What say you now, Grover Norquist?
The Washington Post reports that Abdurahman Alamoudi, once embraced as a “mainstream” and “moderate” Muslim activist who courted both the Clinton and Bush administrations, will plead guilty today to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from Libya in violation of U.S. law and attempting to hide it from the government:
Abdurahman Alamoudi has agreed to admit guilt to three counts, including one related to the mysterious movement of $340,000 he allegedly received in a London hotel room from a charity funded by the Libyan government, sources familiar with the case said yesterday. The other two counts cover tax violations and lies on his immigration forms…
Court documents to be made public today will trace in rich detail an explosive allegation that Alamoudi made in plea negotiations with prosecutors — that Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi plotted to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah, de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia…
His arrest last September shook the U.S. Muslim community and reverberated through Washington’s political elite. As leader of the American Muslim Council, Alamoudi met on occasion with senior Clinton and Bush administration officials. He also helped found the Pentagon’s Muslim chaplain program and is particularly well known in the Muslim community of Northern Virginia, where he helped run a number of charities and political groups.
Local Muslim leaders have protested the government’s prosecution of Alamoudi, portraying him as a moderate with no ties to radical groups. But prosecutors have sketched a different picture in the indictment, alleging that Alamoudi hid his ties to a top leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
His sympathy for Hamas was no secret. In 2000, independent terrorism investigator Rita Katz, Director of the SITE Institute, while working undercover, taped Alamoudi voicing his open support for the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. Alamoudi stated before an excited, cheering crowd:
“I have been labeled by the media in New York to be a supporter of Hamas…Anybody support Hamas here? Hear that, Bill Clinton? We are all supporters of Hamas. I wish they added that I am also a supporter of Hezballah…Does anybody support Hezballah here? I want you to send a message. It’s an occupation, stupid…Hamas is fighting an occupation. It’s a legal fight.”
Despite this defiant public declaration of support for terrorists, Alamoudi was welcomed in GOP elite circles at the behest of power player Grover Norquist. Insight magazine reported:
Norquist was Alamoudi’s most influential Washington facilitator, authorities believe, noting that Norquist reminds friend and foe alike that he is close to the president’s powerful political strategist, Karl Rove.
Norquist, who previously has denied any suggestion that his work facilitated any wrongdoing, not only introduced Alamoudi to Washington GOP power circles but also Sammy Al Arian, whom prosecutors arrested earlier this year for alleged terrorist activities. Federal law-enforcement sources say they are focusing on some of Norquist’s associates and financial ties to terrorist groups.
Alamoudi ran, directed, founded or funded at least 15 Muslim political-action and charitable groups that have taken over the public voice of Islamic Americans [see sidebar, p. 34]. Through a mix of civil-rights complaints, Old Left-style political coalitions and sheer persistence, Alamoudi helped inch the image of U.S.-based Islamists toward the political mainstream and induced politicians to embrace his organizations. He sought to secure the support first of the Clinton administration in seeking to repeal certain antiterrorist laws, but when Bill Clinton failed to deliver, Alamoudi defected to Bush, then governor of Texas. Alamoudi and other Muslim leaders met with Bush in Austin in July [2000], offering to support his bid for the White House in exchange for Bush’s commitment to repeal certain antiterrorist laws.
That meeting, sources say, began a somewhat strained relationship between the self-appointed Muslim leaders and the Bush team. Some senior Bush advisers voiced caution to Rove, who is said to have disregarded such concerns, seeing instead an opportunity to bring another ethnic and religious group into the GOP big tent. A photo of the Austin event shows Bush with Alamoudi standing over his left shoulder, flanked by the former head of the Pakistani Communist Party, several open supporters of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups and other individuals Insight is trying to identify.
Canceled checks obtained by Insight show Alamoudi provided seed money to start a GOP-oriented Muslim group called the Islamic Institute, which Norquist originally chaired and now is led by former Alamoudi aide and former AMC staffer Khaled Saffuri. A White House memo obtained by Insight prepared for coordinating Muslim and Arab-American “public-liaison” events with the White House shows that the Islamic Institute was instrumental in establishing the connection. The memo, from early 2001, provides lists of invitees and the name, date of birth and Social Security number of each. Norquist, as the first chairman of the Islamic Institute, tops the list.
