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Related Articles [Mosque Mischief and] Counting Mosques
by Daniel Pipes http://www.danielpipes.org/1018/mosque-mischief-and-counting-mosques Translations of this item: Startling news came last week out of the FBI: The leadership had directed all of the bureau's 56 field offices to count mosques in their regions as part of waging the war on terror. Newsweek, which broke this story, explained that the information on mosques would specifically help "set numerical goals for counter terrorism investigations and secret national-security wiretaps in each region." The New York Times acquired a closed-door statement by a senior bureau official confirming the mosque data would be used "to help establish a yardstick for the number of terrorism investigations and intelligence warrants" expected from field offices. Reactions on the Left and among Islamists were predictably outraged. The American Civil Liberties Union denounced the mosque-counting as "tailor-made for a witch hunt." The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism expressed "deep concern" about fundamental constitutional protections being abridged. The Muslim Public Affairs Council deemed it going "beyond the pale of legitimate law enforcement." But the most colorful response came from the American Muslim Council, a Washington-based militant Islamic group. AMC characterized mosque-counting as an act of "political repression" by the U.S. government and wrote a letter to the United Nations pleading for relief from this and other "shameful and undemocratic practices." Barraged with criticisms, the FBI dissimulated, pretending that the purpose of mosque-counting has nothing to do with preventing possible mosque-based terrorist actions but is intended to learn the "vulnerabilities" of those structures, the better to protect them from possible assault. Why does the leading law-enforcement institution in the United States hide its counterterrorism efforts? It's known that some mosques throughout the West have been used as a base for terror, filling a variety of roles:
Nor is the FBI alone in hiding its methods. The Immigration and Naturalization Service last month began requiring "certain temporary foreign visitors" from 25 countries to register in its offices. The INS pretends it is unaware that (with the exception of nearly nonexistent North Korean visitors) all the affected persons hail from Muslim-majority countries. The INS does so via the time-honored bureaucratic practice of hiding behind ungrammatical obfuscation: "Under this program," it states, "temporary foreign visitors (non-immigrant aliens) coming from certain countries or who meet a combination of intelligence-based criteria are identified as presenting elevated national security concerns." Say that again? Actually, there is a good reason for the FBI and INS to lie or mumble about devoting special attention to Muslims: This practice contradicts declared policy. When President Bush states that "Islam is peace" and refers to "the peaceful teachings of Islam," how can his law-enforcement or immigration staff acknowledge that Islam has any bearing on their work? A vast disconnect, in other words, exists between the high-flying words of politicians and the sometimes sordid realities of counterterrorism. This discrepancy has real costs:
The gap between theory and practice can only be addressed by honest and open debate. Does the body politic want law enforcement to pay extra attention to Muslims? Does it favor Muslim visitors having to fill out extra paperwork? These practices exist at present, but in a limbo, without sanction or legitimacy. They need either to be ended or made official. Related Topics: Counter-terrorism, Muslims in the United States, US politics, War on terror receive the latest by email: subscribe to daniel pipes' free mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL. Reader comments (84) on this item
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All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2014 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum. Daniel J. Pipes |
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