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Home Front: WoT

D. C. Muslim activist sentenced to 23 years

2004-10-15

A federal court Friday sentenced a Muslim activist to the maximum 23 years for breaking financial sanctions on Libya and lying in tax and immigration forms. Abdurahman Alamoudi, an Eritrean-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced to 276 months by Judge Claude M. Hilton in Alexandria district court. On July 30, 2004, Alamoudi pleaded guilty to violating the law prohibiting unlicensed travel to and commerce with Libya, making false statements on his application for naturalization and concealing his financial transactions with Libya and foreign bank accounts from the IRS. As part of his plea agreement, the Justice Department said, Alamoudi agreed to cooperate in an ongoing investigation into an alleged Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah. Alamoudi became a naturalized citizen in 1996. He is the founder and former executive director of the American Muslim Council (AMC), the founder of the American Muslim Foundation (AMF), and was an influential member of other Islamic political and charitable organizations, and was invited to the White House in 2

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Terror Networks

American Muslim Council Founder Heads to Jail

2004-08-05

by Daniel Pipes (August 5th, 2004) Summary: Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers. [www.CapitalismMagazine.com] In 2002, the spokesman for FBI director Robert Mueller memorably described the American Muslim Council (AMC) as the "the most mainstream Muslim group in the United States." A year later, the Catholic bishops called the AMC "the premier, mainstream Muslim group in Washington." Its founder and long-time chief, Abdurahman Alamoudi, was a Washington fixture. He had many meetings with both Clintons in the White House and once joined George W. Bush at a prayer service dedicated to victims of the 9/11 attacks. Alamoudi arranged a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner for congressional leaders. He six times lectured abroad for the State Department and founded an organization to provide Muslim chaplains for the Department of Defense. One of his former AMC employees, Faisal Gill, serves as policy director at the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence division. In brief, as the Washington Post describes him, Alamoudi was "a pillar of the local Muslim community." But the one-time high-flyer last week signed a plea agreement with the American government admitting his multiple crimes in return for a reduced sentence. His confession makes for startling reading. Alamoudi acknowledges having obtained money from the Libyan government and other foreign sources, "unlawfully, knowingly, and willfully falsified, concealed and covered up by a trick, scheme and device." He transmitted these funds to the United States, "outside of the knowledge of the United States government and without attracting the attention of law enforcement and regulatory authorities." In doing so, he engaged in illegal financial transactions and filed false tax returns. He lied about his overseas travels, his interest in a Swiss bank account, his affiliation with a Specially Designated Terrorist (the Hamas leader, Mousa Abu Marzook), and his membership in terrorist-related organizations. Of particular note are admissions by Alamoudi that he: Was summoned by Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi to two meetings and as a result of these Alamoudi helped organize the assassination of Saudi crown prince Abdullah. (The plot was foiled.) Transported money from Libya to Saudi Arabia to the United States, where he deposited it in the American Muslim Foundation, one of his non-profits. Omitted on his American citizenship application his connections to many radical organizations: the United Association for Studies and Research, Marzook Legal Fund, Mercy International, American Task Force for Bosnia, Fiqh Council of North America, Muslims for a Better America, Eritrean Liberation Front/People's Liberation Force, and Council for the National Interest Foundation. Then there is the fact that Alamoudi's Palm Pilot, seized at the time of his arrest, contained contact information for seven men designated as global terrorists by U.S. authorities. Also, law enforcement found an unsigned Arabic-language document in Alamoudi's office with ideas for Hamas to undertake "operations against the Israelis to delay the peace process." And Alamoudi has at least indirect links to Osama bin Laden through the Taibah International Aid Association, an American non-profit where he served along with Abdullah A. bin Laden, Osama's nephew. For his crimes, Alamoudi's punishment can include serving up to 23 years in prison, forfeiting US$1Πmillion received from the Libyans, paying six year's worth of back taxes plus penalties, and having his U.S. citizenship revoked. Alamoudi could also be removed from the country and not allowed back in. (But the agreement defers decision on Alamoudi's expulsion until after his prison term ends, suggesting that he is singing like a bird.) Alamoudi is hardly the only high-profile, seemingly non-violent leader of an Islamist organization to associate with terrorists. At the Council on American-Islamic Relations, five staffers and board members have been accused or convicted of terrorism-related charges and the same has happened with leaders of the Islamic Center of Greater Cleveland, Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, and the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom. The Alamoudi story points to the urgent need that the FBI, White House, Congress, State Department, Pentagon, and Homeland Security -- as well as other institutions, public and private, throughout the West -- not continue guilelessly to assume that smooth-talking Islamists are free of criminal, extremist, or terrorist ties. Or, as I put it in late 2001: "Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers." Militant Islam is the enemy; even its slickest adherents need to be viewed as such. First published in the New York Sun

