Wash Examiner Fearmongers That “Radical Islamists” Are In U.S. Govt, Polling Orgs, Military

In a January 31 editorial, The Washington Examiner used the ongoing protests in Egypt to baselessly claim that Muslim extremists are infiltrating “the Department of Justice and Homeland Security” and “are in prisons ... and in polling organizations” and are also “military chaplains.” As Media Matters has documented, Fox News has also recently used the turmoil in Egypt to claim that Islamists are using “subversive techniques” to impose Shariah law in the U.S. [Media Matters, 1/31/11]

From the January 31 editorial:

Western secularists either don't believe this or stupidly think these beliefs can be overcome. In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood and its growing adherents plan to overcome us and prove it daily.

“Not all Muslims are radicals.” True. “Islam is fundamentally a peaceful religion.” Also true.

But the growing threat of radical Islam is real enough that we should be mindful of the exceptions, not the rule. To do otherwise dulls the senses and lulls us all into a false sense of security, which is exactly what our enemies want.

Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, notes, “Islamists wish to repeat their success in Iran by exploiting popular unrest to take power.”

That strategy worked in Russia a century ago when the communists exploited grievances against the czar to grab power. It worked in Germany when the Nazis used German humiliation following World War I to ride to power. Now it is Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan and Lebanon with more to come.

In her book “Londonistan,” Melanie Phillips writes, “We have long contracted our understanding of the extremists to the extremists.” She means that instead of pursuing a policy to defeat radical Islamists, we have welcomed them among us.

They are at the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, giving “sensitivity training” to people who are supposed to be protecting us from them. They are in prisons, organizing the disaffected into “hate America” cadres.

They are military chaplains and in polling organizations, shaping the way questions are asked and manipulating results to further their interests.

This isn't “bigotry.” It is provable fact, which the Islamists believe we will ignore. [The Washington Examiner, 1/31/11]