Category Archives: government fraud spending collusion

Afghanistan Wasted our $$ and now 45,000 al Qaeda Fighters

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UNITED NATIONS –  U.N. experts say fighters loyal to al-Qaida have taken on a more active supporting role for the Taliban during the current offensive in Afghanistan while the position of the Islamic State extremist group in the country “has distinctly weakened.”

In a report to the Security Council circulated Friday, the experts said the Afghan government and several other countries estimate that there are about 45,000 opposition fighters in Afghanistan and between 20 and 25 percent are foreigners.

It said these “bad actors … mutually reinforced each other and presented a significant and rising terrorist challenge.”

The experts said several governments highlighted that relations between the Taliban and al-Qaida strengthened during the time Akhtar Mansour led the Taliban and the improved relations have continued under his successor, Haibatullah Akhundzada.

FNC: Welcome to the Hotel Kabul, where you can’t check in anytime you like.

In December 2006, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. government’s development finance institution, approved a proposal to build a 209-room, five-star hotel and an apartment building across the street from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

The Marriott Kabul Hotel and the adjacent apartment building would provide a gateway for Afghans returning to their country and would be a major boost to the nation’s post-war reconstruction efforts, proponents said.

But today, 10 years later, all that’s there is an empty shell — a ghost hotel.

Hotel Kabul1

Special Inspector General John Sopko, who investigates cases of fraud and waste from the Afghan reconstruction, recently toured the unfinshed facility in Kabul. (SIGAR)

US TAXPAYERS MADE MILLIONAIRES OUT OF AFGHAN GANGSTERS, WARLORDS AND CONNECTED CLASS

Hotel Kabul4

Once touted as a gateway for returning Afghans and a major boost to post-war reconstruction efforts the Marriott Kabul Hotel was never completed and sits vacant and crumbling. (SIGAR)

DOD SPENT $150M ON PRIVATE VILLAS FOR ‘HANDFUL’ OF EMPLOYEES IN AFGHANISTAN

Now an investigation by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has determined that nearly $85 million in investments have gone down the drain, thanks to “troubling management practices and lax oversight” at the site of the project.

And that’s not all. SIGAR says American taxpayers have spent thousands, if not millions, of dollars more on security because of the abandoned project’s proximity to the embassy.

Hotel Kabul2

Over $80 million was spent on the hotel and an adjacent luxury apartment building which was also never finished. (SIGAR)

“The Marriott Hotel Kabul is emblematic of our reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan,” Special Inspector General John Sopko told FoxNews.com. “Great ideas, tons of money, poor execution and no oversight create incredible opportunities for fraud.”

One month after it received the proposal, OPIC approved an initial loan of $60 million to build the hotel. It ultimately made three loan payments totaling $58 million for the hotel, plus a $27 million loan in 2011 for the construction of the luxury apartment building.

“The Marriott Hotel Kabul is emblematic of our reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Great ideas, tons of money, poor execution, and no oversight create incredible opportunities for fraud.”

– Special Inspector General John Sopko

Hotel construction began in early 2009 after the first loan payment, and OPIC received status reports after its subsequent payments. But in 2013, after the construction company delivered its fourth and final report, it notified OPIC that it was stopping all work on the project due to what they claimed were “security issues.” Since then, due to the site’s vacant status and proximity to the U.S. Embassy, it has been deemed a security threat and has been guarded by embassy personnel, on the taxpayers’ dime.

In August, SIGAR inspectors toured the abandoned worksite and found structural cracks in the roof, damaged fireproofing on beams and columns, sections of walls that were demolished, uninstalled doors and windows and incomplete water and electrical systems.

“As a result, the $85 million in loans is gone, the buildings were never completed and are uninhabitable, and the U.S. Embassy is now forced to provide security for the site at additional cost to U.S. taxpayers,” Sopko recently wrote to OPIC’s president and CEO, Elizabeth L. Littlefield.

“While our investigation of these two projects and a third OPIC project in Afghanistan is ongoing, we believe the issues raised by these loans have broader implications which deserve your immediate attention.

“The failure to properly manage and oversee these loans may indicate systemic problems in the management and oversight of OPIC loans for other projects in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, putting additional millions of dollars at risk.”

