At least SOMEone will talk about CAIR

At the end of January, I heard that Senator Tom Coburn was going to meet with some CAIR representatives, which concerned me for reasons that should be obvious.

I wrote him and included a link to my semi-open letter to CAIR, written (fortuitously) not long before.  CAIR never got back to me on that letter, even though I emailed it to them and tweeted them about it at least twice. Not that their silence surprises me - they're liars and propaganda artists.

Anyway, in my email I asked Senator Coburn to reconsider meeting with CAIR.
I got his response today:

April 7, 2011
Dear Rhology,

Thank you for your message regarding the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).  I appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns and thank you for sharing with me your blog article.

I have met with CAIR representatives from Oklahoma in the past; however I fully understand your desire for me to avoid contact with any group linked with terrorism.  Do know, I am certainly aware of their associations and situations.

CAIR was founded in 1994 by leaders of the Islamic Association of Palestine, an organization affiliated with the terrorist group, Hamas.  In 2007, federal prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice identified CAIR and its founder, Omar Ahmad, as "individuals/entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian Committee" and unindicted coconspirators in a terror fundraising case. The Department of Justice successfully prosecuted the case, and the defendants were found guilty of 108 counts.

CAIR has a history of advocating positions that many find troubling. For example, following the 9/11 attacks, while CAIR condemned the attacks, it was unwilling to reject Osama bin Laden. CAIR has also been known to accuse Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, claim Jews have a destructive influence in the U.S., and praise the "epic heroism of the resistance fighters" of Hezbollah, a terrorist organization.

In response to CAIR's involvement with terror fundraisers, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) decided to severe all official ties between CAIR and the FBI. In fact, Senator Kyl, Senator Schumer and I have sent a joint letter to Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI, stating we are in full support of this decision. It is not appropriate for U.S. agencies to conduct U.S. policy with any organization associated with terror fundraising, anti-Semitism, or the glorification of terrorists or acts of terror. You can be sure I will continue to hold this position.

Again, thank you for writing. God bless you.

Sincerely,

Tom A. Coburn, M.D.
United States Senator

My thanks to Senator Coburn (or, more probably, the member of his staff who wrote me) for collecting together that information in one place. My friend natxlaw likes to say that CAIR should be known and identified as a terrorist organisation and those who affiliate with them be treated and considered accordingly.