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Arabia

US court reveals Libya 'terror plot'

2004-07-31

via BBC - EFL This story works best when read in conjunction with the other 2 links on this topic - yielding a nice well-rounded story. A novella in 3 parts. Saturday, 31 July, 2004, 08:41 GMT 09:41 UK A plea bargain in a US court has revealed details of an alleged Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's de facto leader Crown Prince Abdullah. Leading US Muslim activist Abdurahman Alamoudi admitted taking part in the plot, as he pleaded guilty to three charges of illegal dealings with Libya. US Attorney General John Ashcroft said the case has provided "critical intelligence" in the war on terror. Libya has denied plotting to assassinate the Crown Prince. The US Justice Department described an elaborate plot, in which Mr Alamoudi - a founder of the American Muslim Council and the American Muslim Foundation - served as a go-between between top Libyan officials and Saudi dissidents. ...more... Plot thickens up nicely. Alamoudi clearly implicates the AMC and AMF orgs, heh. Thanx!

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Home Front: WoT

US Moslem Admits He Tried to Assassinate Saudi Ruler for Qaddafi

2004-07-30

From The New York Times Abdurahman Alamoudi, a prominent American Muslim leader implicated in an alleged plot by the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, to assassinate the leader of Saudi Arabia, has acknowledged his role in the plot and agreed to plead guilty to having illegal business dealings with Libya. Mr. Alamoudi, who is president of the American Muslim Foundation and has had access to senior officials in the Bush and Clinton administrations over the years, is expected to enter his guilty plea on Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., his lawyers said. He faces a maximum of 23 years in prison, but his sentence could be reduced significantly because he has cooperated extensively with the American authorities in some 100 hours of interviews about his Libyan dealings, officials said. The plea agreement lays out extensive new details about the Libyan plot, including Mr. Alamoudi's recruitment by Libyan intelligence officials last year as an intermediary who funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-Saudi dissidents in London and elsewhere. A classified version also identifies Libyan officials thought to have acted at the behest of Colonel Qaddafi in seeking to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, said officials familiar with the report. Some American officials remain skeptical about whether Libya ever pursued a serious plot to kill Prince Abdullah, regarding it more as a fanciful scheme. ... But the plea agreement reached with Mr. Alamoudi, of Falls Church, Va., makes it clear that American law enforcement officials regarded the plot as a serious one, officials said. ...

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Africa: North

Qaddafi's American Hit Man?

2004-06-12

Alamoudi reportedly told prosecutors that he met with Qaddafi twice in 2003 to discuss an assassination plan. One of the Libyan intelligence chiefs who reports directly to Qaddafi, Abdullah Senoussi, convened the first meeting in June 2003. Alamoudi, "who had been summoned from the United States," writes Tyler, was present at the meeting and given instructions to work with Col. Mohamed Ismael, a Libyan intelligence officer now in Saudi custody, to start a "destabilization" campaign by recruiting among the Islamist opposition forces in London. That merely added a second pair of hands to what was already many... So vital was Alamoudi to the plot that Qaddafi had all others leave the room so he could talk privately with him. "Why do you cooperate with us against the crown prince of Saudi Arabia?" Qaddafi asked him. "Because I disapprove of what the crown prince said to you," Alamoudi reportedly answered (to this observer's ear, pretty unconvincingly). Qaddafi instructed him, "I want the crown prince killed either through assassination or through a coup." Alamoudi and Ismael apparently traveled to London to locate and recruit Saudi Islamists, spending over $2 million in cash along the way. That makes no sense. Why pay somebody for something they're already doing? Unless they're already doing it, but need more money — that hardly seems to be the case in the Wonderful World of Islamism... Alamoudi then returned to Tripoli in early August and again met with Qaddafi. "How come I haven't seen anything? How come I have not seen heads flying?" Qaddafi demanded of him. Alamoudi assured him that plans were progressing. On August 13, Alamoudi received that $340,000 in London from Libyan intelligence. That'd be the $340,000 that got him jugged... Tyler notes that Col. Ismael corroborated many details of this plot and has added others of his own – such as the fact that four Saudi terrorists were to assault Abdullah's motorcade with shoulder-fired missiles or grenade launchers, apparently from a room at the Hilton Hotel in Mecca as the prince made his way to the Grand Mosque. Finally, Tyler reports "a person close to Mr. Alamoudi" saying that Alamoudi joined the conspiracy "because he badly needed money." This is confirmed by the criminal complaint, which notes that when interviewed on August 11, 2003, Alamoudi "stated that he is the President of the AMF [American Muslim Foundation] and that financing the organization's work is a constant struggle." I'm not sure this makes any sense from Qaddafi's standpoint, either, unless the plan included additional, later actions. Just bumping off Abdullah would probably result in the princely balance of power shifting toward Prince Nayef, with more influence for the Islamists, more trouble for the secular Qaddafi. A better plan would have been merely to push support toward the Nayef faction and the clerics, weakening Abdullah but leaving him in place. Add in the Islamists to keep pressure on both, but not to the extent where they were actually effective, and Soddy Arabia becomes deadlocked — a political and diplomatic null value. On the other hand, since this seems to be exactly what's playing out, Muammar might be smarter than we give him credit for, and Alamoudi a dupe. Anna Comnena would be impressed.

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Home Front

Alamoudi’s Troubles Mounting

2003-11-04

Abdulrahman Alamoudi’s troubles are increasing. Last week, a judge ordered him to be held without bail. Alamoudi, a well-known US Muslim activist, is charged by US federal authorities with attempting to smuggle $340,000 into the United States. The 18-count indictment also accuses him of engaging in illegal financial transactions with Libya, money laundering, failure to report foreign bank accounts, misuse of a passport, and lying in an application to become a US citizen. Bad boy, Abdulrahman... Now further charges against Alamoudi are emerging. Recently available court records say Alamoudi funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to companies and organizations tied to international terrorism. Law enforcement officials say Alamoudi, 51, was a principal player in a plot to launder money through front companies and phantom organizations. Alamoudi is listed as an officer, founder, director or board member of several companies and foundations which agents say were used to forward cash to terrorist groups. Two other foundations Alamoudi was affiliated with are alleged to have been fronts to fund Hamas. Agents charge that Alamoudi sent at least $160,000 from these organizations to an organization implicated in Al-Qaeda’s December 1999 plot to blow up Los Angeles International Airport. Equally unhelpful is Alamoudi’s link as vice president of the Taibah International Aid Association, a nonprofit organization based in Fall Church. In his affidavit, ICE Agent Brent Gentrup charges that during a March 2002 raid on the American Muslim Foundation and Success Foundation offices in Virginia, agents found an agreement in Arabic naming Taibah International as an agent for the Success Foundation “in executing its external projects.” The agents also found two checks, for $25,010 and $10,000, that were drawn on the Success Foundation account and made payable to Taibah International. Gentrup’s affidavit says they found $2.2 million in four bank accounts linked to Alamoudi, none of which he had declared in his tax returns. Did anybody else just hear Al Capone snicker?

