As you may have heard, WorldNetDaily (WND), a far-right ‘news’ website at the forefront of such causes as the ‘birther’ movement and the vapid and vitriolic insanity surrounding the debate on health care just came out with this scoop:
As revealed in a new book detailing the operation and its findings, the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is not the beneficent Muslim civil-rights group it claims to be. Indisputable evidence now shows CAIR and other “mainstream” Islamic groups are acting as fronts for a well-funded conspiracy of the Muslim Brotherhood – the parent of al-Qaida and Hamas – to infiltrate and destroy the American system.
The article continues:
‘Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America,’ a WND Books publication by counter-terrorism investigator P. David Gaubatz and “Infiltration” author Paul Sperry, documents CAIR’s ultimate purpose to transform the United States into an Islamic nation under the authority of the Quran.
Apparently, a young man pretended to be a convert to Islam – even growing a beard – got a job at CAIR, stole or copied some documents, and his dad, Dave Gaubatz wrote a book (published by WND, naturally) about his experience with Paul Sperry, author ofInfiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives have Penetrated Washington. As you can see from the WND quote, this new book has an even catchier and more sensationalist title.
Gaubatz’s name hit the news in 2007 when he claimed that Saddam did actually have WMD (not to be confused with WND). Gaubatz is the ‘director of intelligence and counter-terrorism studies’ at something called the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE). SANE’s mission statement, no longer posted, can now be foundhere. If you can tell me what it means, please comment and explain it to me, because I don’t understand it. To me, it sounds vaguely like Nietzsche on LSD or Italian fascist political theory from the 1920s (also on LSD, of course). A taste:
National Existence is political order experienced by men of the nation as a Rise to Being. Its opposite is a replacement of political order experienced by men, women, children and slaves as a Fall from Being. This Redirection in the experience of the Terms of Being (Self, Society, G-d and World) results in the collapse of Self into Society and all into World. The goal, wittingly or otherwise: a World State.
As readers of this blog may have picked up, I am no fan of CAIR. There has been evidence in the public domain for years now about CAIR’s origins as a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. It was originally launched to manipulate the discourse about the Oslo Accords and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the early 1990s on behalf of Hamas.
The most persuasive evidence was released for the terrorism financing trails against the Dallas-based charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was found to have funnelled millions to Hamas over the years. CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in both trials (the first ended in a mistrial, the second in a guilty verdict). The exhibits in the case – including internal Muslim Brotherhood documents and financial records – can be found on the website of the federal district court, northern district of Texas (Some of the more interesting exhibits are here, here, andhere – English translations at back of documents). Prosecutors described CAIR as part of ‘the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and/or its organizations.’
While claiming to be a civil rights organization, CAIR is anything but. CAIR and other Islamist civil society groups like the Muslim American Society try to appropriate the methods and discourse pioneered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and many other prominent activists (who represent the best of American ideals), but these groups do so disingenuously and in support of an Islamist agenda which runs contrary to the values promoted and lived by Dr. King.
So, if I believe all this, why do I have a problem with WND’s book? It’s pretty simple. WND represents the worst of web journalism: they are conspiratorial, fringe, and lack credibility. Their reporting is offensive, divorced from facts and ethics, and often promotes an exclusionary and even racist point-of-view (Some highlights here, here,here, and here…oh and here). There is no reason to think this book on CAIR will be any different. In fact, I would be shocked if it was.
As I commented to a friend the other day, I don’t know who pisses me off more: WND or CAIR.
Rep. Sue Myrick wrote the forward to the book. I have long respected Rep. Myrick, but I worry she has made the wrong decision by hitching herself to this wagon.
When the wackos of WND take on an issue, the credibility of the entire cause is damaged. It is hard enough when most of CAIR’s critics are already on the right. It makes it much easier for CAIR’s spin doctors to claim their opponents and critics are racists, bigots, and liars. CAIR’s favourite weapon in their arsenal is the ‘Islamophobia’ smear. Anyone they don’t like promotes ‘Islamophobia’. And they have been joined by liberal blogs, such as the Washington Independent, who are rightfully turned off by WND’s campaigns.
It usually isn’t true, but in the case of WND, it is. And that makes it much harder for the rest of us who prefer to stick to the facts and shy away from sensationalism. And so, we find that WND is actually hurting the cause they now try to champion.
To WND:
Please stop.
Very Sincerely,
Amm Sam