Looks to me like we need to can a bunch of local employees in Egypt -- they are the bureaucratic cousins of al-Qaeda. It seems that these Muslim employees have been denying visas to Coptic Christians when they appear at the embassy for processing.

State Department officials are closely examining 15 to 20 Egyptian employees of the embassy's consular section after top officials received complaints from lawyers and human-rights groups about discriminatory behavior toward the Copts seeking visas to the United States, sources said.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, may have been wrongly denied visas, sources said.

In a recent meeting organized by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), top State Department officials were told that these employees, who conduct prescreening interviews and translations, appear to have unusual influence over a process that is supposed to be controlled by Americans.

"This is a widespread problem that we have been aware of for some time. Now, however, there are people stepping forward and are making formal complaints," said Father Keith Roderick, head of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights, who attended the meeting.

Among those making complaints to the State Department is a Christian man who was seeking to donate a kidney to an uncle in New Jersey.

He says he was twice told to remove the cross he was wearing if he wanted a visa. He refused and was denied a visa.

Another is a woman who was scheduled to speak at a recent human-rights conference in Washington about what it is like to live in a Muslim-dominated country.

She claimed embassy officials demanded to see her speech.

She and two other Egyptian Copts were denied a visa while Egyptian Muslims were granted visas.

They have asked that their names not be made public for fear of retaliation in Egypt.

There have also been complaints that these employees keep posters in the embassy promoting supporters of the Hamas terror group.

Fire these terrorist-loving Islamist pigs. Heck -- fire every last Egyptian Muslim employee of the Embassy and replace them with Copts as a sign of our displeasure at the official abuse of Copts by the Egyptian government that has been copied by these swine.

And consider this frm one of the individuals who has helped document this abuse of members of a religious community that dates back to the first century of the Christian era.

"This should be a concern because if they can influence who they can keep out of the United States, they could also influence who can get in," said Caroline Doss, a Jersey City immigration lawyer who presented State Department officials with affidavits from Coptic Christian clients.

How many terrorists have they given visas? Do we have any way of finding out?

UPDATE: Great commentary on the issue at All Things Beautiful. More at DhimmiWatch, and Gates of Vienna. Also, a great older post on this issue from The Free Copts.

Posted by: Greg at 03:34 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Last time I checked, al-Qaeda is our major adversary in the Crusade Against Islamist Terrorism. Why, then, is a Boston government agency selling land to a group associated with al-Qaeda to build a mosque in the heart of Boston's Roxbury neighborhood? And why did the group get the land at a below-market price? Those questions are being asked by one Boston city councilman.

Boston City Councilor Jerry McDermott imminently intends to call for a public hearing on the Boston Redevelopment AuthorityÂ’s sale of land in Roxbury for the construction of a large mosque to the Islamic Society of Boston, which has been dogged by charges of links to Islamic extremists.

The hearing comes at the urging of the lawyer for the David Project, the pro-Israel group currently being sued by the ISB for defamation, who sent a letter to McDermott and local media earlier this month alleging that the ISB trusteesÂ’ current president had signed a petition in support of the pre-trial release of Abdulrahman Alamoudi. The founder of the ISB in 1982, Alamoudi is now in prison in Saudi Arabia on terrorism funding-related charges.

Lawyers for the BRA and the ISB had rebuffed McDermottÂ’s request to participate in hearings in April, citing pending litigation in a lawsuit brought by a Mission Hill resident over charges that the BRA violated the separation of church and state in selling the land for the mosque at a below-market price in exchange for several services, including a lecture series on Islam, to be provided by the ISB.

“I understand if folks at the BRA can only answer limited questions, but I also think it’s fair to provide the opportunity to come in and ask questions,” said McDermott, who chairs the Post-Audit and Oversight committee. “I think the public, as well as any elected official, has the right to ask questions concerning whether the sale of this public parcel was handled properly and whether the sale price was in the taxpayers’ best interest,” McDermott said, adding that he intends to file the request for a hearing after the first of the year.

ISB lawyer Albert Farrah said that the ISB will not participate in hearings. “Any legitimate issues that have been raised about the transactions between the BRA and the ISB will be resolved before a court of law, not before Councilor McDermott’s subcommittee,” he said.

This deal stinks, and needs to be stopped. No other group -- and certainly not one with documented ties to the enemies of the United States -- would get such preferential treatment. Let them pay market rates for the land, and then only if they can prove that they have completely eliminated their ties to the enemies of the United States.

(H/T: Hub Politics)

Posted by: Greg at 08:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Logan Act prohibits American citizens from disrupting American foreign policy via direct contact with foreign government or officials.

"Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects."

In light of this long-standing statutory prohibition, will there be an indctment of this seditious loon?

The Irish Government must stop the US military using Shannon Airport to transport troops to the Middle East, American anti-war campaigner Cindy Sheehan demanded ahead of a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern today.