Alamoudi and others, including Norquist, tried to keep critics at bay by branding them as “racists” and “bigots.”
(More here from Frank Gaffney, “A Troubling Influence.” See also Mona Charen, Kenneth Timmerman, Insight, The American Spectator, Cal Thomas, Malkin, and Debbie Schlussel.)
Norquist owes a public apology to fellow Republicans whom he has smeared as bigots for raising fundamental questions about Alamoudi and the Islamist-supporting apparatus in America. More importantly, Norquist owes answers about why he partnered with a known terrorist sympathizer, whether or not he now defends Alamoudi, when he plans to stop hiding behind the race card, and what exactly he plans to do to disavow Islamist influences.
Update: Copies of two checks from Alamoudi to the Islamic Institute:
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Right on … he does owe an apology. His reaction was “of the left” when people started looking at his Muslim friends and he reacted by namecalling. I love Norquist on taxes, but he needs to open his eyes on the Islamist stuff…
Great post!
About Grover Norquist, is he an Islamic covert?
I’ve asked this question repeatedly and received no answer.
The conservative cloths, beard, and constant defense of Islam. Strange, don’t you think?
Poor, deceived Grover. I pity the guy, but he is guilty. Guilty guilty guilty. No amount of diversion and shuffle can mask the false-front he’s constructed for Islamist terror.
Guilty.
Dan Patterson
I used to like Grover but seeing his duplicity at the CPAC Convention was too much. He has some weird allegiance with Muslim extremists. Very odd.
You’re right, Norquist owes us all a big apology for cavorting with those muslims - none can be trusted - not nowadays. It’s a disgusting hate-filled religion and you don’t know who your friends are, probably none of them. How many “good muslims” came out to denounce terrorism? I think about none! Bring back the internment camps and let’s make America safe again!!!!!!
Well, what has Rove said about these connections to the terroristic Almoudi? That’s what I’d like to hear. It’s troubling.
This kind of attitude about those of us who SEE a pattern and want to use our smarts and reason to increase our national security doesn’t help.
People calling us racists and bigots isn’t going to convert us.
They don’t know who we are. They don’t know that my children are half Asian and half white. They don’t know where we live and have friends with. They post comments to Michelle calling her racist or saying that she hates her own race. How does the liberals think they are going to win the debate that way? They can’t and won’t.
Until the recognize that they will lose elections.
Will somebody please inform the upper echelons at the White House that Grover Norquist is radiating jihadi vibrations?
Stuart,
There is a lot of muslims that are peaceful and are VERY good people to know.
There is a difference between a arabic or “REAL” muslim and a converted western style (thier words not mine). Any religion or cause can be hi-jacked by extremist, lumping everyone together is exactly wht these muslim extremist do .. all americans are evil and have a plot to take over the world (please someone let me in on this plot). What troubles me is the amount of clelebration that went on after 9-11 in a lot of muslim countries. But they are un-educated masses being lead by people that take advantage of their faith for their own purposes.
Davion,
It troubles me too. There were large sets of populations which dismayed me because I was hoping that it was just 19 lone people out there who were sick in the head.
But, It’s not. Some muslims themselves have estimated up to 10% of their population are the extremist (wanting to kill the infidel) type.
well, Karl Rove talks to a lot of people, not just Norquist. And quite a few of them (Wolfowitz comes to mind) are willing to stand up and call this coddling of the Muslim lobby what it is, appeasment.
I’ve stuck with Bush despite all the domestic spending, but if he did ANYTHING that looked like he was kow towing to the CAIR crowd, I could not in good conscience vote for him.
Well. I’m voting for him even though he had breakfast with them.
“kow towing” is different than having breakfast I think.
As expected, the Post is back-pedaling Alamoudi’s relationship with the Clinton Administration. The article The Clintons, Abdurahman Alamoudi, and the Myth of “Moderate” Islam (http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2000/11/6/170946.shtml) describes the close relationship Alamoudi had with the Clintons, saying that he had “repeated high-level contacts with the Clinton White House in late 1995 and early 1996.”
Davion,
The things you point out are the problems of the muslim community, not ours. I don’t have the will or feel I owe the muslims the time to filter out those who say they want to kill us and mean it and those who say they want to kill us but really don’t
It sounds like this Grover fella should be brought up on treason charges.
