said at the Supreme National Security Council meeting some time ago. I said, be certain that the departure of those American warships from the Persian Gulf is the beginning of a bad event. Then indeed we saw that they caused the Lebanon war.”


Wild Thing’s comment……..
Well I guess that ends all discussion, he is speaking on behalf of God now. He can’t get any more delusional.

19 Oct

Reid: It’s A GOP Smear Campaign




Harry Reid says: “I believe in ensuring all facts come to light.”
However, two years after $1.1 million was paid directly to Reid for the sale of land which he no longer personally owned, he announced he was amending his ethics reports to Congress… to more fully account for the Las Vegas land deal, which was reported last week in a story by the AP. [After initially refusing to discuss the matter – Reid reportedly hung up on the AP reporter when asked about it – he has since offered to amend his financial disclosures.



Reid labeled the AP story as the “latest attempt” by Republicans to affect the election. AP reported last week that it learned of the land deal from a former Reid adviser who had concerns about the way the deal was reported to Congress.
Interestingly enough, according to a report from Nathan Burchfiel, “Since the story broke, the Washington Post has mentioned it three times: once in story about the scandal on Oct. 12 and in an unrelated article and an editorial on Oct. 13. The New York Times has mentioned the scandal once in an article on Oct. 12.
During the same time period, the papers have mentioned Foley 37 and 28 times, respectively.

GOP Video, a must see…..CLICK HERE

Wild Thing’s comment……
razOr thank you for the link for the video. heh heh
ROTFL. Anytime one of these sleazy liberals gets caught in the act it is the fault of Republicans.
Corrupt Republicans = Apologize, resign, face the music
Corrupt Democrats = Lie, deny, obfuscate, blame Republicans, remain in office, get treated as a hero

18 Oct

“Myth of Delusion” Get’s Noticed By American Intelligence



How Qaeda Warned Its Operatives on Using Cell Phones
WASHINGTON
By ELI LAKE – Staff Reporter of the Sun
October 18, 2006
When an aspiring Al Qaeda terrorist is buying a cell phone, it’s best that he purchase the chip inside the device under a phony name or from a black market vendor that does not sell the accompanying documentation. If he has any reason to believe his phone has been tapped, he should sell it immediately to a stranger.
This is the kind of advice contained in “Myth of Delusion,” a 151-page manuscript making the rounds on password-protected jihadi Web sites. The book recently caught the attention of American intelligence analysts, who estimate that it was released sometime this summer.
An English translation obtained by The New York Sun and whose authenticity was confirmed by a senior intelligence official gives an insight into what America’s Islamist enemies believe they know about the CIA and the National Security Agency. It also underscores the paranoid mind at the heart of the international jihad movement, devoting paragraphs to how South Korean intelligence influences America’s national security through a newspaper controlled by the Unification Church, the Washington Times.
The author of the book is a little-known terrorist named Mohammed al-Hakaymah, a member of a violent group that recently splintered off from an Egyptian Islamist organization, Gama’a al-Islamiyya, when it signed a cease-fire agreement with Cairo. Mr. Hakaymah gained some notoriety on August 5, when Osama bin Laden’s Egyptian-born deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, mentioned his name in an announcement that Al Qaeda was merging with the splinter group.
An independent analyst affiliated with the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, Chris Zambelis, said yesterday that the book is similar to a military manual published by a Syrian named Abu Musab al-Suri, which was based largely on open sources and information released by the Pentagon.

“You see this kind of thing a lot. On the radical Islamic forums, you have people put up U.S.military manuals advising followers about American military tactics. In terms of an actual manual for intelligence, though, this is the most extensive and comprehensive I have seen,” Mr. Zambelis said.

The book also gives a detailed description of how the CIA recruits spies, based on information widely available in fiction and nonfiction books about espionage. But in this section, the author conflates the training of spies and officers, writing that recruited spies are trained in the West Virginia CIA facility known as the Farm, when in fact only officers receive training there.
Yesterday, the senior intelligence official summed up the book as:

“an assessment of American intelligence, a mixture of a couple of things. There is some element of training from things they gather from open sources. … But this is also clearly propaganda.”

The propaganda element appears to be aimed at certain Islamists who have rejected Al Qaeda’s view that America, or what the group’s leaders call “the far enemy,” is too powerful and too efficient to challenge.
One of the purposes of the book is to show that America’s intelligence agencies “make mistakes and are not infallible,” a professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University, Mary Habeck, said. The author is saying:

“We don’t have to fear them like we always fear them. That is why it is called the ‘Myth of Delusion.’ One of bin Laden’s purposes, he says, in authorizing 9/11 was to break the media blockade, to show the invincibility of the United States as a media myth,” Ms. Habeck added.

