Excerpt:
The radicalization of Muslim communities will be the subject of Congressional hearings next year when Rep. Peter King (R-NY) becomes chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. The impetus for the hearings, according to the congressman, are complaints by law enforcement officials concerning the lack of cooperation of Muslim leaders in terrorism investigations.
A CBS News report on the planned hearings, announced Thursday, quoted two apparent Muslim leaders: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim member of Congress, and Abed Ayoub, legal director of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Rather than displaying any concern about the difficulties encountered by law enforcement or, at least, welcoming the opportunity to publicly state their case, both men instead objected to the hearings outright.
Deflecting attention from the merits of this serious public-safety matter, Mr. Ayoub resorted to hackneyed racial rigmarole. And Rep. Ellison's words about the planned hearings were downright head-scratching:
"We need to make sure that we stand for civil liberties, so we can deprive people like Osama bin Laden of the claim that Muslims are poorly treated in America. The United States is not at war with Islam."