|
Congressman ready to investigate local Muslim radicalization
Rep. Peter T. King, the new chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security is readying a controversial investigation next month into the radicalization of Muslim youth by local religious leaders.
"There's a systematic effort to radicalize young Muslim men," said King. "It would be irresponsible of me not to have this investigation. If it was coming from some other demographic group, I would say the same thing." American Islamic leaders said King was being unfair to the Muslim community, which they said had worked with U.S. law enforcement to stop terrorism. Rep. Keith Ellison said in an interview that he recently went to King on the House floor and volunteered himself and other witnesses as proof that several terrorist plots were initially brought to the attention of officials by Muslims. "I walked up to him like a colleague and said, 'Pete, I'm kind of concerned about this,' " Ellison said. Though considering Ellison's offer, King remains unmoved by criticism, stating that his weeklong hearings will go forward. King noted that the Fort Hood shooter had worshipped at a mosque in Falls Church, Va., where U.S.-born Anwar Awlaki was once a spiritual leader. King cited three other cases: A young Muslim in Ashburn, Va., was arrested for planning to blow up subway lines feeding the Pentagon; another young Muslim in Portland, Ore., is accused of attempting to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony; and a new convert in Baltimore has plotted to blow up an Army recruiting station. He said there were signs in each of these cases of influence by local Muslim leaders, and added that 15% of young Muslim Americans in a Pew poll believed suicide bombing was justified. "I also know of imams instructing members of their mosques not to cooperate with law enforcement investigating the recruiting of young men in their mosques as suicide bombers," said King. "We need to find the reasons for this alienation." Ellison described a case in which five young men in Virginia traveled to Pakistan to join militant groups, only to "have their parents step forward to stop them" by tipping off the police. He mentioned Faisal Shahzad as well, who was sentenced to life in prison last year for trying to bomb Times Square.
Corey P. Saylor, national legislative director for CAIR, said two people from his organization had alerted police to possible terrorist plots. Saylor said that King's investigation was a "witch hunt." But Ellison said, "I don't think Pete King is an evil person. He's concerned about public safety and homeland security. And there have been cases where Muslims have done awful things. But it's a narrow investigation, and it's going to make a particular group feel targeted." Posted by: ryuge 2011-01-16 |
||
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=314005 |