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Home Front

Clinton goodwill ambassador denied bail

2003-10-30

That's the headline from al-Jizzsplat. I did not write that headline! An American Muslim leader charged with illegally accepting money from – and travelling to – Libya has had his request for bail denied. Although the court ruled Abd al-Rahman Alamoudi was not a danger to the community on Thursday, District Court Judge Claude Hilton denied his bail request and set the next hearing for 16 February 2004. I think it was something about being a flight risk... Hilton said he considered al-Amoudi well-connected abroad with a knowledge and ability to raise funds, and therefore represented a serious flight risk. That's what I said... The judge's decision will come as a blow to a man who worked with the US State Department under the Clinton administration in the 1990s as a goodwill ambassador to Muslim countries. Worked wonders, didn't he? The ruling comes despite dozens of affidavits and testimonies from diverse members of the community who have known him for over 20 years and described his trustworthiness and sincerity. Which community? Well... the Islamic community... A former executive director of the American Muslim Council and the president of the American Muslim Foundation, al-Amoudi was a respected figure on the Washington political scene. He was a guest at the White House a number of times during the Clinton years and donated money to several politicians during the 2000 election campaign. More recently, he has also met President George Bush. But then... A spokesman for the Peace and Justice Foundation, Mawri Salakhan, said denying such a prominent American citizen bail was a disgrace, if not unexpected. “If a non-Muslim had been accused of a similar offense, they would have received a civil fine rather than sitting in jail for five months. This amounts to guilty until proven innocent.” "Yeah! They let Billy Carter off!" Salakhan added that there were plenty of other options such as house arrest coupled with electronic surveillance monitoring, given al-Amoudi’s extensive personal and business ties to the community and his international prominence.

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Home Front

Alamoudi Pleads Innocent

2003-10-29

A prominent U.S. Muslim activist accused of involvement with groups that finance terrorists pleaded innocent Wednesday to charges of trying to funnel Libyan money into the United States illegally. The judge in the case refused to release Abdurahman M. Alamoudi and set trial for Feb. 16. "There is a risk and danger of flight," said U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton, citing Alamoudi’s multiple passports frequent travel and connections to terrorists family and friends in the Middle East. Alamoudi, a founder of the American Muslim Council and related American Muslim Foundation, is accused of engaging in illegal financial transactions with Libya, most notably once in August when he received a briefcase containing $340,000 in cash from the Libyan-controlled Islamic Call Society. "Hello, operator? I'd like to make an Islamic call!" The 18-count indictment alleged that Alamoudi hoped to launder funnel that money through Saudi Arabia to the United States and evade currency reporting requirements. Alamoudi, 51, who has remained jailed without bond, also is charged with money laundering, misuse of a passport, failure to report foreign bank accounts and making false statements in his application to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. That’ll do for a start. A federal affidavit contends that Alamoudi also was involved in numerous groups with financial links to the Hamas and al-Qaida terrorist organizations - including one founded by a relative of Osama bin Laden. The affidavit, filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Brett Gentrup, suggests that Alamoudi was a key player in a complex web of organizations that appeared to be raising money for Muslim charities but actually funded terrorist groups. There’s a difference? "These layered transactions were designed to both disguise the true origin and end destination of the funds and render it exceedingly difficult and confusing for any prospective investigation by law enforcement authorities," Gentrup says in the affidavit. One such organization, the Happy Hearts Trust, allegedly transferred tens of thousands of dollars to two organizations long suspected of helping fund Hamas’s attacks against Israel. One of these, the West Bank-based Humanitarian Relief Organization, has been closed in the past by Israel on suspicion of providing money to militants. The other, Jordan-based Humanitarian Appeal International, has been tied by the FBI to both Hamas and the Holy Land Relief Foundation for Relief and Development - which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States. Officials said they found seven U.S.-designated terrorist groups among the names and numbers in al-Amoudi’s confiscated Palm Pilot. Had them on his speed dialer, did he? The government also found an unsigned document in Arabic during a search of al-Amoudi’s office in Virginia that makes numerous references to Hamas and discusses "execution of operations against the Israelis to delay the peace process," authorities said. Haven’t these guys ever heard of a shredder?

