Keeping An Eye On CAIR: Part 5 - Conspiring to Attack Our National Security

It appears today that there is a conspiracy involving CAIR and several imams, and at least several Democrats in what may be an ancillary role. The conspiracy is one to change the laws of the United States in such a manner as to seriously hamstring our police and security forces in their efforts to investigate Muslims for suspected involvement in terrorist plans, and to do so for the benefit of Wahhabi Islam. This is CAIR’s boldest effort yet to manipulate Americans and the American government to bend to Wahhabi Islam.

If you are not familiar with CAIR, they are the Council for American Islamic Relations, a Wahhabi / Salafi organization with terrorist ties. CAIR’s goal is not to see Muslim’s integrate into American society, but rather to prevent such integration and to force America to modify its values so as to accept Wahhabi Islam in its current form -- as exported from Saudi Arabia. To quote CAIR chairman Omar Ahmad from a 1998 Muslim rally in California:

"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Quran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth."

That is who and what we are dealing with in CAIR. Now, as to the conspirary:

9-11 was neither the first or last plan by radical Wahhabi Muslims to destroy air planes in flight or to use them as weapons. In 1995, al Qaeda had planned to destroy eleven U.S. airplanes over the Pacific. There was 9-11 and, in its aftermath, another plan, this one to destroy ten airplanes headed to the United States from London. That one was broken up last year. Then there have been countless other arrests – almost all Wahhabi or the Pakistani variant, Deobandi – Muslims who have planned to carry out other terrorist attacks against the United States. Suffice it to say, these acts give American’s a reasonable concern about security when it comes to our Wahhabi friends, not to mention Khomeinists and Deobandis.

CAIR, for its part, has regularly agitated against actions of law enforcement and security officers when, in the conduct of their duties, they have detained or otherwise investigated Muslims. CAIR vociferously opposed the Patriot Act, and has come out strongly in opposition to all of the confidential operations being run by the U.S. government that have been leaked to the newspapers since 2002.

Additionally, CAIR has lobbied for the passage of legislation specifically to “protect” Muslims from the evils of “Islamaphobic” American law enforcement and security personnnel. In this, CAIR has had no better friend in government then John Conyers, the Democratic Congressman from Michigan. In 2004, and then again in 2005, Conyers and Nancy Pelosi sponsored a truly insidious piece of the legislation, the End Racial Profiling Act. Whether this legislation originated from CAIR’s office or perhaps in coordination with CAIR, we do not know. But the legislation specifically states:

In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, many Arabs, Muslims, Central and South Asians, and Sikhs, as well as other immigrants and Americans of foreign descent, were treated with generalized suspicion and subjected to searches and seizures based upon religion and national origin, without trustworthy information linking specific individuals to criminal conduct. Such profiling has failed to produce tangible benefits, yet has created a fear and mistrust of law enforcement agencies in these communities.

The End Racial Profiling Act provides for civil law suits seeking injunctive relief and attorney’s fees, and further establishes a very low standard of proof that the Plaintiff must meet. Specifically:

Proof that the routine or spontaneous investigatory activities of law enforcement agents in a jurisdiction have had a disparate impact on racial , ethnic, or religious minorities shall constitute prima facie evidence of a violation of this title

So, in an area with a population density of 3 Muslims per 100, if I am an airport screener and I stop 4 Muslims out of every 100 people I search, I am in prima facie violation of this new law. The burden of proof then would fall on me to show that I was not racially profiling. The onus this would put on law enforcement and security personnel – as well as the potential chilling effect -- is incalculable.

Do not underestimate the power of civil law to work a drastic change in the actions of the government. This Act is utterly horrendous. It flys in the face of reasonable security precautions taken in light of the known threat from Islamic terrorists. Instead of focusing its efforts assiduously on cleaning up Wahhabi Islam, CAIR wants to have its religion granted blind dispensation.

When John Conyers introduce the End Racial Profiling Act in 2004 and then again in 2005, it went nowhere. It seemed to be a dead bill. But then a strange event happened.

In November, 2006, six imams traveled to Minnesota to attend a conference of the North American Imams Federation (NAIF). During the conference, they met with Keith Ellison, the newly elected Congressman who is the first Muslim elected to Congress. Keith Ellison also sits on the Judiciary Committee, and, since being sworn into Congress, has spoken of his support for legislation to end racial profiling. As to the six imams, they were scheduled to return to Phoenix on November 20 aboard a U.S. Airways Flight. Between their arrival at the airport, the boarding of plane, and then actions after boarding, it seems that the Imams took great pains to raise a reasonable suspicion that they may be terrorists.

