Conservative Republicans Spar Over “Radical Islamic Influence at the White House”
Listed in: Other Domestic Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
Washington, DC: An article in Friday's Washington Times reports, "Veteran conservative activist Grover Norquist, credited with helping swing Muslim voters to support President Bush in the 2000 elections, has been accused of suppressing criticism of radical Islamic influence at the White House. ...Mr. [Frank] Gaffney and some other conservatives say they worry that Mr. Norquist, who has the ear of White House chief strategist Karl Rove, prevents moderate Muslims from presenting their views to the White House in person - a charge Mr. Norquist calls absurd. Nonetheless, Mr. Gaffney says his 'concern is that Grover is playing the role of enabler, I assume unwittingly, for the Wahhabist [radical Muslim] agenda and its penetration of our political system - and especially of the Bush White House,' Mr. Gaffney said."
In an open letter to Grover Norquist on February 7th, Frank Gaffney wrote that "...[I]t appears that the leaders of Wahhabi-associated or -supported organizations have parlayed the access they enjoy with senior Administration and congressional figures towards another undesirable end: to validate and publicize their false claim to be the sole legitimate representatives of the American Muslim community. This purpose has been served both by ensuring, until very recently, that essentially no one but Wahhabi-approved individuals were included in Muslim 'outreach' meetings with the President, his Cabinet officers and other, senior subordinates and that Muslims who shun all forms of terrorism were long excluded from such meetings. ...The Islamic Institute, and you personally, have for several years played an instrumental role in promoting and facilitating the Wahhabis' access to the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government."
"At least one former senior staffer emerging from the Bush White House and numerous commentators have said that policy in this White House is driven by politics to an unprecedented degree, and that this may be the most political White House ever. In this light, it's particularly disturbing to read reports that Grover Norquist might be using his influence and his top-level White House connections to bring those with terrorist associations into the Bush White House, and to represent them as the legitimate and sole representatives of the US Muslim community," said National Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Ira N. Forman. "The war on terrorism is of paramount importance in America today, and it cannot be compromised by politics or the need to help ideological bedfellows. Any person with terrorist ties should obviously not be ushered into the White House and legitimized in this way.
"Americans on September 11th were faced with an historic wake-up call. President Bush himself has said that the stakes in this war on terrorism are huge, and he is right. But the president cannot unite the country behind a war effort while permitting political consideration to compromise it. Political friendships and alliances cannot be permitted to divert us from the war against terrorism, and they must of course not permit individuals with terrorist ties from gaining access to the Bush White House."