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Home Front

Alamoudi charged with dealings with Libya

2003-10-24

A prominent US Muslim political activist, who helped the Pentagon set up its Islamic chaplain program, was charged Thursday with having had financial dealings with Libya, the Justice Department said. Oh, I am so surprised! Quick, Ethel! My pills!... No, the orange ones! Abdurahman Alamoudi, of Falls Church, Virginia, was charged in an 18-count indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, said Paul J. McNulty, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. McNulty said the charges against Alamoudi, a 51-year-old native of Eritrea, included prohibited financial transactions with Libya, money laundering, misuse of a passport and unlawful procurement of US naturalized citizenship. "Other than that, he seems to be clean..." An energetic advocate of Islamic causes, Alamoudi founded the American Muslim Council, the American Muslim Foundation as well as the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, a group that helped create an Islamic chaplain program in the US military. And we saw how well that worked... The chaplain program has come under intense scrutiny since the September 10 arrest on suspicion of espionage of US Army Captain James Yee, a Muslim chaplain who worked with al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Ummm... Yeah. That's what I meant... The indictment handed down Thursday, which carries a maximum penalty of 105 years' imprisonment on conviction, alleges that "from November 1995 to September 2003, Alamoudi devised a scheme to obtain money from Libya and other sources overseas." That money, it alleges, was intended "for transmission into the United States without attracting the attention of" various federal agencies, including the Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization and Department of Homeland Security. "The purpose of this scheme was to hide the amount of money he controlled, how and where he obtained it and what he did with the money," said the indictment. I wonder what he intended to do with all that dough? It alleges that on August 13, 2003 "Alamoudi received a phone call at his hotel in London, England, from a person with a Libyan accent who stated he had 'something' for Alamoudi. "For me? Oh, you shouldn't have!" "Almoudi received from the individual a briefcase containing 340,000 dollars ... which he transferred to his own luggage, leaving the briefcase behind. "I'll just put it in here with my socks and underwear. No one will notice..." The indictment "identifies the source of the cash as the Islamic Call Society, a branch of the Government of Libya," McNulty said in a statement. Is that part of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunicaitons? "Hello? Operator? I'd like to make an Islamic call, please... Yes. It'll be collect..." Federal authorities said last month that Alamoudi was arrested on September 28 at Washington's Dulles International Airport upon his return from an extended overseas trip and made a brief appearance in federal court in Alexandria the following day. According to the indictment, Alamoudi "attempted to transport the 340,000 dollars out of England, to deposit it in banks in Saudi Arabia and attempted" to transfer it into the United States "while evading currency reporting requirements." Tusk. Tusk. You can get some serious jug time for that sort of thing. Like 105 years. Shoulda just bumped somebody off...