The SIGAR inspectors accused OPIC of not doing enough to monitor the construction on-site and taking the builder’s status reports at face value.

“OPIC accepted either invoices or receipts as proof to demonstrate how the loan proceeds had been spent,” they wrote. “However, without on-site verification of activities and progress, neither the invoices nor receipts required by OPIC provided sufficient evidence to support purported purchases.”

WAR ON WASTE: PENTAGON AUDITOR SPOTLIGHTS US BILLIONS BLOWN IN AFGHANISTAN

In a statement provided to FoxNews.com, OPIC said it is working on resolving the issue.

“In 2006 when OPIC started work on this project, the U.S. government was focused on economic development in Afghanistan to advance both its foreign policy and national security objectives,” OPIC wrote. “The hotel and residences projects were intended to host business leaders, foreign ministers and investors seeking to improve the long-term success of Afghanistan’s economy. The timing, location and purpose of this investment is fully consistent with OPIC’s mission.

“Since OPIC supports American investors operating in the world’s toughest markets, at times it must work with borrowers to navigate unique challenges. This project is no exception. OPIC continues to work to bring resolution to this project.”

SIGAR has asked OPIC to increase its oversight practices for future large-scale construction projects and to try to recoup the loans associated with the hotel project.

**** Maybe the Taliban and al Qaeda can share the space eh?

At least 45,000 opposition forces are operating in Afghanistan with foreign insurgents comprising around 20 to 25 of the forces, the United Nations experts have said.

The experts informed regarding the estimated number of the insurgents as they presented a report to the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

According to the report, the Taliban militants group’s relations with the Al-Qaeda terrorist network have strengthened, specifically during the Mullah Akhtar Mansoor times.

The report further added that the relations between Taliban and Al-Qaeda are still persisting since the new Taliban leader assumed charge of the group after Mullah’s Mansoor’s death.

The report also added that the position of the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has distinctly weakened in the country.

This comes as the regional countries are concerned the attempts by the terrorist groups to expand foothold in Afghanistan as they fear the growing instability could further destabilize the region.

The Russian Presidential envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov estimated earlier this year that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has 10,000 loyalists in Afghanistan.

Kabulov who is also director of the Second Asian Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry has said the terror group is expanding its military activity in Afghanistan.

“The IS activity has grown significantly in Afghanistan since summer 2014. The group numerical strength is estimated at 10,000 people,” Kabulov said.

However, the Afghan forces launched a major offensive in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan to eliminate the loyalists of the terror group as efforts were underway by the terror group to turn the province into a regional operational base.

The US forces based in Afghanistan also conduct regular airstrikes against the ISIS loyalists, Taliban insurgents, and Al-Qaeda terrorist network in the country, killing the top Al-Qaeda leader in the region in Kunar province last month.

German migrants ‘despise’ Christians, ‘Islamise’ the country

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SIMMERING HATRED

Refugee camp translator reveals how German migrants ‘despise’ Christians and want to ‘Islamise’ the country

Sun: Eritrean woman, 39, who worked in asylum centres for five years, claims women told her they were having as many kids as possible to ‘destroy’ Germany

A TRANSLATOR at refugee camps in Germany has claimed Muslim migrants hate Christians and want to Islamise the country.

The woman, 39, from Eritrea, came to Germany as a refugee herself in 1991, before volunteering at asylum centres to “give something back”.

A translator at German asylum centres said many Muslim migrants hated Christians (Pictured: Refugee centre in Erding near Munich)

Reuters
A translator at German asylum centres said many Muslim migrants hated Christians (Pictured: Refugee centre in Erding near Munich)

But the Arabic speaker said what she discovered when working with migrants over the last five years shocked her.

During her time at a number of centres across the country, she said she discovered Muslim refugees preaching “pure hatred” of Christians.

Muslim children were told by their parents not to play with Christian kids.

And she herself was told it was a sin for her to help feed and defend Christians.

She told German Catholic website Kath.net: “They want Germany to be Islamised. They despise our country and our values.”

She claimed many of the migrants showed their “true colours” only when they were away from people of other religions.

The translator explained: “Pure hatred against non-believers is preached, and children are brought here from an early age here in Germany.