The ‘Peace Mom’ spent the summer camped outside President George Bush’s Texan ranch waiting for him to speak to her about the death of her 24-year-old son in Iraq in April 2004.

Her actions galvanised the anti-war movement in the US and today she called on Irish people to stand up against their countryÂ’s involvement in the Iraq conflict.

Ms Sheehan said she wanted an end to the occupation of Iraq and to IrelandÂ’s involvement in allowing troop flights to stop over in the airport.

And she wanted to show Mr Ahern the face of a grieving mother.

Ms Sheehan, who was wearing a badge with her son’s face on it, said: “I want him to see Casey, and to see the face of a mother and to say that it’s not just about right and left, not about politics, it’s about flesh and blood.”

The violation of federal law is clear here. Three steps need to be taken immediately regarding Ms. Sheehan.

Investigate.

Indict.

Imprison.

She has become a potential national security threat -- even if no one takes her seriously.

Posted by: Greg at 11:40 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Gotta love this from Iraq's friendly neighborhood terrorist groups.

Al-Qaida in Iraq and four other Islamic extremist groups denounced this week's parliamentary elections as a "satanic project" that violated God's law, but they stopped short of an explicit threat Monday to attack polling stations.

Given that their actions show these rabid pigs to be the minions of Satan, I guess they have a certain expertise in the matter.

On the other hand, the freedom-loving people of Iraq have a different view.

Despite the sound of detonations rumbling across the capital and at least 15 deaths in ongoing violence, early voting went ahead in hospitals, prisons and military bases, and President Bush offered encouraging words from Washington to Iraqi voters.

In other words, the Iraqi people are giving a purple index finger to freedom – and a middle finger to the swine who would take them back to the seventh century.

Posted by: Greg at 12:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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These clueless Spaniards think that Cindy Sheehan is going to "shake" the US Embassy? Who do they think they are kiding?

US pacifist Cindy Sheehan, "Mother Courage," will participate, along with the Couso family, in a demonstration in front of the US embassy in Madrid, rally organizers said on Thursday.

The organization Colectivo de Hermanos, Amigos y Compañeros de José Couso in Madrid said in a communiqué sent to Prensa Latina that on December 16 and 20, Sheehan, Juan Torres, Beatriz Zaldívar and Pilar Manjón will participate in the protest held every week in front of the embassy.

Cindy Sheehan and other mothers of US soldiers killed in the war are the founders of the organization Gold Star Families for Peace. Sheehan lost her son Casey in Iraq in April 2004.

During her visit to Spain, adds the press release, Sheehan will take part in several public events, in some of which she will be accompanied by María Isabel Permuy, the mother of the Spanish TV cameraman José Couso, who was assassinated by a US tank in Baghdad in April 2003.

Also present at the events will be Juan Torres, the father of a US soldier killed in Afghanistan in July 2004, and Beatriz Zaldívar, the aunt of Daniel Torres, another US soldier killed in Iraq in February 2005.

Maribel Permuy, Cindy Sheehan, Juan Torres or Pilar Manjón, who lost a son in the terrorist attacks on Madrid on March 11, are united by the pain of losing their beloved ones and their determination to fight for Peace and Justice, says the communiqué.

The woman has nearly fallen off the radar in this country, and represented an extreme view even among the Left. Why on Earth will the Embassy even care if the woman shows up in Spain -- unless she needs to have her passport replace?

Posted by: Greg at 05:36 PM | Comments (82) | Add Comment
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He may not be going to jail, but terrorist supporting prof Sami al-Arian may be going somewhere. More to the point, he is likely to be leaving the US on order of the American government.

Al-Arian, 47, remains in jail, where he's been since his February 2003 indictment, while the federal government decides whether to retry him on the deadlocked charges, which include three key counts accusing him of conspiracy to support the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Officials say there is no timetable for a decision.

If the government decides to abandon the remaining charges, it's doubtful Al-Arian will be permitted to return to his previous life in Tampa. He had been a computer engineering professor at the University of South Florida, but was fired after his indictment.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding him on an immigration detainer and likely will try to deport him if he's released from jail. The agency can deport any foreign national it deems a terrorism risk and is held to a lower burden of proof than the criminal courts.

Al-Arian was born in Kuwait to Palestinian refugee parents and holds permanent residency status in the United States, where he has lived for three decades. He was raised mostly in Egypt. If he is deported it's not clear where he would be sent.

This guy is definitely an undesirable alien -- and as such, has no claim to stay in the US. Frankly, I don't care where he goes, as long as he never spends another free day in this country which he so clearly despises.

Posted by: Greg at 09:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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For the terrorist is the enemy of all humanity.

A little bit of good news on the terrorism front. Al-Qaeda's #3 leader has been killed by a laser-guided missle launched from a Predator drone in Pakistan.

