Tuesday, June 7, 2011

IW Blog: The Justice Department's PC-Heavy Press Releases

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The Justice Department's PC-Heavy Press Releases

by David J. Rusin • Jun 7, 2011 at 7:38 am

http://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2011/06/the-justice-department-pc-heavy-press-releases

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Recent U.S. Department of Justice press releases on terrorism-related indictments could have listed CAIR as a coauthor. The defensiveness, lecturing tones, and prostration before Islamist talking points reflect a government ever more obsessed with mollifying Muslims.

Consider a May 14 release announcing the indictment of six people in Florida and Pakistan for allegedly providing financial and other assistance to the Pakistani Taliban. After identifying two Floridians as imams, the text oddly notes that the "defendants are charged based on their provision of material support to terrorism, not on their religious beliefs or teachings." Who besides Islamists and those who swallow their victimhood narrative would assume otherwise?

FBI Special Agent in Charge John V. Gillies — or, more likely, the DoJ ghostwriter — then chimes in to "remind everyone that the Muslim and Arab-American members of our community should never be judged by the illegal activities of a few." Finally, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer further instructs Americans not to be haters:

Let me be clear that this is not an indictment against a particular community or religion. Instead, today's indictment charges six individuals for promoting terror and violence through their financial and other support of the Pakistani Taliban. Radical extremists know no boundaries; they come in all shapes and sizes and are not limited by religion, age, or geography.

A May 31 release follows the same pattern as it reports on two U.S.-based Iraqi nationals indicted for allegedly aiding and even directly participating in attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.

First, FBI Special Agent in Charge Elizabeth A. Fries retails the overblown "backlash" meme: "Just as we vigorously investigate terrorism cases, the FBI will vigorously pursue anyone who targets Muslims or their places of worship for backlash-related threats or violence in the wake of these arrests." David J. Hale, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, adds, "Let me be clear that this is not an indictment against a particular religious community or religion. Instead, this indictment charges two individuals with federal terrorism offenses." Yes, we get it already.

This specific manifestation of DoJ political correctness looks to be a new one; for example, press releases on domestic jihad plots that eyed the Washington, D.C., area, Portland, Oregon, and Catonsville, Maryland in late 2010 include no comparable passages. However, it is quite consistent with the DoJ's tendency to tiptoe around Islam. Recent embarrassments range from its video that trains male police officers to avoid speaking with Muslim women unless their husbands are present, to insider claims about the department having scuttled terror finance investigations that got too close to Islamic pressure groups such as CAIR.

In Eric Holder's DoJ, the scales of Lady Justice hang unbalanced. Preoccupation with not appearing biased against Muslims is nurturing bias in the opposite direction.

Related Topics: Entertainment / Media, Gender Relations, Government, Legal, Lobby Groups, Mosques / Imams, Multiculturalism, Police / FBI David J. Rusin This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.