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Home Front

Examining Wahhabism crucial to fighting terrorists

2003-10-07

Column by Jon Kyl, U.S. Senator from Arizona: Recent hearings by my Subcommittee on Terrorism have exposed the growing dominance of a radical sect of Islam in the United States. This sect, commonly referred to as Wahhabism, preaches jihad against Christian, Jews, and Muslims who don't toe the Wahhabi line. All 19 of the Sept. 11 hijackers were followers of Wahhabism, as is Osama bin Laden. This violent perversion of Islamic faith has been responsible for terrorist attacks against innocent civilians - both Muslim and non-Muslim - all over the world. As a movement, Wahhabism has established publishing operations, schools, and charities in many countries. The self-labeled "educational outreach" of this movement - financed largely by the wealth of Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism is the official, and only state, religion - foments jihad and a fundamentalist theology to young people internationally, including in the United States. I hope Senator Kyl's not just discovering the dangers of wahhabism. I mean, it's been two years... And there have been a increasing number of instances in which Wahhabists have successfully penetrated key U.S. institutions, such as the military and our prison system. As several recent media reports have noted, the two groups that accredit and recommend Muslim chaplains to the military - the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences and an organization under the umbrella of the American Muslim Foundation -- have long been suspected of links to terrorist organizations by the federal government. The Graduate School and another group accused of ties to Islamic extremists -- the Islamic Society of North America -- also refer Muslim clerics to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Just this week, one of the key architects of the U.S. military's chaplain program, Abdurahman Alamoudi, was arrested and charged with an illegal relationship with Libya, long a state sponsor of terror. Federal investigators also have detained a Muslim clergymen who was once stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - Captain James Yee -- being investigated for potential ties to al-Qaeda. The New York State prison system promoted a Muslim cleric to a position that allowed him to supervise the hiring and firing of all prison chaplains. He was later removed from his job when officials discovered he was an al-Qaeda sympathizer who incited prisoners against America. Jose Padilla, a terrorist accused of trying to build a "dirty bomb" to unleash in the United States, was exposed to radical Islam in the U.S. prison system. Richard Reid, the so-called "shoe bomber," was converted to fundamentalist Islam while serving time in a British prison. Al-Fuqra specifically recruits blacks in the prison system... The Pentagon is now undertaking a review of its Muslim chaplain selection program, which has accredited clerics since the early days of the Clinton administration. This review is welcome, but long overdue. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons should follow suit. On Oct. 14, I will chair a hearing through the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security that will analyze the procedures used by the military and prison system to recruit Muslims, particularly focusing on the cleric program. We will also examine whether the instances of Wahhabi infiltration at key U.S. institutions may be part of a larger pattern. We hope to hear from government witnesses on steps they are taking to confront these challenges. In response to our Senate inquiry, groups such as the Saudi-backed Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) (whose terror-related activities are being scrutinized by my subcommittee as well as the federal government) have been quick to accuse investigators of Muslim bias. Yet three of CAIR's top leaders were arrested this year on terror-related charges. CAIR declined an invitation to appear before my subcommittee to answer questions. You'd think they'd jump at a chance to defend themselves. Falsely charging "bigotry" is simply not an acceptable response to serious allegations of criminal activity. Terrorists should not be allowed to disguise their hateful, violent activities under the banner of religious freedom. The fear of being falsely accused of prejudice, coupled with political correctness, may be part of the reason we got into the situation we're in right now. Agreed America is a welcoming nation, and Americans are respectful of all faiths. It's time we confront the evil that has distorted and victimized the peace-loving, mainstream Muslim community. In the Senate, we intend to do just that. Think this hearing will get the media attention it deserves? Me neither.