“It’s very similar in asylum housing, where Muslim boys refuse to play with Christians.

“Some women told me ‘We will multiply our numbers. We must have more children than the Christians because it’s the only way we can destroy them here’.”

She said other translators were a part of the problem, claiming they prevented Christian refugees claiming permanent asylum by failing to tell them they were entitled to have their questionnaire’s translated.

In April of 2016:

Obama PRAISES Merkel for handling of migrant crisis but Germans want her OUT

BARACK OBAMA has praised Angela Merkel for her handling of the escalating EU migrant crisis despite growing cracks in the German chancellor’s power base as her approval ratings plummet over her immigration stance.

Express: During a visit to Hannover, the US president said: “She is on the right side of history on this.

“In this globalised world, it is very difficult for us to simply build walls.”

His remarks come amid an increasingly fractious debate over radical Islamism in Germany, sparked by Mrs Merkel’s ill-fated open door asylum policy.

Shocking opinion polls delivered a crushing blow to the German Chancellor as it was revealed Mrs Merkel’s conservatives lost in two out of three state elections.

Germans appear to be punishing her accommodative refugee policy.

More than 1.1 million migrants entered Germany last year, with most coming from Middle Eastern and North African countries.

But Mrs Merkel’s grip on power is growing ever weaker, with rebellion growing across the country against her controversial immigration policies.

She has consistently berated other EU states for introducing border controls to bring the migrant flow under control, ever since she made a pledge last summer to welcome all Syrians with open arms.

However growing cracks appeared and members of her own movement begin to openly question her stance on immigration following the horrific Cologne sex acts, forcing her to back down.

Sanctuary City Mayors Fight Trump, Gauntlet is Cast

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Current law requires that states and localities must not “prohibit or in any way restrict” their local government officials or employees from sending to or receiving Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) information regarding citizenship or immigration status of any individual.  However, many states and localities across the country have implemented “sanctuary” policies that do exactly that.  In California, a “sanctuary” state, on July 1, 2015, Katie Steinle was shot and killed by Francisco Sanchez, an illegal immigrant with a criminal record who had been released by the San Francisco police prior to the shooting, despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) having issued a detainer request to hold Sanchez.

To discourage states and localities from adopting illegal “sanctuary” policies, the House passed the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (H.R. 3009), which would eliminate a violating state or locality’s eligibility for funding from the following three federal grant programs:

·         SCAAP program (State Criminal Alien Assistance Program): $185 million funded in FY2015

·         COPS program (Community Oriented Policing Services program): $208 million funded in FY2015

·         Byrne-JAG program (Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program): $376 million funded in FY2015

Sanctuary-City Mayors Gird for Fight as Trump Threatens Budgets

President-elect has $650 billion in federally funded leverage
  • ‘We will do everything we know how to do to resist that’

Bloomberg: Municipalities that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation stand to lose billions in federal aid if President-elect Donald Trump fulfills promises to starve them financially.

More than 200 U.S. ‘sanctuary cities’ won’t turn over people to federal officers seeking to deport them nor share information about them, saying that would rend the social fabric and impede policing. Since Trump’s election last week, mayors including San Francisco’s Ed Lee, New York’s Bill de Blasio and Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel have vowed not to back down.

“I would say to the president-elect, that the idea that you’re going to penalize Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia — these are the economic, cultural and intellectual energy of this country,” Emanuel said in a radio interview this week.

Many cities have calculated that dwindling populations and labor shortages can be ameliorated by immigrants, undocumented or not. The mayors must calculate the point at which resistance harms the communities they’re fighting to protect. The evolving confrontation exposes states’ and cities’ vulnerability to losing some of the $650 billion in federal funds they receive for everything from police to sidewalks as they confront pension obligations and shrinking budgets.

“There’s an economic benefit from being a sanctuary city, but it doesn’t appear to warrant giving up 5 to 10 percent of the city’s funding,” said Dan White, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics, in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Congressional Republicans have been trying for years to use federal dollars as leverage.

A bill this year by Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania defines a “sanctuary jurisdiction” as any that restricts local officials from exchanging information about an individual’s immigration status or complying with Homeland Security requests. The measure would cut off funds including Economic Development Administration Grants, which totaled $238 million last year, and Community Development Block Grants, which amounted to $3 billion last year. Ten of the largest sanctuary jurisdictions were awarded a collective $700 million in block grants in 2016.

Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city after New York and Los Angeles, is particularly vulnerable. Public-employee retirement funds face a $34 billion shortfall, and Emanuel last month proposed a $9.3 billion budget for 2017 that would increase spending to hire and train more police. The spending plan anticipates $1.3 billion in federal grants this year.

“If Chicago were to lose all of its federal funding, that’s a game-changer,” White said.

Deep-Sixing Documents

In Los Angeles, the police chief said that he would continue a policy of not aiding federal deportation efforts, according to the Los Angeles Times. In New York, de Blasio said last week that he would consider destroying a database of undocumented immigrants with city identification cards before handing such records over to the Trump administration.

“We are not going to sacrifice a half-million people who live amongst us,” de Blasio said. “We will do everything we know how to do to resist that.”

New York City will receive $7.7 billion in federal grants in fiscal 2017, just under 10 percent of the city’s $82 billion budget.

In New Haven, Connecticut, the city of 130,000 that’s home to Yale University receives about a quarter of its $523 million budget from various federal grants, said Mayor Toni Harp.

“That would be really very difficult,” Harp said. “We would be willing to take that as far as it needed to go in our judicial system.”

Trump made attacks on sanctuary cities a campaign staple, often invoking the shooting death of Kathryn Steinle by an undocumented immigrant in San Francisco. The shooter had been released from a county jail even though federal officials had asked him to be held until they could deport him.

The incoming president has said he would deport more than 11 million people, beginning with gang members, drug dealers and other criminals. He’s also said he would create a special deportation task force within Immigration and Customs and Enforcement. If that’s the case, local jurisdictions might see even more requests for cooperation.

Many cities say that immigration is a federal responsibility and they should be left out of it. Others say that they simply don’t have the time or resources to address it.

Stretched Force

In New Orleans, which doesn’t consider itself a sanctuary city but whose officers don’t ask about immigration status, the specter of losing federal funds is daunting. Some money the city receives is enough to fund nine police officers, said Zach Butterworth, executive counsel for Mayor Mitch Landrieu and director of federal relations.

”The federal government’s support for local law enforcement has really been slashed significantly already,” Butterworth said. “For them to come down here and say you also need to be doing our job on immigration is a tough sell.”

Others say that singling out undocumented immigrants impedes law enforcement because large populations will shun any interaction with the authorities.

“Essentially, for the police, you’ve got a significant number of undocumented illegals in the country and they’re afraid of the police,” said Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Lena Graber, special projects attorney at the San Francisco-based Immigrant Legal Resource Center believes Trump will run into legal challenges if he threatens municipal funding.

“The federal government can’t force state and local law enforcement to use their resources to enforce federal regulatory programs like immigration law,” she said. “He can try to offer incentives, but the more that those incentives look like coercion, the more it won’t be legal.”

In Denver, which has a policy of refusing to hold detainees solely on a request by immigration officials, Mayor Michael Hancock said he won’t be cowed.

“This is all legal what we are doing here,” he said. “The president doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally decide how we move forward.”

In Oakland, California, Mayor Libby Schaaf says she is proud to run a sanctuary city, and is planning to recruit even more towns for the movement.

“The best defense is offense,” she said. “There is strength in numbers.”

****

Sanctuary Cities Continue to Obstruct Enforcement, Threaten Public Safety

By Jessica Vaughan
Sanctuary jurisdictions remain a significant public safety problem throughout the country. About 300 jurisdictions have been identified by ICE as having a policy that is non-cooperative and obstructs immigration enforcement (as of September 2015). The number of cities has remained relatively unchanged since our last update in January 2016, as some new sanctuary jurisdictions have been added and few jurisdictions have reversed their sanctuary policies.

Over the 19-month period from January 1, 2014, to September 30, 2015, more than 17,000 detainers were rejected by these jurisdictions. Of these, about 11,800 detainers, or 68 percent, were issued for individuals with a prior criminal history.

