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+--- Thread: Obama Administration Puts Imam Feisal On The Federal Payroll (/showthread.php?tid=1120)
Obama Administration Puts Imam Feisal On The Federal Payroll - ClassicalLib17 - 08-20-2010
Quote:The Bush Administration sent him on two trips in 2007. I wasn't a George Bush supporter, but I am in almost total disagreement with Barack Obama's policies. Read on
Imam Feisal Watch: Letâs Try It Again, Whereâs the Man Behind the GZ Mosque?
August 16, 2010 - by Claudia Rosett Share | Where exactly is Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the $100 million Ground Zero mosque project? I keep asking because weeks after he stopped answering any questions about his âCordoba Houseâ plans, there is still no answer.
By now, there is information in Raufâs silence. He launched his Ground Zero mosque and Islamic center project in the name of âdialogue,â âoutreachâ and âbridge-buildingâ in lower Manhattan. In doing so, he trampled on raw feelings, and set off a divisive debate. Raufâs apparent dismissal of public questions as not worth his time, while he travels to the Middle East on U.S. taxpayer money, suggests enormous contempt for the American public.
Rauf dropped out of sight weeks ago, and as far as I can discover, he hasnât answered any questions from the press since Reuters spoke to him by phone on July 22nd. (When I surprised him at his office in Malaysia on July 30th, Malaysian time, after his New York office said he was traveling and unreachable, he got right back off the phone to return to an âimportant meeting,â and then referred all further questions back to his office in New York.)
So, as far as I can discover, itâs now almost four weeks since Rauf last took any questions from the U.S. media or public. All we really know at this point is that after spending time in Malaysia (Did he go anywhere else? Who knows?), Rauf is due right around now to be meeting and greeting in some of the petro-dollar capitals of the Middle East â as part of a multi-week Ramadan âpublic diplomacyâ tour hosted by the State Department, courtesy of the U.S. embassies in Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
If Rauf is there for âpublic diplomacy,â or âbridge-building,â or âoutreach,â or whatever weâre calling such junkets these days, then what is his day-to-day schedule? Who is he meeting with? Where is he right now? Why should both Rauf and the State Department be treating the details of his âpublic diplomacyâ tour as something to be kept secret from the American public?
Apart from confirming the destinations to which his taxpayer-bankrolled tickets will take him, and where taxpayer money will cover his hotels and his per diems, the State Department in Washington has refused to provide any details. Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain told me that Rauf is expected there Aug. 19, and will stay for âa couple of days.â But none of the other embassies heâs visiting were willing to say anything on the record, and I have yet to find a jot of information about his current trip on any of their web sites.
Most telling: From Rauf, self-proclaimed âbridge-builder,â there has been no word. His Cordoba Initiative foundation has been tweeting and blogging and posting away about assorted endorsements of his Ground Zero mosque project. But of Raufâs taxpayer-funded travels to the Middle East, there is no news. No chatty missive from the imam about whoâs on his dance card in Doha, or Manama, or Dubai, or Abu Dhabi. No updates on how or where or from whom he is now expecting to procure the $100 million for his Cordoba House. Nor is there any detail about the itinerary of his wife and partner in Islamic nonprofits, Daisy Khan, for whom the State Department has arranged her own taxpayer-funded junket to Dubai and Abu Dhabi this same month.
Itâs easy to lose sight of the imamâs vanishing act, because his name is everywhere. Just about everyone from the Palestinian terrorists of Hamas to President Barack Obama has been busy talking about Raufâs $100 million Ground Zero mosque project. Obama weighed in Friday evening at a White House Ramadan dinner, and then sorta kinda tried to weigh back out over the weekend. The Cordoba Initiative, on its blog, is playing up his remarks as an endorsement. The New York Post reports that a Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud al-Zahar, is thrilled about Raufâs mosque project. And we all know by now that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been cheering it on, and doesnât care where the money comes from.
But where is Rauf? Has anyone had a sighting? What was he doing for weeks in Malaysia? Who was at that âimportant meetingâ in his Kuala Lumpur office? What is he doing right now in the Gulf (if, indeed, he is now there)? What will be the choreography of his reappearance when he finally deigns to return to New York? And what does his choice of this lengthy communications blackout tell us about his respect â or lack of respect â for the American public?
Re: Obama Administration Puts Imam Feisal On The Federal Pay - WT Reader - 08-20-2010
CL :
Paragraph two states, in part "...while he travels to the Middle East on U.S. taxpayer money..." Yet this article fails to mention what specifically this Imam Feisal allegedly does for the U S Gov to earn taxpayer dollars, such as his position, what specific agency where he allegedly works in U S Government and in what official capacity.
It is like stating "...Joe Doe travels to the Middle East on U.S. taxpayer money ..." or "....ENEE MEENEE MINEE MOE travels to the Middle East on U.S. taxpayer money..." Exceedingly much to broad, general and lacking details for any person with a delving inquiring mind to buy as accurate reportage.
Indeed, there may very well be an Imam Feisal, but this article abysmally fails to prove that he is associated in any unofficial/official capacity with the U S Government, let alone at the beck and call of the administration of the President of the United States.
-- WT Reader
Re: Obama Administration Puts Imam Feisal On The Federal Pay - ClassicalLib17 - 08-21-2010
I apologize for assuming that readers would have been aware of the muslim who is heading up the effort to build the ground zero mosque. His trip was conceived and payed for by our State Dept.
Re: Obama Administration Puts Imam Feisal On The Federal Pay - WT Reader - 08-21-2010
ClassicalLib17 Wrote:I apologize for assuming that readers would have been aware of the muslim who is heading up the effort to build the ground zero mosque. His trip was conceived and payed for by our State Dept.
CL:
You state that this Imam Feisal's whatever trip he is on/went on was "conceived and payed (paid) for by our State Dept."
OK, provid us links that PROVES this bold assertion. Just because YOU say it is so does NOT make it so.
Where's the proof, what sources are you relying upon when you make this claim?
-- WT Reader
Re: Obama Administration Puts Imam Feisal On The Federal Pay - ClassicalLib17 - 08-21-2010
Dear WT, The Bush admin employed him also. It's the truth. This guy(the imam) makes statements that every American should fear. We are fortunate, as Americans, because we have a benevolent governing document that sustains our way of life. Our President and his political advisers don't seem to embrace the wisdom of our Founding Fathers. If we allow the executive branch of government to usurp states rights, we, as a people will lose the freedom that our nation was created upon. Thank you for your thoughtful reply.
Re: Obama Administration Puts Imam Feisal On The Federal Pay - WT Reader - 08-22-2010
Hey CL ...
Please provide me more info about this Imam Feisal cat you speak of so. I have never heard of this guy, and I want to know more about him. Where can we find info about him working for former Prez GWB and now President Obama as you so worriedly claim?
Thnx.
-- WT Reader