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Home Front

Guantanamo spy cases

2003-10-07

Op-Ed by Robert Spencer: The Muslim organizations that certify chaplains for the U.S. military have come under renewed scrutiny since the arrest of Army Chaplain Yousef Yee and two Muslim translators who worked with al Qaeda prisoners in Guantanamo Bay — and that's all to the good. The Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences (GSISS) and the American Muslim Foundation (AMF) were already being investigated, and it may well be that somehow Mr. Yee picked up his radical Islam from some contact with these groups. But so far another possibility has been overlooked, perhaps because its political incorrectness quotient is positively off the scale: The possibility that Yee was sincere when he denounced the September 11 attacks, and that his mind was changed by the Guantanamo prisoners themselves. Likely a combination: he got the basics from the former, the reinforcement from the prisoners... According to military intelligence veteran and former Guantanamo translator Bill Tierney, the prisoners at Guantanamo would frequently ask Muslim American translators and other servicemen how they could accept the infidel's money. Mr. Tierney said that the prisoners "would know who the Muslims were, who spoke Arabic" among the American military personnel, "and would do everything to push their buttons." Including using the Koran to convince them of the legitimacy of violent jihad? And using the Koranic command that Muslims must not fight against other Muslims (Sura 4:93) to assail the legitimacy of Muslims serving in the American armed forces? To be expected... We may never know. So far, these questions have been too hot for the military even to ask. The official position on terrorism seems to be that Islam is a religion of peace, terrorists have hijacked it and that's that. Gawd, I'm sick of that phrase. They didn't "hijack" a religion. It's a totalitarian movement that takes religion as its starting point and has gained a lot of followers. Mussolini and Hitler didn't "hihack" socialism... The possibility that American Muslims — even West Point grads like Mr. Yee — could fall prey to the same hijacking is off their radar screen. Then they'd better get it on the screen. If you're in a battle ideas, it's best to come armed... To the American officials in charge of Guantanamo, the words "Islamic" and "terrorism" are so far from residing in the same sentence that Mr. Tierney told me that he was forbidden during his time there from compiling a list of Koranic verses relating to jihad, despite the fact that those who were interrogating the prisoners specifically asked for such a list. And, despite the fact that such verses appear in abundance in the writings of Osama bin Laden and other radical Muslims around the world today. These are the writings which are being used as you read this to recruit terrorists on a global scale, and which were most likely used to recruit each of the Guantanamo prisoners into al Qaeda. That paragraph had better be exaggeration... Who forbade Tierney from making this list? The American Army captain in charge of all the translators. This captain, an Iranian Muslim who came to the United States in his teens, claimed to have converted from Islam to Mormonism. But Mr. Tierney told me that he behaved just like the other Muslims at Guantanamo, faithfully complained to officials about any anti-Muslim remark, and even prevented Mr. Tierney from using the Internet after he went online to gather open source data to aid in an investigation. He shut down Mr. Tierney's Koranic research by ordering the site manager (a Somali Muslim) to tell Tierney to desist. This problem is bigger than Guantanamo. In my book Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West, I provide evidence of widespread anti-Americanism among American Muslims. Muhammad Faheed, a 23-year-old who lived in America from the age of 3, expressed these sentiments well when he told a Muslim Student Association meeting in New York: "We are not Americans, we are Muslims. . . . The only relationship you should have with America is to topple it!" That's not a "hijacking" of a religion. It's a totalitarian revolutionary movement... Are any Muslims with similar sentiments now serving with American forces in Iraq? There's no way to tell. No one dares to ask. Mr. Tierney also recounted to me an incident from his service in Saudi Arabia, when he drove an American Muslim civilian translator to a local mosque one Friday. Mr. Tierney stood outside listening to the sermon, which was carried to the overflow crowd by loudspeakers: "It is the duty of all Muslims," cried the preacher, "to fight against Israel and those who support Israel!" This translator, Mr. Tierney said, worked for senior Air Force personnel, translating sensitive material — but the American government could not and did not ask him where he went to mosque. We are simply to assume that that sermon made no impression on the translator whatsoever. The Guantanamo espionage cases demonstrate how important it is to root out politically correct wishful thinking about the causes of radical Islam. If there is any lesson to be drawn from the Guantanamo spy scandal, it is that the government's refusal to acknowledge the true dimensions of the threat from Islamic radicalism could come at a cost far greater than anyone has yet calculated. This PC "religion of peace" stance is going to bite us in the ass unless somebody wakes up real soon.

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Home Front

U.S. Activist May Have Been Money Courier

2003-10-02

Edited for new material: A leading U.S. Muslim activist charged with having illegal dealings with Libya may have been acting as a courier to funnel thousands of dollars from that country to terrorist groups in Syria, the government alleges. Adurahman Alamoudi was headed to Damascus, Syria, last month with $340,000 in U.S. currency provided by Libya when he was detained in London, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Alexandria, Va. Terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad maintain offices in Damascus and many of the al-Qaida fighters in Iraq have come from Syria, the affidavit says. Really? Al-Amoudi contended the money was for the American Muslim Foundation that he heads in the United States. He told investigators he was given the money by an anonymous individual after he had visited the government-controlled Libyan Islamic Call Society in Tripoli. "He just walked up and handed me the cash. Really, he did." Al-Amoudi insists that his fund-raising travels were intended for Muslim organizations in the United States, according to court papers. But the government contends that he was among a group of Muslim activists involved in a web of charities that was actually raising money for terrorist groups. Other documents filed in court by the government show that the branch of the American Muslim Foundation in Portland, Ore., provided money to Patrice Lumumba Ford and to Ahmed Bilal. The Portland Seven, remember them? Ford is awaiting trial on charges of plotting to fight the United States in Aghanistan. Bilal has pleaded guilty to similar charges. Four have pleaded guilty, two awaiting trial, one on the run.

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