In his preface, Mr. Hakaymah writes that the book will “use the published reports, news, and research, which expose the extent of the failure of the American intelligence services inside and outside the United States.”

He writes that the November 2001 killing of a CIA officer, Michael Spann, in Afghanistan represented an enormous victory for Al Qaeda because the agency had to admit his death publicly.


Wild Thing’s comment……
I am glad our intelligence is on top of this. I found it interesting how desperate the Islamists are for information to turn it into propaganda for their use.

18 Oct

Palestinian PM Haniya:Let the Machine Gun Do the Talking



Palestinian Prime Minister Haniya: Let the Machine Gun Do the Talking
Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’il Haniya Declares: We Will Never Recognize Israel
IMRA
The following is an address delivered by Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’il Haniya, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV
Oct.6th, 2006
Isma’il Haniya: The language of blood is my language, and there is nothing but blood. I have shut my mouth to the art of speech, and let the machine gun do the talking. I let Al-Qassam do the talking, to turn the dens of the Jews into hell.
The government draws its strength from this mighty people, from the mother of the martyr, who sends a message to the government… This mother, who sacrificed two or three of her sons as martyrs, sends a message to the
government and the prime minister: Abu Al-Abd, don’t you dare to give in.
Oh mujahideen, I ask you, and answer me yes or no: Do you support recognizing the so-called Israel?
Crowd: No.
Isma’il Haniya: Say it so the far and near can hear.
Crowd: No.
Isma’il Haniya: Do you support recognizing the so-called Israel?
Crowd: No.
In terms of the domestic situation, we have undergone three stages. We have undergone three stages. The first stage:
From the day we came into power, there were demonstrations against joining a national unity government. Some
Fatah leaders said: It is a disgrace for us to join a government formed by Hamas. Then all kinds of things began to happen, from the moment we formed the government. There were demonstrations, marches, and press conferences – continuous incitement against this government.
There is more…….TO VIEW THIS CLIP: See it HERE


Wild Thing’s comment….
I hope an IDF sniper does some talking to that vile Isma’il Haniya.

18 Oct

IDF – Sing with Israeli troops! Shabat

Entertaining Israeli soldiers somewhere in the warzone during Shabat.
Notice one of the Merkava tanks has what appears to be battle damge from a RPG




Wild Thing’s comment……
It isn’t the best visual as far as being clear like most of the video’s are. But it is a good feeling to see the IDF having fun and singing. This are heating up a lot in Israel again, nothing new, but the Hamas is yet again making more of their threats. I wish so much Israel would have not been stopped in their defense and the soldiers that have been kidnapped and taken hostage would be released and home with their families.
Pray for Israel and the IDF.

17 Oct

Jihad Incorporated ~ Militant Islam In The U.S.



