Will the Questioners Be Silenced?

A similar theme is running through op-ed articles these days. The writers are noticing that the various influential Muslim organizations and their spokespersons are noticing them and responding with greater vigor. This scrutiny speaks to the success of the questioners that are causing discomfort to the Islamists working within America.

Some questioners are well known. Some of the most well known are: Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, Pat Robertson, and Donald Rumsfeld. Others are less well known, those that prefer to make their voices heard as ordinary citizens in letters to the editor, newspaper guest columns, and as on-line posters, some of which post under the own names, while others prefer to remain anonymous. Then of course there are the dozens of books on subjects that are answering questions about Islam and the Islamists.


All of these questioners and authors have one thing in common: they are concerned about the Islamist influence in the United States and the Muslims that are operation with impunity, especially those that have insinuated themselves into positions of authority or those that are positioned to catch the ear of policy makers in the halls of power: in the boardroom, the think tank, the university, the textbook company, the school board, the halls of Congress, the State Department, the Oval Office, and the court system, to name only SOME entities that have been touched and, in some cases, poisoned by the Islamist touch.

Questioners have noticed and speaking more frequently with louder voices. The Islamists have decided that they have to be stopped, discredited, and permanently silenced.

Steven Schwartz is questioning the discrediting of Steve Emerson by MPAC, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Why Islamists Hate Steve Emerson, FrontPageMagazine,com., characterizing the group and the convention as “…one of the most adroit and deceptive Islamist groups in America…with participation by some of America’s worst apologists for and adherents to Islamist extremism…” His complaint, though, isn’t about the Islamist agenda of world take over, it’s about how MPAC is planning to target and marginalize the well-known critics of Islamism by comparing them to Osama bin Laden of all people!

Imagine Donald Rumsfeld and Pat Robertson being put in the same category as Osama bin Laden. In their propaganda they are all extremists, and by extension, all that speak against them, great or small, ordinary citizen or an influential, we are all extremists to be discredited and marginalized, even as far up as the President of the United States!

According to Emerson, Steven Schwartz is being targeted because he is:

…an American who understands what Islamism and terrorism are about and who, like Emerson, have uncovered the terrorist networks established in the U.S. For MPAC, whose real agenda is to protect the militant networks, the appropriate tactic is, again, to portray Emerson as the enemy of Islam, when for the last 10 years, Emerson’s work has exclusively involved investigation and exposing terrorist financing, recruitment, and other criminal conspiratorial activities

Emerson, of all the five faces, is targeted more for what he does than what he says, although he speaks frequently on MSNBC as a terrorism expert and he and his staff are quoted frequently in the national and international media. His presence on TV, as much as his content, sticks in the MPAC’s craw, even though Emerson’s investigation, analysis and statements have invariably been devastatingly accurate. Government agencies and congressional leaders have frequently sought Emerson’s input and information because of his vast archives on militant Islamic groups and his key role in laying the groundwork for prosecutions, indictments, asset forfeitures, and major media investigations.

So we can see why MPAC and other Islamists would find Emerson dangerous to their cause. His marginalization would be a definite boon for the Islamaist movement in the United States.

Emerson has done more than any other individual to expose these dangers to the safety of our country and of the majority of law-abiding American Muslims. For this, he is targeted for obloquy, and, in fact, for barely-concealed threats. Yet, as MPAC knows, Emerson is uniquely respected by government and law enforcement agencies, by national security journalists, and by the American public.

A less well known questioner is D.C. Watson, a poster at JihadWatch.org., a private citizen and blogger that has written an op-ed piece that came out in the Augusta Free Press. An Open letter to Islamic organizations in America. In the letter, Watson presumes to ask questions of these organizations, and he states that:

While I certainly don't believe that all Muslims are bad people, I do believe that there is an agenda in the Muslim world to somehow attempt to become masters of the universe. Whether through violence or through manipulation of governments, Islamic radicals are attempting to rule the roost. Since we're labeled Islamophobic, intolerant, ignorant and jingoistic for not swallowing Islamic propaganda, perhaps you can address and answer for all of us the following: his questions follow

He ask the group to explain the inconsistencies between what they SAY about Islam and what the Koranic texts. He asks them to explain the discrepancies between what they say about overseas Muslims and their behaviors, whether they are “terrorists,” politicians, academics, governments, the military, or ordinary citizens. He sees the incongruity between their words and their actions.

As Watson applies the same skepticism toward American Muslim groups, we can see why he might be a future target.

Hugh Fitzgerald, a Director at JihadWach.org, writes extensively about Islam and Islamism. You will find an extensive master list of Fitzgerald’s postings at nojihad.com. His topics run the gamut from Ba’athism to Turkey, touching on dozens of topics listed on this site alone. Surely he would be a target.

There are dozens of other sites online that are dedicated to commentary on Islamism. Robert Spencer’s Jihadwatch.org is a site that offers daily news with commentary. Hugh Fitzgerald, D.C. Watson, the writer of the “Open Letter to Islamic Organizations in America” often posts there as well as dozens of others, including yours truly. Surely this site will be a target of MPAC.

A special thanks goes to one of the posters, Susan_b that brought Watson’s letter to my attention. However, Susan_b is no slouch herself as she has written a response to Watson.

Concerned with attempts by MPAC and others to marginalize and silence their critics, Susan writes:

It is writers such as Mr. Watson and myself, and the many others out there, who could possibly become tomorrow's political prisoners. Sometimes, it takes writers to stir a nation's consciousness. We could end up as Muslim apostates would over in Saudi Arabia - being strung up by the neck because we are speaking out against an intolerant and unjust way of life.

We might end up staying over at the poorhouse because our government stood by and watched us get sued by Islamist watchdog groups because we're speaking out using our First Amendment rights and telling the truth.

We could also become victims of our own form of justice as we are locked up for inciting hatred - but it would again be the ignorant who make sure that we are punished for merely speaking out the truth.

Susan has a legitimate fear. We are sticking our necks out with every keystroke. The historical pattern of 1350 years of Muslim intrigue and retribution against critics gives us pause every time we open our mouths or commit our thoughts to paper or the internet. Courage is required when facing these people as death could be the reward for being so brazen, so bold as to speak up against what we know to be the danger of our time.

MPAC will probably not target Susan_b or me, or even D.C. Watson or Hugh Fitzgerald; They have bigger fish to fry. Their success will be measured in the marginalizing, and, perhaps, in the silencing of the bigger fish, Rumsfeld, Robertson, Emerson, Pipes, and even President Bush, causing a chill to fall over our collective voices. Surely they won't be successful in the land of free speech. But they could be if we don't show courage and keep up our end as press back and continue to expose them for what they are: fifth columnists and apologists with the agenda to Islamize the United States of America!