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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| The FBI Says, Count the Mosques |
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| jannah |
| 01/27/03 at 03:55:46 |
| Anyone else feel like a Muslim holocaust is comin? http://www.msnbc.com/news/864367.asp?cp1=1 The FBI Says, Count the Mosques Investigators: FBI Director Robert Mueller has launched a potentially controversial initiative By Michael Isikoff NEWSWEEK Feb. 3 issue — Frustrated that his troops are still not aggressive enough in hunting down terrorists, FBI Director Robert Mueller has launched a potentially controversial initiative aimed at making sure that field agents finally get the message—and are held accountable. AS PART OF the effort, NEWSWEEK has learned, Mueller’s top aides have directed chiefs of the bureau’s 56 field offices to develop “demographic” profiles of their localities—including tallying the number of mosques. Those profiles are then being used, along with other factors, to set specific numerical goals for counter terrorism investigations and secret national-security wiretaps in each region. Top bureau officials have signaled that if field offices don’t meet their pre-established goals, they may be subjected to special reviews by inspection teams from headquarters. Field offices learned of the new project earlier this month when they received a six-page questionnaire that, in a section headlined VULNERABILITY, asked about the number of mosques in their communities. When FBI executive assistant director Wilson Lowery Jr. briefed congressional staffers on the project last week, and explained that mosque tallies would be used to help set investigative goals, “there were a lot of eyebrows that went up,” said one of those present. The approach raised concerns that the FBI was engaging in a new form of religious “profiling.” “It’s frightening to hear that this is actual policy,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations. “This just shows how they are viewing every Islamic community in the country with suspicion.” FBI officials acknowledged that the initiative could be politically dicey. But they said the move is justified given continuing concerns about undetected “sleeper cells” and troublesome evidence that some mosques may be serving as cover for terrorist activity. “This is not politically correct, no question about it,” said one top FBI official. “But it would be stupid not to look at this, given the number of criminal mosques that may be out there.” Other FBI officials stressed that mosque tallies are only one of several criteria used to assess the terrorist threat in each region. Among others, they said, are the number of “vulnerable assets” in an area (such as bridges, dams and nuclear plants), flight schools and Islamic charities that have been linked to terrorism. “This is part of a larger evaluation process,” said one senior official. “We’re trying to set performance goals and objectives for a particular field office. We’re not targeting mosques.” Mueller and his top deputies have been touring field offices and telling agents, in no uncertain terms, they need to focus more on terrorism cases, including developing undercover informants, and put aside less important cases such as drug and relatively minor white-collar fraud cases. “They don’t want to hear whether we’ve got a great bank-robbery program going,” said one top agent. |
| Re: The FBI Says, Count the Mosques |
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| jaihoon |
| 01/27/03 at 04:32:55 |
| [quote author=jannah link=board=ummah;num=1043657746;start=0#0 date=01/27/03 at 03:55:46]Anyone else feel like a Muslim holocaust is comin? [/quote] The article is sure disappointing. But the word 'holocaust' is too pessimistic. You souldn't feel that disheartened I suppose. There have been times worse than this in countries like india. Yet, the ummah never lost hope. may Allah help the muslims world over. peace JAIHOON |
| Re: The FBI Says, Count the Mosques |
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| Muneerah134 |
| 01/27/03 at 18:16:17 |
| [slm] Ameen, Jaihoon. I read that article and at first I was very disheartened. >:( I found it very disturbing. I am old enough to remember some of the tactics used to destroy other groups here in this country. I am also old enough to recognize the pattern again when I see it. I thought about the Civil Rights movement in this country in the 60s and 70s. MashaAllah, though, I know it is all part of the plan. May Allah elevate and protect the Muslims and the opressed people everywhere. :-) Muneerah [] |
| Re: The FBI Says, Count the Mosques |
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| Halima |
| 01/29/03 at 06:32:46 |
| Asalaam Alaikum Jannah, I found this which is related to the subject issue. This will allienate Muslims around the world even more, let alone in the U.S. This is concrete proof the Amerian Government is targetting Islam. FBI Asked Not to Probe Mosques United Press International Washington, Jan. 28, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A prominent U.S. civil rights and advocacy group urged the Department of Justice Tuesday to rescind a new policy directive to the FBI to count local mosques for inclusion in performance goals in counter terrorism investigations. The Council on American-Islamic Relations made that demand following the publication of an article in Newsweek magazine detailing the policy instituted by FBI Director Robert Mueller earlier this month.According to Newsweek, FBI field offices nationwide are to develop demographic profiles of their regions, including the number of local mosques. The profiles will then be used to set specific numerical goals for investigations and wiretaps in each area. If field offices do not meet their goals, they may be subjected to special reviews by teams from FBI headquarters. "This policy makes about as much sense as counting Catholic churches in America in order to initiate an investigation of the Mafia, or as claiming the number of African Methodist Episcopal churches in a given area is indicative of the level of criminal activity. It is religious profiling of the worst kind and must be rescinded if America is to maintain respect for religious freedom and for equal justice under the law," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. He said that CAIR representatives have had a number of meetings with FBI officials to discuss issues related to anti-Muslim bias and that his group has encouraged American Muslims to do whatever they can to defend the United States against terrorism. Awad added that the mosque-counting policy comes in the midst of an INS registration program under which hundreds of American Muslims have been detained, and sometimes deported. Muslim community leaders and immigration-rights activists say that program is also based on religious and ethnic profiling, a law enforcement tactic that is being heavily promoted by right-wing pundits. Just this past week, a right-wing commentator who many American Muslims regard as the nation's leading Islamophobe, suggested that all Muslims in this country be placed under surveillance. Daniel Pipes wrote in the Jerusalem Post: "Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military, and the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism, as do Muslim chaplains in prisons and the armed forces. Muslim visitors and immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches, synagogues and temples." |
| Re: The FBI Says, Count the Mosques |
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| jannah |
| 01/30/03 at 02:26:01 |
FBI DEFENDS NATIONAL MOSQUE TALLY Curt Anderson, Associated Press, 1/28/03 WASHINGTON - The FBI on Tuesday defended its national tally of Muslim mosques as only one part of a much broader effort to apply scarce anti-terrorism resources and identify vulnerable sites. Critics called it a form of ethnic and religious profiling. The number of mosques was one of dozens of pieces of information FBI Director Robert Mueller directed the 56 FBI field offices to find. The survey is intended to establish a better picture of the demographics and possible terrorism targets in each region, FBI officials said. That information, in turn, would be used to establish where to direct counterterrorism resources and set goals for each of the offices as part of a larger overhaul of the FBI... Civil liberties and Islamic groups, however, raised several concerns. The move follows other controversial efforts by the FBI to question up to 50,000 Iraqis living in the United States and a Justice Department program to photograph and fingerprint thousands of mostly Muslim men living here temporarily. "This policy makes about as much sense as counting Catholic churches in America in order to initiate an investigation of the Mafia," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It is religious profiling of the worst kind and must be rescinded." The American Civil Liberties Union said the program raises fundamental constitutional questions because it could lead to investigations of individual mosques with no evidence of any wrongdoing… |
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