Newt smacks down 'lack of foreign policy experience' Argument

There seems to be a minor tete-a-tete going on between Newt Gingrich and Christian Whiton, a man who worked on the former House Speaker's presidential campaign; Whiton also worked at the State Department from 2003 - 2009. In an interview yesterday, Whiton asserted that Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan was 'unfortunate' due to Ryan's lack of foreign policy experience.

Here is the video, via MediaIte:



Note how Whiton defers to Dick Cheney's standard for selecting a Vice President. While it's true that Cheney has eight years of experience as Vice President under his belt, he has quite a few blemishes when it comes to his dealing with the real Islamic threat after 9/11, as was identified by William Murray in the days after 9/11.

Consider a Washington Post article dated February 22, 2003. It had been learned that Sami Al-Arian, who would later be convicted of charges relating to financing terrorism, was one of 160 members of a delegation from the American Muslim Council (AMC) who attended an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House on June 22, 2001.

None other than Karl Rove - the man who earned the moniker known as 'Bush's Brain' - was on hand to convey Bush's "faith-based" agenda. AMC, to include Abdurahman Alamoudi, a man who worked at the State Department under Clinton and who was convicted in 2004 of charges related to financing terrorism, was also in attendance. Keep in mind that Rove spoke at this event, attended by Alamoudi nearly one year after the AMC member stood in front of the White House and pledged support for Hamas and Hezbollah:



Cheney was scheduled to speak to the AMC at that June 22, 2001 meeting. The Washington Post article explains what happened:

The meeting was controversial within the White House even before it took place. The group that included Al-Arian was scheduled to be briefed by Vice President Cheney, but Cheney canceled. That morning, the Jerusalem Post had run a front-page article headlined, "Cheney to host pro-terrorist Muslim group."

Several pro-Israel and conservative activists had warned administration officials not to meet with the American Muslim Council contingent because the group had courted controversy for years, knowledgeable sources said.

The inference is that Cheney canceled because of the Jerusalem Post article but let's assume the two incidents were mutually exclusive. Why was Cheney scheduled to speak to the group at all??

To be fair to Whiton, he wasn't working at the State Department at the time of this fiasco involving Rove and Cheney.

This leads us to Gingrich's appearance on Face the Nation today. Note that his argument is in support of the Romney/Ryan ticket and that "it is an advantage that they're not part of the current mess". Based on the decision-making of Cheney's handlers in the anecdotal example from June of 2001 alone, Newt has a strong point.

When talk turns to the subject of the State Department in general, Gingrich advocates for 'distrust' of it.

Is that a reference to Huma Abedin and her potentially ill-gotten security clearance?

For the record, I reached out to Whiton to get his take on the Huma Abedin controversy; my inbox still contains no emails from him.

Again, via MediaIte:

If the Muslim Brotherhood is successful in America

Metaphor of the day...

If the Muslim Brotherhood's plan in America is realized.

The irony? In Islam, infidels are considered apes.

Huma seated next to ISNA President at White House Iftar dinner

Yesterday, we commented on the news that President Barack Obama defended Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's closest adviser, Huma Abedin, at the White House Iftar dinner on August 10th.

What we didn't know is that Huma was seated next to the President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Mohamed Magid. The two seemed to be engaged in some friendly conversation and quite comfortable with one another. This is the same ISNA that was not only listed as a Muslim Brotherhood front group that seeks the overthrow of the U.S. Government from within, but also an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial. A 1991 document, penned by a Muslim Brotherhood leader identified the ISNA as a member group.

Here is the exact quote from that document that is perhaps the most alarming:

The Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions.

In this photo, Huma is at the far left (resting hand under her chin) and Magid is the man she's talking to on the right.

The U.K. Daily Mail has the video from which the screen shot above was taken. CLICK HERE to view the video. Footage of guests begins at the 1:24 mark.

In light of the firestorm surrounding the issue of Huma's background...

• Why would the White House have her seated next to the leader of a group that is part of the concerns raised by Reps. Bachmann, Gohmert, Franks, Westmoreland, and Rooney?
• Why would the president of a Muslim Brotherhood group in America be invited to the White House (responding that it's been going on for years is no excuse)?
• How well does Huma know Magid?
• Does Huma know that Magid leads a Muslim Brotherhood group?

We have entered some extremely surreal territory.

Magid was, in fact, named in one of the letters sent by Bachmann, et. al. to various Inspectors General. In particular, the letter sent to the Acting IG for the Department of Defense said, in part, the following:

...the Defense Department - among other federal agencies - has used a liaison with the Muslim-American community named Mohamed Magid. Imam Magid is the president of the largest Muslim Brotherhood front in America, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). In this regard, we note that the "Supreme Guid" of the international Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, in September 2010, openly called for jihad by all "the Arab and Muslim peoples" against the United States.

As recently as February 2012, Department officials met with Imam Magid to apologize for the inadvertent burning of Qurans in Afghanistan.

Here is the most powerful Republican in Congress; he has defended Huma against Bachmann. The reason for his crying would seem to warrant his siding with Bachmann. Then again, crying about it might help explain why he's not: