TERROR LIST WRONGLY INCLUDES 24,000, WHILE SOME ACTUAL SUSPECTS ESCAPED IT - TOP
Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, 5/7/09

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has incorrectly kept nearly 24,000 people on a terrorist watch list on the basis of outdated or sometimes irrelevant information, while missing people with genuine ties to terrorism who should have been on the list, according to a Justice Department report released Wednesday.

The report said the mistakes posed a risk to national security, because of the failure to flag actual terrorism suspects, and an unnecessary nuisance for nonsuspects who may be questioned at traffic stops or kept from boarding airplanes.

By the beginning of 2009, the report said, this consolidated government watch list comprised about 400,000 people, recorded as 1.1 million names and aliases, an exponential growth from the days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Among the list's uses is the screening of people entering the country, and intelligence officials say it has allowed agencies to work together to prevent the type of breakdown that allowed two of the Sept. 11 hijackers to get into the United States even though they were known to the Central Intelligence Agency for their terrorist ties.

But the new report, by the office of the Justice Department's inspector general, provides the most authoritative statistical account to date of the problems connected with the list. An earlier report by the inspector general, released in March 2008, looked mainly at flaws in the system, without an emphasis on the number of people caught up in it.

The list has long been a target of public criticism, particularly after well-publicized errors in which politicians including Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Representative John Lewis showed up on it. People with names similar to actual terrorists have complained that it can take months to be removed from the list, and civil liberties advocates charge that antiwar protesters, Muslim activists and others have been listed for political reasons. (More)

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400,000 STILL ON TERROR WATCH LIST, INCLUDING AUTHOR OF BOOK ON ROVE - TOP
Larisa Alexandrovna, The Raw Story, 5/6/09

The US government’s consolidated terrorist watch list has exceeded an estimated 400,000 “unique” records of “known or suspected terrorist identities,” according to a Justice Department report released today.

The controversial list, according to the report issued by the Office of the Inspector General Audit Division, is a combined database of various federal law enforcement agencies, administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) via its Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).

As of 31 December 2008, 1.1 million records exist on the government’s combined watch list, according to the Inspector General’s report. That number, however, includes duplicate files and aliases and does not reflect the actual number of people on the terrorist watch list.

The TSC estimated, as of 9 September 2008, that the total number of “unique” individuals on the watch list was approximately 400,000. (More)

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CAIR: SAVAGE SAYS MUSLIMS, OTHERS SHOULD BE BANNED FROM US, BUT HE'S "GOING TO SUE" UK FOR BANNING HIM - TOP
Media Matters for America, 5/6/09

SUMMARY: Michael Savage is outraged and says he is "going to sue" U.K. Home Office Secretary Jacqui Smith over the decision to ban him from entering the U.K. -- but Savage himself has repeatedly called for people to be banned or deported from the U.S.

During the May 5 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, responding to the British Home Office's decision to ban him from entering the United Kingdom for "stirring-up hatred" -- specifically, "engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence" -- Michael Savage claimed that "I am going to sue" Home Office Secretary Jacqui Smith. Later, Savage stated: "This lunatic Jacqui Smith, in my opinion, has defamed me, and if possible, I will sue her personally." Savage himself has a history of calling for the deportation or banning of individuals and groups from the United States. For example:

[…]

During his October 29, 2007, program, Savage reportedly said of Islam and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR): "What kind of religion is this? What kind of world are you living in when you let them in here with that throwback document in their hand, which is a book of hate. Don't tell me I need re-education. They need deportation. I don't need re-education. Deportation, not re-education. You can take C-A-I-R and throw 'em out of my country. I'd raise the American flag and I'd get out my trumpet if you did it. Without due process. You can take your due process and shove it." After CAIR posted audio of Savage's statements on their website, Savage sued the group for copyright infringement. The suit was dismissed in federal district court. (More)

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CAREER HATEMONGER STEVEN EMERSON ENRAGED BY CAIR-CHICAGO’S POSITIVE SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT- TOP
CAIR-Chicago Anti-Hate Center, 5/5/09

Notorious Islamophobe Steven Emerson is at it again.

This time the source of his wrath is Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago’s Civil Rights Director.

In a hit piece entitled, “Is This Who We Want Representing U.S. Interests Abroad?” published on his fluff website, “The Investigative Project on Terrorism,” Emerson shows once again why his website had better be called, “The Investigative Project on Mainstream American Muslim Organizations.”

The simple fact is that while Emerson desperately tries to run himself off as a “terrorism expert,” a cursory view of his website quickly reveals that, all too-often, the targets of his so-called investigations and reports are not terrorist groups but mainstream American Muslim organizations like CAIR, MPAC, ISNA, MAS, etc.