Jihad Incorporated-Steve Emerson’s guide to militant Islam in the U.S.
Frontpage Mag
Frontpage interviewed Steve Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, one of the largest archival data centers of militant Islam. He started the organization in 1995 after a film he did, Jihad in America.
He works closely with law enforcement, Congress and the media. His organization’s mission is to investigate and expose the threat of radical Islam. He is the author of the new book, Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the U.S., which covers every radical Islamic operation, prosecution and incident on American soil, or against American targets, in the last 10 years.
FP: So what inspired you to write this book?
Emerson: It was really the collaborative product of my research staff. We felt that a reference book was needed in which all Islamic terrorist groups, operations and prosecutions connected to the US could be found in one place. It’s really a history of radical Islam in the US.
FP: How do you go about your work in collecting data on the bad guys?
Emerson: We collect data in numerous ways. From websites, list serves, publications, informants, undercover recordings, government records, court documents, and sources. We have acquired close to 4 million documents and 18,000 hours of audio and video of radical Islamic gatherings, conferences or speeches.
FP: Who are your “consumers”?
Emerson: Well, we really have no traditional “consumers” since we don’t sell our information and we don’t take a penny of government financing. But we do work closely with law enforcement, Congress and the media. Each “consumer” has a different institutional interest. Law enforcement wants to make cases; Congress wants to exercise oversight and disseminate original information; and the media wants news.
FP: Tell us some of the key players in the terrorist network. And which groups are the most influential among the jihadi groups today?
Emerson: Well, today, the terrorist hierarchy has changed considerably from the pre-911 days. Al Qaeda is still the grand-daddy but it obviously lacks the punch and reach it once had. Instead, there are mini-Al-Qaedas that have formed, either in Asia, the Middle East or the West. Jamat Islamiya in southeast Asia has become more of an Al Qaeda surrogate. Hamas, while largely maintaining a hudna, is busily reinforcing and re-invigorating itself with new weapons and explosives for the day that it deems advantageous to attack Israel. Hezbollah, which survived intact in its war with Israel, was actually hurt militarily more than some had estimated. It does however have a worldwide presence.
The threat against individuals or governments deemed to be “enemies of Islam” is growing in its dimensions. The killing of Theo Van Gogh, the recent threats against the Pope, the Danish cartoon controversy all highlighted the growth of threats against high profile targets in the West’s backyard.
FP: Can you talk a bit about the organizations in the Middle East, aside from al Qaeda, that pose a threat to us?
Emerson: Well, I would say that Hezbollah poses the greatest threat to American interests today. They have their own ideological hatred of the United States and they are also effectively controlled by Iran. Islamic Jihad, because of its closeness with Iran, could easily put Americans in its crosshairs.
FP: How entrenched are the jihadists in the US today? Are there different gradations of jihadists?
Emerson: There are essentially two types of jihadists. The hard-core military jihadists who are prepared to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States. They have already been indoctrinated. All they await is a charismatic leader or the external order that gives them a green light. Secondly, there is the far greater number of what I call “cultural jihadists.” The cultural jihadists are not willing to carry out attacks themselves, but rather, they provide the moral support for the military jihad­ists.
They are the ones that believe that Israel or the US carried out 9-11. In the trial of the would-be NYC Herald Square bomber, an undercover informant for the NYPD recounted an astonishing observation. He said that as he made his rounds among two different mosques, he encountered a virulent hatred for the United States. For example, I can show you a tape of a Hamas rally held in New Jersey where thousands of people in attendance—women, children and men—are all chanting slogans such as “We buy paradise with the blood of the Jews.” Do I think that all of them are terrorists? Of course not. But they are cultural jihadists.
The cultural jihadists provide the environment for the military jihadists.
Beyond the physical threat posed by jihadists, there is the issue of free speech being increasingly curtailed by virtue of radical Islamic groups–masquerading as “civil rights” groups–labeling anyone who criticizes militant Islam as racist or as defaming the Prophet Mohammed. The threat of violence during the Danish cartoon episode was the real reason why 99% of US newspapers refused to republish the cartoons. The flip side of this problem lies in the refusal of mainstream media–with some exceptions–to investigate the backgrounds or report the ulterior agenda of these Islamic “civil rights” groups. That’s a dereliction of journalism 101. Why do they do it? Sometimes they are deceived, other times they are sympathetic to the cause of the group.
FP: Illuminate for us the support system for the jihadists that exists within our own borders.
Emerson: There are different tiers. The largest tier is what I called in the previous question the cultural jihadists. They are not willing to carry out attacks but they provide moral support for such attacks. There is the financial infrastructure. Radical Islamic charities had served as a main conduit for terrorist operations and organizations but Treasury has been quite successful at closing the charities whose financing could be linked to terrorist groups. As a result of this pressure, terrorist groups are resorting increasingly to getting their funding from organized retail theft, in which they traffic in stolen or pirated goods (like baby formula), car theft, counterfeit production or bust-out schemes.
FP: To what extent do mosques provide cover for terrorists?
Emerson: Mosques have tended to serve as save havens and meeting points for Islamic terrorist groups. Of course, we are not referring to all mosques but there are at least 40 episodes of extremists and terrorists being connected to mosques in the past decade.
FP: To what extent do terrorists use the Internet for communication?
Emerson: The virtual jihad has now become a dominant mechanism for terrorist communications among themselves, to the outside world and to gather new recruits.
FP: Numerous Muslim American organizations make lobbying efforts to influence the top echelons of the federal government. How successfully are these and what damage do they do?
Emerson: I don’t blame the Islamic radical groups for lobbying. I blame the recipient institutions for legitimizing them. The FBI, for example, has mandated outreach to Islamic groups. That’s a good thing to do in principle. But unfortunately, the groups designated as deserving of being recognized by the FBI have disproportionately revolved around groups that are tethered to radical agendas, such as CAIR and MPAC. In turn, this crowds out authentic moderates whose voices need to be reaffirmed in the community. And it strengthens the hands of the cultural jihadists who tell their followers not to cooperate with the FBI or law enforcement. That’s precisely the wrong message the government wants to communicate.