Thursday, March 20, 2014
U.S. deports Saudi director of Virginia Muslim charity
U.S. deports Saudi director of Virginia Muslim charity
A Saudi national who served as director of the Virginia office of the Muslim World League (MWL) has been deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on immigration charges.ICE spokesman Dean Boyd said Abdullah Alnoshan, 44, of Falls Church, was returned to Saudi Arabia over the weekend. He was arrested in July by ICE and FBI agents assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. A criminal complaint charged Alnoshan with conspiring to commit immigration fraud by using fake employment documents to enter, exit and live in the United States.
Alnoshan also was accused of seeking to deter law-enforcement agents from discovering his true immigration status.
His arrest was made after a raid by ICE and FBI agents on his Falls Church offices in an investigation into the MWL’s purported terrorist ties. The offices also were searched in 2002 as part of a raid on several Muslim organizations in Northern Virginia whose charitable operations were watched by federal authorities investigating links to terrorist groups.
The charity has not been charged, but agents searched Alnoshan’s home and office, removing computers, photographs and immigration documents. The MWL is purported to have provided funds to al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.
The MWL, one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in the world, has denied any wrongdoing.
Also named in the criminal complaint was Khalid Fadlalla, a Sudanese citizen who worked at the MWL office in New York. The complaint said Mr. Fadlalla conspired to commit immigration fraud in connection with Alnoshan. He was arrested in New York City in July.
In September, Mr. Boyd said, a federal grand jury in Virginia returned a four-count indictment charging Alnoshan with criminal immigration law violations. Last month, Alnoshan pleaded guilty to one count of immigration fraud and was sentenced to time served, agreeing to a stipulated order of removal. An immigration judge later ordered him removed from the country.
“Arresting, prosecuting and deporting those who commit criminal immigration violations is a critical part of ICE’s efforts to restore integrity to the nation’s immigration system,” said Mary Loiselle, field operations director for ICE’s detention and removal operations in the Washington area.
The MWL was mentioned in the 2003 federal probe of Soliman S. Biheiri, an Egyptian national named by the Justice Department as a material witness in terrorism investigations. An affidavit by ICE agent David Kane said investigators also were looking into the MWL and the International Islamic Relief Organization.
In October 2003, Biheiri was convicted in a Virginia federal court of immigration law violations and sentenced to 12 months of confinement, fined $15,000 and ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
Geller: When Did Pope Francis 'Become An Imam'?
Geller: When Did Pope Francis 'Become An Imam'?
In case you needed more proof that right-wing activists have qualms about Pope Francis, Pamela Geller attacked the new pope on her Islamophobic blog yesterday over his call for “affection and respect” toward Muslims. Geller writes that the pope’s new document, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), is a “disgrace” and that Francis “sanctions savagery.”
“When did he become an imam?” Geller asked.
“When did he become an imam?” Geller asked.
POPE FRANCIS SANCTIONS SAVAGERY
At a time when Christianity worldwide is under siege by Islamic jihadists, the leader of the Catholic Church claims that the quran teaches non-violence. As Christians across the Muslim world live in abject terror and fear kidnapping, rape and slaughter to the bloodcurdling cries of "Allahu akbar," the pope gives papal sanction to the savage.
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION EVANGELII GAUDIUM OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY, CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAY FAITHFUL ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL IN TODAY’S WORLDVatican.va November 24, 2013:
253. In order to sustain dialogue with Islam, suitable training is essential for all involved, not only so that they can be solidly and joyfully grounded in their own identity, but so that they can also acknowledge the values of others, appreciate the concerns underlying their demands and shed light on shared beliefs. We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition. I ask and I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians freedom to worship and to practice their faith, in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries! Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalisations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.
How does he know that? When did he become an imam?
"So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks..." quran 47:4 "And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows." quran 8:60
"Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah , so they kill and are killed." quran 9:111
Nothing will be gained by this refusal to face reality. Christians will still be slaughtered in the name of Islam and jihad all over the Muslim world. And now the Pope has forbidden Catholics to speak honestly about what is happening and why. It's a disgrace.
Signs say IRS targeted tea party
Signs say IRS targeted tea party
By STEVE HUNTLEY
February 10, 2014 4:44PM
Cleta Mitchcell (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Updated: March 12, 2014 6:14AM
President
Barack Obama maintains there’s “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the
Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of tea party and conservative
groups, that it was just the result of “bone-headed decisions” by
low-level IRS technocrats.
But testimony at a
congressional hearing last week raised red flags about IRS abuse of
conservatives that should trouble Americans no matter what their
political leanings.
When the IRS revelations
broke, Obama promised a full investigation. Yet Cleta Mitchell, an
attorney for a number of tea party and conservative groups targeted by
the IRS, testified, “None of my clients have received a single contact
from the FBI, the DOJ [Department of Justice] or any other investigator
regarding the IRS scandal.”
She detailed for a House
oversight subcommittee several areas worthy of criminal investigation
into the taxman’s singling out conservative groups for special scrutiny
and intrusive questioning regarding their nonprofit tax status.