In considering his own question posed in the title of his piece, “Is This Who We Want Representing U.S. Interests Abroad?” Emerson offers the following answer, “The State Department and a U.S. university seem to think so.”

Right, so now we are left with a choice.

Option A: the State Department and the U.S. University - as well as the countless other institutions, churches, conferences, and universities who have hosted Christina Abraham - are clueless.

Or

Option B: Emerson, the odd one out, is a lying propagandist.

For the self-delusional Emerson, the dilemma is easy to resolve: when Emerson disagrees with the world, the world is wrong and Emerson is right.

Of course, this sort of self-aggrandizement has come to typify the life and works of career Islamophobes like Steven Emerson and Daniel Pipes. In attempting to fool others, either they are either really clueless or they put their faith on the chance that the rest of us are really clueless.

Why is a “terrorism expert” so enraged by someone like Christina Abraham working to build bridges between civilizations via a State Department sponsored conference on human and civil rights in the Philippines? Could it be that Emerson is not really looking out for our national security concerns, that instead he is preoccupied with a whole different set of concerns on his mind? Looking over Emerson’s track record, it becomes apparent that he feels threatened by positive social engagement that challenges the stereotypes and misconceptions that he needs kept alive in order to succeed and prosper.

Emerson’s attack on Christina is laughable in many ways.

First, he runs his article off as an “investigative” report.

What, ask you, are the “investigative” techniques that our investigative expert employed to trigger his “exposé” of Christina Abraham and CAIR-Chicago? Answer: he googled “Christina Abraham.”

Question: and where did that lead him? Answer: CAIR-Chicago’s website.

In fact, many, if not all, of the attacks leveled against CAIR-Chicago have been as a result of attacking something CAIR-Chicago itself puts out there on our website or e-newsletter. Clearly, CAIR-Chicago has nothing to hide and is consistently transparent in reporting on its work.

Yet Emerson wrote - as if to flag something unusual - “CAIR was so proud that it issued a press release on February 11, 2009 entitled ‘Civil Rights Director Participates in State Dept. Delegation to Philippines.’”

OK, so let’s break it down for Emerson. CAIR did not issue the press release because it is “so proud,” but because that is what we do, we report on our work to our constituents and the public. (In fact it was not a press release but an “our news” report on our website and e-newsletter)

Only in the warped reasoning of Emerson, who himself operates under shadowy arrangements, are transparency and regular reporting a questionable practice that merits criticism and suspicion.

If anything, the question should be asked, why aren’t Steven Emerson and his ilk similarly transparent in their own work, and instead do all that they can to mask the shady machinations of what they do?

Second, Emerson asks “What was Abraham’s special expertise in ‘civil rights discrimination’ and ‘constructive civic engagement’ that merited her to be selected as an emissary of the United States to underdeveloped nations?”

OK. Again, let’s break down the obvious for Emerson: (More)

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RESPECTING ISLAM, REJECTING PREJUDICE WILL HELP DEFEAT TERRORISM - TOP
Rev. Mark S. Bollwinkel, Los Altos Town Crier, 5/6/09

[The Rev. Mark S. Bollwinkel is senior pastor of Los Altos United Methodist Church.]

Imagine defining Christianity by the actions of the Irish Republican Army of the 1960s or the white supremacist groups here in America today who wrap their hatred in Christian doctrine.

Yet when it comes to our Muslim neighbors, it would seem we are all too willing to let the Osama Bin Ladens of the world define for us the religion and life of the 1.2 billion Muslims in the world.

In common discourse and throughout the media, we use such terms as “Islamic terrorists,” as if terrorism had anything to do with the religion of Islam when in fact it is antithetical to it in many ways. We commonly use the term “jihadist” to label violent extremists indirectly supporting their twisted misinterpretation of the term “jihad” is used in the Koran to describe “the struggle” within the individual’s life for submission to the will of God.

By using such language are we really suggesting that 1.2 billion Muslims are terrorists by nature of their religion? Was the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, described in the press as a “Christian terrorist” because he was a baptized Christian? Did the media posit him as a model for Christian life in America? Of course not! Yet it would seem we allow a violent fraction to define the world’s second-largest religion...

Jesus’ compassion for and relationships with those of other religions suggests that those who follow his teachings can be examples of just such respect for our neighbors of other faiths. And that means rejecting prejudice in exchange for humility and a willingness to learn about others different from ourselves. We will defeat terrorism by rejecting the power of fear and prejudice on which it depends. (More)

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HAWAII LAWMAKERS PASS BILL TO CREATE 'ISLAM DAY' - TOP
Associated Press, 5/6/09

Hawaii's state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday to celebrate "Islam Day" -- over the objections of a few lawmakers who said they didn't want to honor a religion connected to Sept. 11, 2001. (More)

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SECRET U.S.-ISRAEL NUCLEAR ACCORD IN JEOPARDY - TOP
Eli Lake, Washington Times, 5/6/09

President Obama's efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel's nuclear weapons from international scrutiny, former and current U.S. and Israeli officials and nuclear specialists say.