According to ICE statistics, since the Obama administration implemented the new Priority Enforcement Program in July 2015 restricting ICE use of detainers, the number of rejected detainers has declined. However, the number of detainers issued by ICE also has declined in 2016, so it is not clear if the new policies are a factor. It is apparent that most of the sanctuary policies remain in place, raising concerns that the Priority Enforcement Program has failed as a response to the sanctuary problem, and has simply resulted in fewer criminal aliens being deported.

The Department of Justice’s Inspector General recently found that some of the sanctuary jurisdictions appear to be violating federal law, and may face debarment from certain federal funding or other consequences.

The sanctuary jurisdictions are listed below. These cities, counties, and states have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield criminals from ICE — either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer acceptance, denying ICE access to interview incarcerated aliens, or otherwise impeding communication or information exchanges between their personnel and federal immigration officers.

A detainer is the primary tool used by ICE to gain custody of criminal aliens for deportation. It is a notice to another law enforcement agency that ICE intends to assume custody of an alien and includes information on the alien’s previous criminal history, immigration violations, and potential threat to public safety or security.

The Center’s last map update reflected listings in an ICE report that was originally published by the Texas Tribune, with a few additions and changes resulting from the Center’s research.

States
California, Connecticut, New Mexico, Colorado

Cities and Counties

Arizona
South Tucson

California (in addition to all counties)
Alameda County
Berkley
Contra Costa County
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles
Monterey County
Napa County
Orange County (Sheriff and Probation Department)
Riverside County
Sacramento County
San Bernardino County
San Diego County
San Francisco County
San Mateo County
Santa Clara County
Santa Cruz County
Sonoma County

Colorado (in addition to all counties)
Arapahoe County
Aurora Detention Center
Boulder County
Denver
Denver County
Fort Collins
Garfield County
Glenwood Springs
Grand County
Jefferson County
Larimer County
Mesa County
Pitkin County
Pueblo County
Routt County
San Miguel County

Connecticut (in addition to state LEAs)
Bridgeport
East Haven
Fairfield County
Hamden
Hartford County
Hartford
Manchester
Meriden
New Haven
New Haven County
New London County
Stamford
Stratford
Tolland County

Florida
Broward County
Hernando County
Hillsborough County
Miami-Dade County
Palm Beach County
Pasco County
Pinellas County

Georgia
Clayton County

Illinois
Champaign County
Chicago
Cook County
Des Plaines
Hanover Park
Hoffman Estates
Northbrook
Palatine

Iowa
Allamakee County
Benton County
Cass County
Clinton County
Delaware County
Dubuque County
Franklin County
Freemont County
Greene County
Ida County
Iowa County
Jefferson County
Johnson County
Linn County
Marion County
Monona County
Montgomery County
Polk County
Pottawattamie County
Sioux County
Story County
Wapello County
Winneshiek County

Kansas
Butler County
Finney County
Harvey County
Johnson County
Sedgwick County
Shawnee County

Kentucky
Campbell County
Franklin County
[Editor’s Note: According to new information provided to the Center by elected Kenton County Jailer Terry W. Carl, Kenton County complies with all ICE detainers and requests and is fully cooperative with ICE.]
Scott County
Woodford County

Louisiana
New Orleans
[Editor’s Note: According to new information provided to the Center, Lafayette Parish now complies with all ICE detainers and requests and is fully cooperative with ICE.]
Orleans Parish

Maine
Portland

Maryland
Baltimore City
Montgomery County
Prince George’s County

Massachusetts
Amherst
Boston
Cambridge
Hampden County
Holyoke
Lawrence
Northhampton
Somerville
Springfield

Minnesota
Bloomington
Brooklyn Park
Hennepin County
Ramsey County

Nebraska
Douglas County
Hall County
Lancaster County
Sarpy County

Nevada
Clark County
Washoe County

New Jersey
Linden
Middlesex County
Newark
Ocean County
Plainfield
Union County

New Mexico (in addition to all counties)
Bernalillo County
Dona Ana County
Luna County
Otero County
Rio Arriba County
San Miguel County
Santa Fe County
Taos County

New York
Franklin County
Nassau County
New York City
Onondaga County
Rensselaer County
Saratoga County
Suffolk County
St. Lawrence County
Wayne County

North Dakota
North Dakota State Penitentiary
South West Multiple County Corrections Center

