Surprise, surprise: "moderate" Muslim TV channel in UK linked to jihadist cleric al-Awlaki

"A trustworthy source to the two million-plus population of Muslims in the UK" gave a platform to the bloodthirsty jihadism and hatred of al-Awlaki. The only ones who should be surprised by this are those who really believe that Islam is a Religion of Peace™.

"UK Muslim TV channel linked to al-Qaida cleric al-Awlaki: Satellite broadcaster the Islam Channel denies giving a platform to jihadist extremist," by Jamie Doward for The Observer, January 10

A London-based satellite broadcaster that describes itself as "the voice of authority for Muslims in the UK" has been accused of giving a platform to Anwar al-Awlaki, the extremist cleric with alleged links to al-Qaida and to the man charged with trying to blow up a transatlantic jet on Christmas Day.

The Islam Channel, a free-to-air English-language channel that claims to be "a trustworthy source to the two million-plus population of Muslims in the UK", last year carried adverts for a box set of DVDs of Awlaki's sermons and for at least two events at which the cleric was due to be the star speaker via a video link.

The channel's website has allowed visitors to click through to a pooled archive of Islamic scholars, from which they can download sermons by Awlaki, including "Stop Police Terror", "Brutality Towards Muslims" and "It's a War against Islam".

Islamic scholars have expressed concern.

"Anwar al-Awlaki is asking all Muslims to unite against the west as Muslims," said Dr Irfan al-Alawi of the Centre for Islamic Pluralism. "He supports jihad to ensnare all naive, young people who get emotionally attached and go on jihadist tirades."

US intelligence agencies claim Awlaki is a key member of al-Qaida. Last week John Brennan, the US deputy national security adviser, said there were "indications" there had been direct contact between Awlaki and Umar Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old former University College London student charged with trying to set off a bomb on a flight bound for Detroit on Christmas Day.

Awlaki has also been linked to an attack by a US army major, Nidal Malik Hasan, last November, in which 13 people died. "Mr Awlaki is a problem," Brennan said. "He's clearly a part of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. He's not just a cleric. He is trying to instigate terrorism."...

Leading British Muslim organisations, including the Islamic Society of Britain, have promoted Awlaki's lectures in the past, but now condemn his views....

Gee, what made them change their mind?

The channel's chief executive officer, Mohamed Ali Harrath, has been on an Interpol wanted list since 1992, after his native Tunisia accused him of attempting to create "an Islamic state by means of armed revolutionary violence". Harrath denies the charges.

A spokeswoman for the channel said it had been unaware its website had provided links to Awlaki's sermons. She said the sermons were in an online archive shared with many websites. "Islam Channel has not at any time given a platform to Mr Awlaki," she said. The channel has now removed the link....

With thanks to JihadWatch

Obama adviser: No smoking gun in airline bomb plot

US intelligence agencies did not miss a "smoking gun" that could have prevented an alleged attempt to blow up a US airliner on Christmas Day, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser said Sunday.

White House aide John Brennan cited "lapses" and errors in the sharing of intelligence and clues about the Nigerian man accused in the foiled attempt.

"There is no smoking gun," Brennan said. "There was no single piece of intelligence that said, 'this guy is going to get on a plane.'"

Brennan is leading a White House review of the incident. Obama has said there was a systemic failure to prevent the attack, which he said was instigated by an affiliate in Yemen of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Obama ordered a thorough look at the shortcomings that permitted the plot, which failed not because of US actions but because the would-be attacker was unable to ignite an explosive device. The president has summoned homeland security officials to meet with him in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday.

Brennan cited "a number of streams of information" - the 23-year-old suspect's name was known to intelligence officials, his father had passed along his concern about the son's increasing radicalization - and "little snippets" from intelligence channels. "But there was nothing that brought it all together."

"In this one instance, the system didn't work. There were some human errors. There were some lapses. We need to strengthen it. But day in and day out, the successes are there."