Exactly! Look, the real Americans who take up Muslim, I can understand and I don’t have anything against them, but these Arab cults are scaring the heck out of my family and neighbors and I for one feel we need to lock them up - ask yourself one question, how many Arab Muslims do you count as friends? I have none, no one I know has any - you know why? Because they cavort around in private, don’t intermix with our kind and stick together - it should be a concern of all of ours!
We’ve got to take these terrorists seriously. Remember 9/11, I haven’t forgotten, have you? We can’t let these sleeper cells break out into violence and attacks here in the U.S., and I can only think of one answer for it - put them away behind lock and key before they have the chance to show their true colors!
Baklava,
…”Some muslims themselves have estimated up to 10% of their population are the extremist (wanting to kill the infidel) type.”
I sure hope you’re wrong.
1.4 Billion Muslims worldwide (estimated)
10% = 140,000,000 Jihadists
Great post, Michelle.
And I agree Norquist especially owes an apology to the Republicans he’s smeared, but he owes one to the American people in general as well, for shepherding militant Islam into our halls of power.
And Alamoudi owes an apology to all the moderate Muslims who thought that by supporting the AMC, they were supporting a mainstream group. I am hoping that many people feel a genuine sense of betrayal (is that naive?), rather than just listening to the leaders of militant Islamist apologist groups like CAIR and MPAC, telling them that they should be scared because there’s a government crusade against Islam that they need to resist.
At any rate, Alamoudi is on the Board of Directors of UASR, a Hamas front group based in Springfield, VA - but founded in Illinois by Musa Abu Marzook, currently the world-wide #2 Hamas chief stationed in Damascus. He was the head of the U.S. political wing of Hamas when he founded it. Chances are, the top dog at UASR right now, whoever that is, is the defacto North American leader of Hamas.
How that organization continues to operate is beyond me. I know the FBI knows who founded that group. Hopefully they’re just lying in wait to nab a big fish.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=\SpecialReports\archive\200407\SPE20040712a.html
New Sesame Street episode:
Grover in Gitmo!!
Good thing that conservatives have morals and a concern for their country which will allow them to point the finger at their own when it needs be done.
If Grover wants some kind of blind sympathy he’ll have to switch parties.
FrontPage Magazine had an article (”A Troubling Influence”) on Mr. Norquist’s connection to the Islamic “Free Market” Institute, in December 2003.
Stuart,
you’re kidding, right? You’re a troll trying to “prove” that everyone with any concerns about Islamism is a bigot, right? Please tell me I’m right, otherwise you’re one sick puppy.
Bush needs to publicly distance himself from Norquist if this is all true. He doesn’t need this double dealer on his team. Otherwise, he’ll be acting exactly like the Clintons.
Here’s the political fix any president is in with respect to Moslems and Arab-Americans. Hint: it ain’t the votes. Not directly, anyhow.
Any group that can colorably (ahem) append hyphen-American to its self-designation, qualifies as a minority as long as it isn’t White, and it doesn’t take its Christianity (or in Joe Lieberman’s case its Judaism) too seriously.
Then, once members of that -group have developed a little insular identity for themselves in the eyes of the media and politicians, they can start crying discrimination.
So a president who refuses to meet with a group of African-Americans - no matter how vile they are (I’m talking to you, Kweisi) is branded as a racist. A president who admits that maybe, just perhaps, we have a problem with a chunk of Islam, is automatically branded as a racist religious bigot.
A Democrat can get away with ignoring Muslim groups. For some reason, in spite of historical facts and ugly present truths (e.g. Robert KKK Byrd), the media won’t let the racist label stick to any Dems. However, the slightest slip up by a Republican - actual racism or not - is immediately painted as the second coming of the Klan.
Hence Bill Clinton could tell Islamists to piss off; whereas this administration was (and is being) tarred as racist for arresting the likes of Alamoudi. Bill Clinton could have gotten away with profiling Arabs on airplanes, because he’d say, “aw shucks, we just have to check because the bad guys look a lot like you.” In contrast, the present administration can take a principled stand - which it has in the DOJ Guidance on racial profiling - and it is called racist no matter what it does, because any scrutiny paid to anybody of Arab descent, or any Muslim, must certainly be based on racism and bigotry, because the premise is simply Republican = bigot. Therefore all Republican actions are presumptively bigoted.