The operational commander of al-Qaida and possibly the No. 3 official in the terrorist organization, Hamza Rabia, was killed early Thursday morning by a CIA missile attack on a safehouse in Pakistan, officials told NBC News.

Pakistan's president later confirmed the militant leader's death.

“Yes indeed, 200 percent. I think he was killed the day before yesterday if I’m not wrong,” President Pervez Musharraf told reporters as he arrived in Kuwait on an official visit on Saturday.

Whatever criticism I have of Pakistan and its regresive attitude towards the rights of Christians, the Musharraf government is working closely with the US to destroy the terrorist apparatus known as al-Qaeda.

This is not the first such attack seeking to take out Rabia -- several weeks ago an attack missed him but killed ight others, including Rabia's wife and children.

MORE AT: Captain's Quarters, Stop The ACLU, The Jawa Report, Random Numbers, Martin's Musings, OpiniPundit, Ace of Spades, Blogs for Bush

Posted by: Greg at 05:07 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 This makes what the twenty-third Al Quaeda # three killed sine lil'boots began his excellent Iraqui adventure?? MOre bullshit from the worst presidency in my 47 years of living.

Posted by: I'm an effin' idiot at Sat Dec 3 09:04:14 2005 (Sfcu+)

2 I've not kept track of the number of #3 al-Qaeda folks killed -- I'm just pleased that the job gives the holder a very short life expectancy.

And as for the "worst president" crap -- did you sleep through Johnson, Carter, AND Clinton? Or did you just drink the Kool-Aid?

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Dec 3 09:36:29 2005 (oprAZ)

3 This operation was carried out by Pakistani personnel and was based on Pakistani intelligence efforts, the Americans were limited to providing technical assistance.

Give credit where its due. The US is poor at finding and eliminating terrorists on its own, as Afghanistan and Iraq can demonstrate.

Posted by: Aamir Ali at Sat Dec 3 10:19:31 2005 (UULRx)

4 Well if you must know until this ass-clown was appointed in 2000, I ranked them from worst to least worst:
1) Nixon
2) LBJ
3) Ronzo/Poppy (tie)
5) Ford
6) Carter
7) Ike (even though he was only pres. for my first 36 months)
Bubba Clinton
9) JFK (despite his only being in office for 34 months

Lil' Boots has blown away the competition as far as I am concerned, giving tax breaks skewed to the top 5% of earners was just the first of many fuck-ups. And to think we have to suffer three more years of this imbecile, I said before the last "election" if you want to live in a banana republic just elect the squatter-in-chief.

Oh yeah before you and any of your conservatard readers goes into a hissy-fit, when there is a tie for # 3 there is no # 4 so the list would normally be: 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 6, and so-on. I was just lazy in making the list

Posted by: I'm an effing shiitehead at Sat Dec 3 10:28:28 2005 (Sfcu+)

5 Well, that proves you have very little historical understanding.

I'll leave Ile off the list -- I wasn't born until 1963 -- and rank them as follows (from worst to best)

1) Carter -- Good man, lousy president. Gave away the Canal and failed to act decisively in Iran.
2) Ford -- Snakebit from Day 1. The pardon of Nixon may, however, have been one of the great acts of courage in American history, as it saved the US from the trauma of a trial of a former president and the subsequent appeals/retrials, which would have impacted American electoral politics for the next decade at least.
3) Nixon -- A great president gone bad. Were it not for the paranoid act of hubris that was Watergate, he would rank much more highly. He has the makings of a Greek tragic hero like Oedipus -- brought low by his own unseen flaw.
4) JFK/LBJ -- Let's see -- Abandoned allies at the Bay of Pigs, nearly blew up the world in Cuba, allowed the Berlin Wall to be erected, got us into a full-scale war in Vietnam that we lacked the need or the will to win, and passed a series of programs that left us financially and socially bankrupt -- but diod get civil rights measures through due to JFK's death and substantial GOP help.
6) Clinton -- Only governed well because he had to follow the lead of a Republican Congress.
7) Bush 41 -- A pity he broke the tax pledge. Governed well otherwise, though reasonable folks can question the decision not to topple Saddam.
Reagan -- I certainly wish he had been able to implement all his platform -- America would be an even better place. As it was, he set the stage for the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I don't know yet where Dubya would fit -- probably on one side of the other of his father, but certainly not ahead of Reagan.

Oh, and I suggest that you read the US Constitution and the decision in Bush v. Gore to understand that Bush 43 was ELECTED, not APPOINTED -- no matter how often the Leftist meme to the contrary is repeated.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Dec 3 11:16:19 2005 (oprAZ)

6 Aamir -- I've seen reports presented both ways.

I'll be quite happy to find out it was Pakastani personnel rather than US technology. Now if those same Pakistani personnel could just bring us Osama'shead on a platter -- with or without a rasher of bacon on the side.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Dec 3 11:18:58 2005 (oprAZ)

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