Oregon
Baker County
Clackamas County
Clatsop, Oregon
Coos County
Crook County
Curry County
Deschutes County
Douglas County
Gilliam County
Grant County
Hood River County
Jackson County
Jefferson County
Josephine County
Lincoln County
Linn County
Malheur County
Marion County
Multnomah County
Oregon State Correctional Institution
Polk County
Sherman County
Springfield Police Department
Tillamook County
Umatilla County
Union County
Wallowa County
Wasco County
Washington County
Wheeler County
Yamhill County

Pennsylvania
Abington
Chester County
Delaware County
Lehigh County
Montgomery County
Philadelphia
Philadelphia County

Rhode Island
Rhode Island Department of Corrections

Texas
Dallas County
Travis County

Virginia
Arlington
Chesterfield County

Washington
Benton County
Chelan County
Clallam County
Clark County
Cowlitz County
Fife City
Franklin County
Jefferson County
Issaquah
Kent
King County
Kitsap County
Lynnwood City
Marysville
Pierce County
Puyallup
Skagit County
Snohomish County
South Correctional Entity (SCORE) Jail, King County
Spokane County
Sunnyside
Thurston County
Walla Walla County
Washington State Corrections
Whatcom County
Yakima County

Washington, DC

Wisconsin
Milwaukee County

Tax Reform on the Immediate Trump Agenda: Details

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So it is Flat Tax or Fair Tax? Uncertain at this point. Will it be a reform plank devised by Trump’s financial advisors? Humm, will it be a reform piece of legislation created by the House Republicans? Another humm…but lets look at the following for clues.

***

A Better Way Forward on Tax Reform

In June, Ways and Means Republicans led the effort to unveil a “Better Way for Tax Reform.” This bold Blueprint delivers a 21st century tax code built for growth – the growth of families’ paychecks, the growth of American businesses, and the growth of our nation’s economy.

The Blueprint also provides unprecedented simplicity and fairness for taxpayers, which means most Americans will be able to file their taxes on a form as simple as a postcard.

With a simpler, fairer tax code, Americans need a simpler, fairer tax collector. The Blueprint redesigns the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into an agency with a singular focus: Service First.

 

 

Fact Sheets
CLICK HERE to read the full text of the Blueprint.
CLICK HERE to read a snapshot of the Blueprint.
CLICK HERE to read an overview of Blueprint Basics.
CLICK HERE to read the Blueprint’s Top 10 Wins for the American People.
CLICK HERE to learn how the Blueprint will Simplify Our Broken Tax Code.
CLICK HERE to learn how the Blueprint Helps Hardworking Taxpayers.
CLICK HERE to learn how the Blueprint Creates New Jobs on Main Street and Across America.
CLICK HERE to learn how the Blueprint Delivers a “Service First” IRS.
CLICK HERE to print the Tax Reform Blueprint Handout
Op-eds
Chairman Brady’s Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: “The GOP Plan for Tax Sanity“
Chairman Brady’s CNBC Op-Ed: “We want to make tax filing so simple that ‘it would fit on a postcard’“
Chairman Brady’s National Review Op-Ed: “It’s Time for Congress to Pass Reaganesque Tax Reforms“
Support for the Blueprint
CLICK HERE to read What They’re Saying (Part I)
CLICK HERE to read What They’re Saying (Part II)
CLICK HERE to read Praise from House Republicans
CLICK HERE to read the Tax Foundation’s findings on the Blueprint
CLICK HERE to read Chairman Brady’s Response to the Tax Foundation’s Blueprint Score

Preaching Jihad in U.S. Prisons, Radical and Militant

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BOSTON – Six inmates at MCI Norfolk are facing discipline after a probe into information that some convicts at the prison’s Muslim chapel were preaching jihad speeches by a former Al Qaeda recruiter, FOX25 Investigates has learned.

FOX25 confirmed a report that inmates used recordings from Al Qaeda recruiter and U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed years ago in a drone strike, to preach jihad to others at the state prison.

The state Department of Correction has confirmed six inmates who attended the prison’s Muslim chapel are facing discipline for setting up a structure of power over other inmates, requiring uniforms and demanding contracts of allegiance.

Martin Horn, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice who once led New York City’s prison system and set up an intelligence center on Rikers Island, said law enforcement officials need to look at more than just the jihad preaching.