This dynamic functions that way due to the all-important undecided voter. Everything is geared to appeal to the 10% in the middle who are far too dumb to know what the parties stand for, or for that matter, what the Presidential candidates stand for. I saw an interview on NBC tonight - a woman said she’s still undecided about who to vote for in the fall, and before she can vote for Bush, Bush needs to start to talk about spending some money on public education and on health care.
Yes, that’s right, my jaw dropped too. She’s not even living in the same universe as everybody else - and she’s the rotten wench who is dictating our law enforcement, fiscal, health care and foreign policy.
Stuart. Frankly, you’re wrong.
I know a great many Musilms of both Arabic and Pakistani descent, and to say they are all like that is more than just a gross generalisation, it’s foolish. Yes, there are Arabic Muslims who hate us and want to destroy our way of life, but there are plenty who do not, as I know from personal experience.
Great post, M.
The word for Muslims, Mexicans or any other groups wishing to experience the joy of life that has become “living in America” is ‘assimilate’, baby, just assimilate.
IMHO those that won’t after one full generation should just pack up and leave.
Stuart, you’re over the top.
At the same time, there’s a very intentional effort to divorce Islam from Islamofascism rhetorically, to pretend that the religious ideology that drives the Islamofascists is of no concern to us.
As a matter of policy, we’ve given Arab nations and Islam a pass for too long - we’ve treated them as children and overlooked or ignored their reprehensible words and conduct. We’ve acted as if we don’t believe they’re capable of acting in a civilized manner. With the result that there’s no incentive for them to do so.
Want at least a chance for peace in the Middle East?
Tell the Arabs (a) Israel isn’t going anywhere; (b) It’s time for them to accept that fact; (c) It’s time for their leaders to lead their peoples to accept that fact, too.
Stuart is a troll, or insane, or both.
I hope he’s insane, because then he may respond to treatment…
Yeah Davion,
only a tiny minority of that great religion supports terrorists, like only a tiny minority of Germans supported the Nazis and the mass murder of Jews.
I would suggest that Grover Norquist is symptomatic of a broader problem within the Republican Party, namely the exaltation of people who have mastered some of the skills of fundraising and positioning for election campaigns.
I seriously doubt Norquist has any terrorist sympathies. I think he just got in way over his head with this Alamoudi character, from whom he sought money and a wedge into the Muslim vote while Alamoudi appears to have been after something more sinister. No more for that matter do I take Norquist that seriously as a thinker about tax policy; he supports and works for the positions wealthy people will pay him to support and work for. At bottom he’s a penny ante campaign operative who shouldn’t be let within a mile of anything government does after the campaign is over.
Hi Michelle:
Thanks for setting up this blog website and enlightening all of us on a daily basis. Your comments, books, editorial, appearances on TV and radio are invaluable..
Just a note about Flight 327. Something has been bothering me about this incident since I read about in on Frontpage Magazine - they had a link to Women’s Wall Street Journal. Now I am a network engineer and I am used to having some issue that I can’t figure out and then in the middle of the night - usually around 2:00 a.m. or so -I wake fully and say yes - that is the problem… So the same thing happened with the incident - something was wrong and I couldn’t put my finger on it and yes I woke up the other night and it hit me… WHy did none of the passengers just stand up in the aisle and fold their arms and stare these religion of peace nutcases down. Everyone just should have started a riot - I mean there was 14 of them and then the rest of the plane - I would have gotten up out of my seat - bang into them as they strode up and down the aisle and turned into the b$tch from hell. If I was going to die I would have surely made it difficult for these jihad nutcases to take me down.. We need to stand up and fight back…
To Al Maviva:
Where is the pribcipled stand in DOJ profiling guidelines? I’ve flown enough to see that it doesn’t exist. It’s a cowardly, PC whitewash. Pick out kids & octagenarians so we appear to be “fair.” My underwire bra was a huge issue the last time I flew. I know we freckle-faced middle-aged moms traveling with our young kids must send shivers down the spines of our fellow passengers.