In 2012, then IRS
commissioner Doug Shulman told Congress there had been no targeting of
tea party groups even though we now know it had been going on since
2009. “The last time I checked, lying to Congress is a felony,” Mitchell
said.
Confidential donor
information about several conservative groups, including the National
Organization for Marriage, the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the
Republican Governors Public Policy Council, were leaked to their
political foes or the public. “That is a crime,” she noted.
And Mitchell pointed to the
elephant in the room in the IRS controversy: former IRS executive Lois
Lerner invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination
before the same subcommittee. “She apparently knows of criminal acts
involved in this scandal.”
Also testifying was one of
Mitchell’s clients, Catherine Engelbrecht, owner of a small Texas
manufacturing firm who organized two non-profits, one of them True the
Vote.
In running a business for
two decades, she had never been investigated by the federal government.
But since the beginning of her political activism in 2010, “my private
business, my nonprofit organizations, and family have been subjected to
more than 15 instances of audit or inquiry by federal agencies.” Those
include the IRS, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the
Bureau of Alcohol and Firearms, and the FBI.
I guess the administration wants us to believe that is all coincidence.
The top Democrat on the
panel, Elijah Cummings, tried to discredit Engelbrecht by accusing True
the Vote of sending poll watchers to minority districts. Engelbrecht
said her group only trains election volunteers and doesn’t send them
anywhere.
Conservatives are outraged
that the mainstream media and many civil rights groups swallow hook,
line and sinker the White House position that the IRS is a “phony
scandal.”
It is unimaginable that IRS
special scrutiny of liberal groups during a Republican administration
would be written off as bureaucratic bungling.
To many conservatives,
Obama’s assertion of “not even a smidgen of corruption” sounds a lot
like another White House’s claim that Watergate was “a third-rate
burglary.”
Exclusive: U.S. Sanctions Actually Target Putin’s Domestic Rivals
Exclusive: U.S. Sanctions Actually Target Putin’s Domestic Rivals
While the move was sold as a clear message to Russian officials responsible for the current Ukraine crisis, the end result seems to bear little resemblance to that goal...
In a statement Monday, Obama said the U.S. would not recognize the referendum. He went on to blame a number of officials within the Russian government for the development.
The White House – along with numerous media outlets – is touting the sanctions as a direct response to Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Putin is not named directly in Obama’s reaction, a White House statement indicates the U.S. will “seek to hold accountable individuals who use their resources or influence to support or act on behalf of senior Russian government officials.”
One senior White House advisor, however, questioned Obama’s selection, suggesting the seven Russian officials facing sanctions are not Putin allies at all. The source, who requested anonymity in discussing the developing story, offered a background for each of the individuals targeted by the White House.
Sergey Glazyev reportedly mounted a presidential campaign against Putin in 2004 and has been excluded from the inner workings of the Russian government since. Another target of sanctions, Vladislav Surkov, reportedly resigned from the Putin regime last year following accusations that he would not enforce the Russian president’s policies.
A third official, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitiry Rogozin, is reportedly being blamed for bungling Russia’s advancement in the region by backing recently ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. By defying Putin’s wishes, the source claims, Rogozin has been ostracized by Russian leadership.
Former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who currently serves as the nation’s prime minister, did consider some of the targets to be close confidants. Putin apparently feels differently. According to the White House source, Leonid Slutsky and Valentina Matviyenko both held positions of power in Russia until they fell out of favor with Putin. Furthermore, Andrei Klishas is reportedly feuding with a Putin ally.
The final Russian official facing U.S. sanctions, Yelena Mizulina, likely made it on the list due to her anti-gay policy positions rather than any connection to Ukraine policy.
While the move was sold as a clear message to Russian officials responsible for the current Ukraine crisis, the end result seems to bear little resemblance to that goal. Instead, Obama seems to have targeted individuals Putin himself would have approved. As a result, the U.S. action has had little noticeable effect on Russia’s economy as of this writing. In fact, the Russian market rose today on the news of these weak sanctions.
U.S. allies in the European Union have similarly refused to acknowledge the recent Crimean vote to secede from Ukraine. It remains to be seen whether the EU’s sanctions, which are expected to be announced Tuesday, will have any legitimate effect on Russian leadership.
–B. Christopher Agee
Have an idea for a story? Email us at tips@westernjournalism.com
What The Media Doesn’t Want You To Know About Obama’s “Sanctions”
What The Media Doesn’t Want You To Know About Obama’s “Sanctions”
The problems with the sanctions on Russia are two-fold... they don't matter to Russia, and they'll end up hurting America.
But the Russians have responded with sustained laughter. The hapless Obama looked like a robot as he read, “We are imposing sanctions on specific individuals for undermining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and government of Ukraine.”
The truth is that the sanctions are insignificant, and they’ll have no economic impact whatsoever on Putin. But Obama’s earlier decisions make it impossible for him to do more, and they show that the president is in fact more vulnerable than Putin.
Meanwhile, conservatives aren’t the only ones judging Obama’s response as weak.