“You want to begin to look at, for example, their phone calls. You want to look at the records of who’s sending money to their account,” Horn told FOX25 Investigative Reporter Eric Rasmussen via Skype. “If one were going to try to recruit individuals to engage in the kinds of terrorist activities that most concern us, what better place to look for recruits than inside a prison?”

In a statement to FOX25, the state Department of Correction said, “It was determined that the ‘jihad’ that was being preached was in the context of personal spiritual struggle with regard to oneself, as opposed to a war against non-believers.”

A DOC spokesman said there is “no evidence that their unauthorized activities were being used as a recruiting tool for any extremist ideology.”

But Horn also says there’s good reason to investigate.

“Well, look, first of all, prisoners come out. Eventually, they’re all coming out to the community,” Horn told FOX25 Investigates. “And we know from several experiences that, often times, they can influence activities that occur on the outside.”

The Department of Correction confirms it consulted with federal law enforcement on the investigation but told FOX25 Investigates it found nothing illegal.

The six medium-security inmates, who have not been identified, are still facing discipline because prison rules forbid setting up any kind of hierarchy – like a gang – regardless of religion.

****

It is not just an issue in the United States, related reading: About that Prison in the Heart of London

*** Boston Herald in part:

Correction stated that “jihad” was being preached, but it “was in the context of a personal spiritual struggle with regards to oneself, as opposed to a war against non-believers.”

DOC spokesman Chris Fallon said federal law enforcement authorities were consulted, and there is no active criminal investigation regarding the matter.

“No criminal charges have been brought against the members of this inmate group, as there is no evidence that their unauthorized activities were being used as a recruiting tool for any extremist ideology,” the statement from Department of Corrections read. “The inmates are facing administrative disciplinary charges as a result of their alleged misconduct.”

Possible punishments against the prisoners include loss of privileges, disciplinary detention, extra duty, room or unit restrictions, Correction said.

“To be clear, inmates are not allowed to create a hierarchical structure where they would have power over other inmates,” Correction’s statement reads.

**** So what role does CAIR have in the prison system? In part:

REHABILITATION PROGRAMS

As the prison population grows in religious diversity, administrators of correctional institutions must increase their multicultural awareness. Faith-based rehabilitation programs must be voluntary. Inmates should not be forced to participate in functions designated for adherents of other faith groups. Examples of such devotional practices include confession, singing and  playing music, and holding hands with a chaplain preaching or reciting religious material.

But…. a 2009 article in the New York Times has some factual items stating otherwise:

The Justice Department’s inspector general issued a report in 2004 faulting the prison system for failing to protect against “infiltration by religious extremists.” But it said the problems rested not so much with radical chaplains but unsupervised inmates leading their own worship services.

The fomenting of extremist ideas among Muslims is not a problem in the New York State prison system, said Erik Kriss, a spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for any chaplain advocating violence or extremist beliefs,” he said. The department holds meetings with chaplains to remind them of that, monitors religious literature coming in, and videotapes, audiotapes or sends guards to services, he said. In the past several years, the department removed from prison libraries an English version of the Koran that had commentary advocating violence to spread Islam, he said.

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the prison system. About 30,000 to 40,000 conversions among federal prisoners take place each year, according to a study for the Justice Department by Mark S. Hamm, a criminologist at Indiana State University. About 6 percent of the nation’s 173,000 federal prisoners are Muslim.

Mr. Hamm’s study, published in December 2007, says that most inmates convert in prison for one of five main reasons: because they are in personal crisis, seek a spiritual dimension, are looking for a group to protect them, want to manipulate the system or are influenced by the outside world.

He concludes that generally, “there is no relationship between prisoner conversions to Islam and terrorism.” The danger lies, he said in an interview Friday, in “prison Islam,” which he identified as “small gang-like cliques that use cut-and-paste versions of the Koran” to give a religious overlay to their activities. The danger becomes acute when a member leaves prison and forms a radical cell.

Mr. Hamm said he has counted five examples of this since 2005, notably a plot hatched in a California state prison that year to attack synagogues, American military installations and Israeli officials. The four plotters belonged to a group called Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or the Assembly of Authentic Islam.