According to an AP news article that night:

Six Muslim imams were removed from a US Airways flight at Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport on Monday and questioned by police for several hours before being released, a leader of the group said.

The six were among passengers who boarded Flight 300, bound for Phoenix, around 6:30 p.m., airport spokesman Pat Hogan said.

A passenger initially raised concerns about the group through a note passed to a flight attendant, according to Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for US Airways. She said police were called after the captain and airport security workers asked the men to leave the plane and the men refused.

"They took us off the plane, humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," said Omar Shahin, of Phoenix.

. . . .
Three of them stood and said their normal evening prayers together on the plane, as 1.7 billion Muslims around the world do every day, Shahin said. He attributed any concerns by passengers or crew to ignorance about Islam.

"I never felt bad in my life like that," he said. "I never. Six imams. Six leaders in this country. Six scholars in handcuffs. It's terrible."

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for (CAIR) . . . said US Airways refused to put the men on another flight.
. . . .
The other passengers on the flight, which was carrying 141 passengers and five crew members, were re-screened for boarding, Rader said. The plane took off about three hours after the men were removed from the flight.

Now for the rest of the story.

Here is a summary from witness statements and police reports, compliments of Powerline.

* A passenger became concerned by what he saw and passed a note detailing his fears to a stewardess.

Contrary to press accounts that a single note from a passenger triggered the imams' removal, Captain John Howard Wood was weighing multiple factors.

* An Arabic speaker was seated near two of the imams in the plane's tail. That passenger pulled a flight attendant aside and, in a whisper, translated what the men were saying: invoking "bin Laden" and condemning America for "killing Saddam," according to police reports.

* An imam seated in first class asked for a seat-belt extender - the extra strap that obese people use because the standard belt is too short. According to both an on-duty and a deadheading flight attendant, he looked too thin to need one. A seat-belt extender can easily be used as a weapon - just wrap one end around your fist, and swing the heavy metal buckle.

* All six imams had boarded together, with the first-class passengers - even though only one of them had a first-class ticket. Three had one-way tickets. Between the six men, only one had checked a bag.

And, Pauline [. . . a passenger on the flight] said, they spread out - just like the 9/11 hijackers. Two sat in first class, two in the middle and two back in the economy section, police reports show. Some, according to Rader, took seats not assigned to them.

* Finally, a gate attendant told the captain she was suspicious of the imams, according to police reports.

So the captain made his decision to delay the flight based on many complaints, not one. He also consulted a federal air marshal, a U.S. Airways ground-security coordinator and the airline's security office in Phoenix. All thought the imams were acting suspiciously, [US Airways spokesman] Rader told me.

One more odd thing went unnoticed at the time: The men prayed both at the gate and on the plane. Yet observant Muslims pray only once at sundown, not twice.

Also in the police report: One imam had complained to a passenger that some nations don't follow sharia law and had said his job in Bakersfield, Calif., was a cover for "representing Muslims here in the U.S."

This certainly sounds as if the Imams were coached to -- and did all that they could to -- raise the tension level in the airplane to a fever pitch in an attempt to get precisely the reaction that they in fact triggered. Before the sun set the next day, CAIR issued a statement, alledging this to be unjustified racial profiling and “flying while Muslim.” CAIR concluded its letter by stating: We encourage a thorough investigation into the matter and call for the passing of the End Racial Profiling Act, which is currently pending in Congress."

CAIR will announce today, from its Washington Headquarters, that the six imams are suing U.S. Airways, who to its credit, has refused to budge in settlement negotiations.

Conclusion: It seems likely that the event with U.S. Airways was staged in coordination with CAIR in order to generate publicity to revive and pass the End Racial Profiling Act. Further, there may or may not be actual collusion involving Democratic members of Congress, most likely Keith Ellison and / or John Conyers.

I am sure U.S. Airways will file a countersuit, alleging something along the lines of frivolous litigation and interference with contract. I sincerely hope that they also alledge conspiracy, naming not only the Imams, but CAIR, John Conyers and Keith Ellison as well. This should make for fascinating litigtion. The one thing we as citizens can do is to talk to our elected officials and let them know we do not want them to pass th End Racial Profiling Act.