US State Department asks UAE why it labeled Hamas-linked CAIR a terrorist organization

Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

 

It’s perfectly clear why CAIR and MAS were listed as terror organizations: because of their links to the Muslim Brotherhood. But the Obama Administration cannot accept that, as it has itself done so much to aid the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and elsewhere. Hence this move, which is a fresh indication of the unwholesome influence these groups wield in Washington. But the UAE has the right idea, even if it reverses itself under pressure from State — and we can only hope for a restoration of sanity in Washington that will end these groups’ influence before they do more damage.

CAIR is not, strictly speaking, a terrorist organization: it doesn’t blow things up or exhort others to do so. It is, however, an Islamic supremacist organization with the same goals as those of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State: the imposition of Islamic law wherever and whenever possible.

“State Dep’t Asks UAE Why It Labelled CAIR a Terrorist Group,” by Patrick Goodenough, CNS News, November 18, 2014 (thanks to Lookmann):

(CNSNews.com) – A State Department spokesman said Monday the administration was seeking clarity from the United Arab Emirates over its decision to list two American Muslim groups as terrorist organizations.

Spokesman Jeff Rathke seemed unaware that one of the two groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has long been engaged in outreach programs with the U.S. government.

He said the administration was “seeking to gain more information on why” the UAE had included include CAIR and the Muslim American Society (MAS) on the list. Others among the more than 80 groups listed ranged from the Muslim Brotherhood to al-Qaeda affiliates and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL).

CAIR and MAS have expressed shock at the move, with MAS saying it would look to the U.S. government to help.

“We’re aware that two U.S.-based groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim American Society, were included on the list,” Rathke said. “We’re engaging UAE authorities” on the matter.

“The State Department works…with CAIR all the time, no?” a reporter asked. “I mean, there’s all sorts of outreach programs between the government and CAIR, right?”

“I don’t know offhand whether we have a particular—” Rathke began, before being told that CAIR has also worked with the FBI, and that CAIR officials have been invited to State Department-hosted iftars – Ramadan fast-breaking meals – “in years past.”

“I don’t have that information at my fingertips,” Rathke said. “But at any rate, we’re engaging UAE officials. These are U.S.-based groups so of course our – we are not in the lead then for domestically-based groups generally.”

CAIR did not respond Monday to queries….