The liberal Washington Post called the sanctions a “slap on the wrist.” The problem is that they only sanction individuals, not institutions or the Russian government itself.
On the other side of the aisle, FOX News commentator Charles Krauthammer depicted Obama’s reaction as “humiliating.” He rightly told his audience that the Russians were ridiculing Obama while the entire world watches.
One of the targeted Russians, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, tweeted for all to read, “Comrade Obama, what should those who have neither accounts nor property abroad do? Have you not thought about it?”
A Policy of Ineptitude
The real tragedy is that Obama hasn’t thought about it. He doesn’t have a plan.
Agee wrote: “Leonid Slutsky and Valentina Matviyenko both held positions of power in Russia until they fell out of favor with Putin. Furthermore, Andrey Klishas is reportedly feuding with a Putin ally. The final Russian official facing U.S. sanctions, Yelena Mizulina, likely made it on the list due to her anti-gay policy positions, rather than any connection to Ukraine policy.”
And that’s not even the worst part. You see, the sanctions may actually hurt Americans, too, which proves my Obama theorem that “Obama only takes actions that hurt America.”
Sergey Glazyev, a Putin economic advisor, told the Voice of Russia radio that Russia would have to switch to other currencies to curb its dependence on the U.S. dollar; and sanctions could prevent Russia from repaying loans extended by American banks. “We have wonderful economic and trade relations with our Southern and Eastern partners,” Glazyev emphasized. “We will find a way not just to eliminate our dependence on the U.S. but also profit from these sanctions… Indeed, sanctions are a double-edged weapon, and if the U.S. chooses to freeze our assets, then our equities and liabilities in dollars will also be frozen. This means that our banks and businesses will not return the loans to American partners.”
The U.S. dollar has remained the world’s reserve currency because it’s used to settle international commercial transactions, especially in the energy markets. But if Russia moves away from the dollar in the sale of commodities and oil, it could roil international markets. If carried out by Putin, these moves could possibly trigger a dollar collapse.
Obama is economically dependent on foreign money to keep his spending binge going. At the same time, he’s also slashed military spending and left us with little to back up his bellicose statements. In the end, such weakness always empowers a bully like Putin.
This commentary originally appeared at CapitolHillDaily.com and is reprinted here with permission.
EXCLUSIVE) IRS Currently Employing Convicted Terrorist Associate
(EXCLUSIVE) IRS Currently Employing Convicted Terrorist Associate
A former policeman convicted of tipping off a terror
suspect is now a senior official at the IRS. Calls to the IRS for
comment have not yet been answered.
March 6, 2014 - 8:56 am
Page 1 of 2 Next -> View as Single Page
He is still at the IRS.
In 2008, Russell/Rasool was prosecuted for his role in tipping off Abdullah Alnoshan, a close associate of al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and a friend of Russell’s from their mosque. According to the Justice Department’s Statement of Facts filed at the time of Russell’s indictment, Alnoshan provided license plate numbers to Russell for cars he believed were conducting surveillance on him. Russell then checked those plate numbers in the FBI’s NCIC database, which came back to a leasing company which federal prosecutors claimed would have tipped off Russell to the bureau’s surveillance.
He left a phone message for Alnoshan that the FBI intercepted.
Prosecutors also claimed that on more than a dozen instances, Russell checked his name, the names of relatives, and other friends to see if they were listed on the Violent Crime and Terrorist Offender File on NCIC without an authorized reason for doing so.
According to the Washington Post, Russell’s tip-off to Alnoshan actively obstructed their investigation:
The target was arrested in November 2005, then convicted and deported, according to court filings in Rasool’s case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanine Linehan said that the target and his family were already dressed and destroying evidence at 6 a.m. when agents arrived to make the arrest, indicating that they had been tipped off.Alnoshan was deported to Saudi Arabia in December 2005. Russell was indicted in January 2008, and pleaded guilty in April 2008.
While prosecutors had requested jail time for Russell after he failed a polygraph just a week before sentencing, the judge sentenced him to two years of probation. He continued on the Fairfax County police force while an internal affairs investigation was conducted. Reportedly, he was eventually given the choice to resign or be fired. He resigned in August 2008.
Chris Farrell, director of investigations at Judicial Watch, told PJ Media:
Somebody like Russell who betrayed his oath as a police officer and was convicted in court essentially for aiding and abetting the subject of an open terror investigation has absolutely no business with any position of trust and responsibility with the government.Farrell said that Judicial Watch would be opening their own line of inquiry into Russell’s hiring and employment with the IRS.
If as reported he holds a top financial analyst position within the IRS, it’s not just a disgrace to a discredited agency but an insult to the American public. Russell has already betrayed his country and shown that he can do enormous damage and abuse his authority and powers, which he is now free to do within the IRS.
An IRS official speaking anonymously to PJ Media said that Russell’s financial management analyst position would have required him to fill out the Standard Form 86 questionnaire for national security positions and to be subjected to a background check.
There’s no way anyone with his conviction for abusing access to a government database and damaging a terror investigation could have been vetted and approved without outside intervention. Changing his name shouldn’t have mattered.
I’ve never even heard of a case like this.
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