The issue will likely come to a head when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Mr. Obama on May 18 in Washington. Mr. Netanyahu is expected to seek assurances from Mr. Obama that he will uphold the U.S. commitment and will not trade Israeli nuclear concessions for Iranian ones.

Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, speaking Tuesday at a U.N. meeting on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), said Israel should join the treaty, which would require Israel to declare and relinquish its nuclear arsenal. (More)

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AMERICA HAS PROTECTED ISRAELI NUKE PROGRAM FOR 40 YEARS - TOP
Eli Lake, Washington Times, 5/6/09

The origins of the U.S. shield of Israel's nuclear program date to a 1969 summit between President Nixon and Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, documents released in the past few years show.

There is no one piece of paper that actually describes the accord. However, the closest acknowledgment of the deal came in 2007, when the Nixon Library declassified many of the papers of former National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger. A July 7, 1969, memorandum to Mr. Nixon titled, "Israeli Nuclear Program," said that by the end of 1970, Israel would likely have 24 to 30 French surface-to-surface missiles, 10 of which would have nuclear warheads.

Mr. Kissinger, who later became secretary of state, wrote that ideally, the U.S. would prefer Israel to have no nuclear weapons, but that was not attainable.

He added that "public knowledge is almost as dangerous as possession itself," arguing that an Israeli announcement of its arsenal or a nuclear test could prompt the Soviet Union to offer Arab states a nuclear guarantee.

"What this means is that: While we might ideally like to halt actual Israeli possession, what we really want at a minimum may be just to keep Israeli possession from becoming an established international fact," Mr. Kissinger wrote.

In December 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted publicly at this reality. (More)

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FRENCH MUSLIMS ARE NEARLY TWICE AS LOYAL TO FRANCE AS THE FRENCH PUBLIC BELIEVE THEM TO BE - TOP
Gallup, 5/7/09

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - May 7, 2009) - A groundbreaking new report published today by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation shows that French Muslims are more likely than the French public to believe that Muslims are loyal to France.

The report, The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A Global Study of Interfaith Relations, is the first annual report on the state of faith relations in countries around the world and found that 80% of French Muslims say Muslims in France are loyal to their country; by contrast just over two in every five (44%) of the French public believe them to be loyal.

French Muslims identify with France as much as the French do (52%/55%), though they identify much more with their religion (58%) than the general French public (23%).

The report's authors say this research shows that religion and national identity are complementary rather than competing and dispels the myth that Muslims do not feel loyalty or an affinity to France. (More)

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MUSLIMS IDENTIFY WITH UK - TOP
Scotsman.com, 5/7/09

British Muslims identify with the UK far more than the general public, according to new research published today.

The survey by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation also found British Muslims have more confidence in UK institutions.

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GERMAN MUSLIMS IDENTIFY MORE WITH GERMANY THAN THE GENERAL PUBLIC - TOP
Gallup, 5/7/09

A groundbreaking new report published today by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation shows that German Muslims identify more with Germany than the general public do.

The report, The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A Global Study of Interfaith Relations, is the first annual report on the state of faith relations in countries around the world and reveals that more than two out of every five German Muslims (40%) identify with Germany compared to a third (32%) of the general public.

It also shows there is gulf of misunderstanding; nearly four out of ten (39%) of the general public believe that Muslims living in Germany are loyal to Germany. This compares to more than seven out of ten (71%) German Muslims who say Muslims are loyal to Germany.

The German public and German Muslims are very much aligned in their views when it comes to what drives integration. 97% of the public believe that mastering German is crucial as do 96% of Muslims; 94% of both groups believe finding a job is important; and 95% of Muslims say getting a better education is critical compared to 86% among the general public.

The report's authors say this research shows that religion and national identity are complementary rather than competing and dispels the myth that Muslims do not feel loyalty to Germany, despite the preconceptions among the general public.

The Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies Dalia Mogahed says there needs to be a renewed debate about the views of the majority of Muslims. Ms Mogahed, who was recently appointed to President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, highlighted how the report had broken down many of the myths about Muslim's attitudes.

"This research shows that many of the assumptions about Muslims and integration are wide of the mark. German Muslims want to be part of the wider community and contribute even more to society.

"The trust that German Muslims place in the country's institutions proves that strong religious beliefs don't translate into a lack of loyalty," she said at the launch of the findings. (More)