RUTHFULLY YOURS

A recent article from theInvestigative Project on Terrorism stated:

Marilyn Stern, a Masters candidate at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC, has written an extensive Affairs report of the Muslim Public Council (MPAC) recent counter-terrorism paper, “Building Bridges to Strengthen America.” Her critiques of and response to the MPAC can be found here (pdf).

From the abstract:

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) is a U.S. Islamic advocacy organization that aims to inform decision makers and shape public opinion. MPAC’s political influence upon U.S. government agencies has given MPAC access to the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, FBI and the Treasury Department, as well as members of Congress.

Recently, MPAC addressed law enforcement representatives at a counterterrorism conference in Southern California on “Muslim American Perspective on Radicalization.” Although MPAC professes support for U.S. counterterrorism initiatives, it has a consistent history of putting law enforcement on the defensive by claiming civil rights violations in the Muslim community. MPAC’s critique of law enforcement initiatives, as well as its defense of Islamist organizations tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, should motivate decision makers to examine MPAC’s objectives with a greater degree of scrutiny.

In April 2010, MPAC released a policy paper, Building Bridges to Strengthen America: Forging an Effective Counterterrorism Enterprise between Muslim Americans & Law Enforcement, which recommended that law enforcement emphasize community-oriented policing (COPS) methods when dealing with the American Muslim community. COPS is an effective policing method when it applies to the entire community, but it impairs policing efforts when one group like MPAC seeks exclusive treatment.

MPAC’s report, Building Bridges, sets its sights on local and federal law enforcement, which is the front line of U.S. national security. Contrary to the report’s title, claiming that its recommendations will strengthen America, MPAC’s superficial endorsement of methods to address radicalization, in fact, weakens American law enforcement and intelligence operations and furthers the objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood global strategy to undermine the West.

See Stern’s full report here.

When contacted and asked why she had chosen MPAC as the focus of her thesis, Marilyn Stern told FSM:

The terrorism of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates are all too recognizable, but the phenomenon of stealth jihad, to use Robert Spencer’s phrase, has not been given enough attention in the U.S.  The 2008 Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial opened our eyes to the insidious threat of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and its blueprint for front organizations to undermine the West.  The evidence revealed by Akram’s memorandum in the HLF trial detailed how front organizations lull the West into complacency in order to further an agenda that shares Al-Qaeda’s goals and differs only in their gradualist tactics. If Muslim Brotherhood front organizations like the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are still given legitimacy in our society after having been exposed, what does that say about an organization like the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)?

MPAC claims to be a Muslim grassroots civil-rights organization and has managed to gain entree into U.S. government agencies but has consistently been an apologist for terror-funding charities and individuals linked to terror activities. MPAC reflexively invokes civil rights violations to undermine FBI and Treasury investigations into terror-related cases, which calls into serious question their claim of support for law enforcement counterterrorism initiatives. Alejandro J. Beutel, MPAC’s Government Liaison and National Security Analyst, has crafted a document with recommendations aimed at the front line in our communities – our local and federal law enforcement, and it deserves further scrutiny. My analysis of Beutel’s report exposes MPAC’s doublespeak and informs the reader about MPAC’s counterproductive counterterrorism track record.