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab apparently assembled an explosive device, including 80 grams of Pentrite, or PETN, in the aircraft toilet of a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight, then planned to detonate it with a syringe of chemicals. Passengers intervened, and the plan failed.

"What we need to do as an intelligence community, as a government, is be able to bring those disparate bits and pieces of information together so we prevent Mr. Abdulmutallab from getting on the plane."

Brennan didn't say whether anyone is in line to be fired because of the oversights. He stood by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, although he acknowledged she has "taken some hits" for saying that the airline security system had worked. It didn't, and she clarified her remarks to show she meant that the system worked only after the attack was foiled, Brennan said.

He said the situation was not like before the attacks of September 11, 2001, when intelligence agencies failed to share tips and information that might have uncovered the plot.

He said there "were no turf battles" between agencies. "There's no evidence whatsoever that any agency or department was reluctant to share" information.

Brennan appeared on "Fox News Sunday," CNN's "State of the Union," ABC's "This Week," and NBC's "Meet the Press."

Meanwhile, a senior British official said Sunday that British intelligence officials knew that Abdulmutallab had ties to UK extremists but did not consider him enough of a high risk to alert American authorities.

Officials realized about a year after Abdulmutallab came to London to study in 2005 that he was in contact with Islamic extremists whose communications were being monitored, a senior government official told The Associated Press.

But there were no signs that Abdulmutallab wanted to target the United States or was considering turning toward violence, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work.

"It was clear he was reaching out to radical extremists in the UK but there was nothing to indicate he was violent," the official said. "There is a very large number of people in the UK who express interest in radical extremism but never turn to violence. He only pinged up on our radar because of other people we were interested in."

YNet

Is ‘Islam’ at war with us?

By Frank Gaffney Jr

Last week, John Brennan, the assistant to the President for homeland security and counterterrorism approvingly recalled a key point in the speech Mr. Obama delivered in Cairo in June: “America is not and never will be at war with Islam.” Unfortunately, that statement ignores the fact that the decision as to whether the United States is at war with anybody is not entirely up to our leadership or people. The real question is: Is ‘Islam’ at war with us?

It is certainly true that hundreds of millions of Muslims the world over are not seeking to wage war against the United States, or other non-Muslim states. America has, as Mr. Brennan noted in his remarks before the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Thursday, a powerful interest in not making all those who practice Islam into our enemies.

Yet, it would be a grave mistake to construe the problem we face as John Brennan proceeded to do in his speech at CSIS: “We are at war with al Qaeda which attacked us on 9/11 and killed 3,000 people. We are at war with its violent extremist allies who seek to carry on al-Qaida’s murderous agenda.” He described that agenda as seeking “to replace sovereign nations with a global caliphate.”

Unfortunately, that is the stated goal of all those who adhere to what authoritative Islam calls Shariah - a number that includes many millions of people the world over. Mr. Brennan’s speech made no reference to this wellspring of jihadism.

Of course, not all those who embrace Shariah are prepared to use terror against us. Shariah requires though that if its adherents do not actually engage in violent jihad, they must support it through financial or other means.

After all, according to Shariah, the purpose of jihad is to bring about the triumph of Islam over the entire world. Shariah commands that the faithful must use violence where possible to advance that objective, and non-violent means where not.

By failing to recognize this justification and catalyst for the threat we face, Mr. Obama and his administration effectively foreclose the possibility of countering it effectively. Worse yet, in their understandable desire not to give gratuitous offense to Muslims, the U.S. government has repeatedly deferred to those who are most easily and most vocally offended.

Specifically, the latter - notably, the putatively non-violent, but virulently Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and its myriad front organizations - have come to dictate what our officials can and cannot say about the danger posed not just by al Qaeda and its “violent extremist allies,” but by all those who embrace the teachings, traditions, institutions and dictates of what authoritative Islam defines as “mainstream”: Shariah.

This practice effectively disenfranchises American Muslims who reject this Shariah program - precisely the sorts of people we should most want to empower.

Last week, I discussed this problem on our talk radio program with someone who is trying to do something about it: Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina. Read more here ...

Source: CFP