Thursday, August 28, 2014

IPT Blogs: CAIR Lawyer Ponders Outlandish US/Mossad Conspiracy Theory




Steven Emerson, Executive Director
August 28, 2014
In this mailing:

CAIR Lawyer Ponders Outlandish US/Mossad Conspiracy Theory

by Ravi Kumar  •  Aug 28, 2014 at 3:32 pm
Be the first of your friends to like this.

While the world recoils in horror at the brutality shown by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) apparently gave serious consideration to a wild conspiracy theory alleging that ISIS is a Mossad and CIA "proxy force."
Lena Masri, a CAIR attorney in Detroit, linked from her Facebook page Aug. 22 to an article by Iran's official news agency, IRNA, about ISIS and its rise to prominence. Among its claims, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State, "is really Simon Elliot, a Jewish agent for the Zionist intelligence agency Mossad."
The notion rated a "pants-on-fire" from fact-checking site "Pundit Fact," three days earlier, but Masri chose instead to put the question out to her Facebook friends. "Any truth to this???" she wrote.
Part of CAIR's unstated mission is to deflect attention from the theological underpinnings driving terrorist groups like ISIS, al-Qaida and Hamas. It's a task made more difficult when ISIS proclaims itself the "Islamic State" and a regional caliphate ruled by draconian punishments like book-burning, the stoning of adulterers, and the murder of apostates. Masri's post about ISIS came just days after video surfaced of American journalist James Foley's beheading.
Masri's posting is the latest in a long line of reckless social media postings by CAIR officials. The day after Foley's murder was reported, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad bracketed Twitter posts criticizing ISIS brutality with a claim that it is Israel which poses the greatest threat to world peace and security.
Dawud Walid, Masri's colleague at the CAIR Michigan office, has argued that FBI terrorism stings have "recruited more so-called extremist Muslims than al-Qaida themselves."
CAIR officials also have shown an affinity for the messages issued by Iran's official mouthpieces. CAIR officials were frequent guests on Iran's English-language news outlet, Press TV, appearing to back away from the network only after being called out publicly. And Walid was among CAIR officials who dismissed allegations in a federal indictment that traced Iran's elite Qods Force to a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's United States ambassador in Washington, D.C. – a potential act of war.
"Not believing AG Holder on Iran-Mexican drug cartel alliance," Zahra Billoo, a CAIR San Francisco official, wrote on Twitter in 2011. Walid said he wasn't "inclined to believe this #Iran plot biz" because it involved an FBI sting operation.
Prosecutors had evidence showing a Qods Force official wired $100,000 as a down payment on the ambassador's assassination. The case ended with the main suspect pleading guilty and receiving a 25-year prison sentence.
In an unrelated case, the FBI seized internal documents from a Hamas-support network in America which place CAIR and its founders firmly under its wing. Those records were admitted into evidence in federal court. CAIR treats this documented, court-tested connection as a wild, Islamophobic concoction.
In reality, though, there's no need to ask "any truth to this?"
Related Topics: Homegrown Terror  |  Ravi Kumar

American Killed Fighting For the Islamic State in Syria

by John Rossomando  •  Aug 26, 2014 at 4:17 pm
Be the first of your friends to like this.

A Free Syrian Army source says a San Diego man was killed in battle fighting for the Islamic State (IS) against a rival anti-Assad faction over the weekend. Douglas McArthur McCain, 33, was identified through passport photos and distinctive neck tattoo.
This comes as the Obama administration ramps up its effort to counter the self-proclaimed terrorist state in the wake of American journalist James Foley's brutal execution last week.
McCain was born in Illinois but later moved to the Twin Cities in Minnesota where he graduated from Robbinsdale Cooper High School in 1999. Police arrested McCain in 2000 on a disorderly conduct charge; in 2001 on a theft charge; and again in 2006 on charges of obstruction, according to court documents.
His "Duale ThaslaveofAllah" Facebook account features jihadist imagery such as the black flag used by IS and links to other Facebook pages depicting street brawls. His most recent Facebook activity shows he befriended a Malaysian jihadist who lives in Raqqa, Syria where the IS is based.
He "reverted" to Islam in 2004, according to a Twitter post. McCain reportedly worked at a restaurant in San Diego and attended Masjid Nur in that city, NBC News reports.
U.S. intelligence officials estimate at least 100 Americans have gone to Syria to fight for a myriad of jihadist factions battling the Assad regime. Of those, only about a dozen Americans are believed to be fighting for IS.
McCain becomes the fourth American known to have been killed while fighting for jihadist groups.
In May, Florida resident Moner Mohammad Abusalha became the first American to be a suicide bomber in Syria fighting for Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate. A Pittsburgh man, identified as Amir Farouk Ibrahim, was reportedly killed fighting in Syria in 2013. Nicole Lynn Mansfield, a white convert to Islam from the Detroit area, also was killed while fighting there last year.
McCain's death no doubt will heighten concern about IS ability to recruit American Muslims to fight under its banner – concern that had already been brewing due to images of the White House and Chicago's Old Republic Building that had been circulated in IS-related Twitter accounts.
Related Topics: Homegrown Terror  |  John Rossomando
The IPT accepts no funding from outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or religious institutions. Your support of The Investigative Project on Terrorism is critical in winning a battle we cannot afford to lose. All donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate online. The Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3 organization. 

202-363-8602 - main
202-966-5191 - fax
Posted by solsticewitch13 at 6:56 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)