Bush set this silly (but dangerous) tone early on. I believe it was a day or two after 911 when he started in on the “Muslim means peace” line he spewed everywhere he went. (It means submission, George.) He was obsessed with the plight of innocent Muslims who might suffer a backlash, warning all Americans to refrain from retribution. How insulting! Meanwhile, the borders are open wide, musicians from a terrorist state fly with expired visas & terrify Americans while the crew cowers, and sleeper cells grow stronger & bolder each day. God help us all if Kerry gets in the White House. But is Bush really fighting this war on terror effectively?
The visas for Syrian musicians really irk me. A fabulous Irish Arts program run out of Boston College was canceled (after running for many years) because the musicians and dancers had their visas denied! The INS couldn’t clear them in time. I guess Europeans get tougher scrutiny than citizens of terrorist states. Makes perfect sense to me.
To Brad:
Did you read the Annie Jacobson article about the 14 Syrian musicians who moved about a plane in unison? Ignored fasten seat belt signs. Passed cameras & other objects back & forth. Entered bathrooms for long periods. One made a cutting the throat gesture.
The flight crew simply told passengers that authorities were aware. No effort to make the men stop their offensive behavior was made. Sky marshalls on the plane did nothing. Even when about 8 men rose in unison & headed to the front of the plane as the final “fasten seatbelt” for descent orders were given. Nobody did a thing to thwart what appeared to be an orchestrated takeover of the plane. Because the “authorities” on board were in charge & assured the terrified passengers that they were aware of the odd behavior. As if awareness without action would do a damn thing to save the lives of those on board & on the ground if it were indeed a terrorist action!
On the ground, the musicians were released after questionong, despite having 13 expired visas. Despite heading to perform with an Arab singer who has recorded a song praising a suicide bomber fighting for Palestine’s liberation.
I guess the crew felt that telling Syrians to obey flight instructions would be construed as a hate crime.
Why would anyone listen to anything Grover Norquist said? He has compared acceptance of paying taxes with acceptance of the holocaust. Clearly a bit unbalanced.
Jack Burton,
Actually the correct charge is malfeasance leading to skullduggery.
Zathras ,
It goes further than that.
This is an administration that confuses spiritual with moral. Now in the US of A that is probably not a bad confusion.
In the rest of the world it is a disaster.
What you have to watch out for is religions where the in group and out group morality is different. i.e. in Islam infidel testimony has less weight than that of a neliever in the Jewish and Christian base faith (not always well practiced) the same public morality was to be practiced no matter who the person. Making those faiths in truth catholic. The religious advantage of those faiths was in the spiritual and not the materal realm (at least not directly). Thus all could be equal under the law.
And that is it. The greatest gift of the West. Equality before the law. Our whole quest has been to advance that idea into more and more realms. Women. Gays. Blacks/minorities. etc.
Michelle,I have one question WHY is the type so damned small??? Other than that I think you are GREAT. I don’t know why people try and shut you out,AS if I diden’t know….Love Ya taderpicker
People worried about the Syrian musicians need to keep up on the news. Seems as though Muslims need to pray 5 times daily at certain specific times - and need to wash their hands first.
According to more thoroughly investigated news reports, the sky marshals were more worried that Annie Jacobsen’s outburst was part of a terrorist plot to expose the sky marshals’ identities so terrorists knew who to take out first. Lesson: just keep an eye on those behaving oddly - odds are there’s a good explanation. Besides, as Brad points out (12:15 above), passengers will now attack hijackers attempting to take over planes, like in Pennsylvania…
As for Grover’s buddy Alamoudi, people offering money and votes aren’t given background checks in our current political system unless and until something embarrassing is publicized. If you supply money and the perception of votes, you’re in the club. This is, alas, true on both sides of the aisle.
Once you’re in the club for any length of time, kicking you out due to illegal behavior puts egg on the face(s) of your buddies - who will to the extent possible defend you as a means of egg-on-face repellent.
The real issue is: how much did Alamoudi’s requests for repealing some anti-terrorist laws affect Pres. Bush’s pre-9/11 actions?
Great post …….Grover doesn’t pass the smell test!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi, Michelle. I am a newbie, and just read your blog for the first time. Some great comments, and your column was very informative.
Thanks for the opportunity to read and write to a group of fellow Americans.
My husband likes you, too.
Damn good thing Grover is a conservative, otherwise people would eb mad at him.