Foreign Agents: What CAIR, Anna Chapman, and Rep. Mark Siljander Have in
Common


Posted by  <http://bigpeace.com/author/asavit/> Adam Savit Jul 18th 2010 at
3:19 am in  <http://bigpeace.com/category/espionage/> Espionage,
<http://bigpeace.com/category/featured-story/> Featured Story,
<http://bigpeace.com/category/foreign-policy/> Foreign Policy,
<http://bigpeace.com/category/islamic-extremism/> Islamic extremism,
<http://bigpeace.com/category/justicelegal/> Justice/Legal,
<http://bigpeace.com/category/news/> News,
<http://bigpeace.com/category/strategy/> Strategy |
<http://bigpeace.com/asavit/2010/07/18/foreign-agents-what-cair-anna-chapman
-and-rep-mark-siljander-have-in-common/#idc-container> Comments (36)

Late last month provocative pictures of alleged Russian spy Anna Chapman
graced newspapers and blogs worldwide.  The stories alongside the mandatory
eye-candy featured scandalous accounts of “spying” and “espionage.” But
despite the insinuations, the Russian “spies” in question were never charged
with spying or espionage.
<http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/07/09/charles-pinck-spy-russia-bin-lade
n-intelligence-justice-cold-war/> Fox News reported that instead the ten
Russians in American custody were charged with conspiracy to commit money
laundering and “failing to register with the Department of Justice as
Foreign Agents under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).”
<http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fara/> FARA, first enacted in 1938 to
counter Nazi infiltration, is a disclosure statute requiring entities acting
in the U.S. on behalf of a “foreign principal” (in this case the Russian
government) to register and make periodic disclosure of their relationship.
(Below, Anna Chapman flanked by former Congressman Mark Siljander and CAIR
Communications Director, Ibrahim “Dougie” Hooper. More on each follows.)

 <http://bigpeace.com/files/2010/07/siljander.jpg> siljander

Another U.S.-based entity that has been accused of violating FARA – by the
Center for Security Policy and other leading intelligence and
counter-terrorism sources – is the Council on American Islamic Relations
(CAIR).  The CAIR Observatory.org website ( <http://www.cairunmasked.org/>
http://www.cairobervatory.org) documents that CAIR has received $6.6 million
in cash and loans and $54.5 million in pledges from foreign principals based
in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait; has met and
coordinated with representatives of those foreign principals on more than 30
occasions; and has carried out over 70 political and propaganda operations
on behalf of those same foreign principals.

Shortly after 9/11 CAIR released a carefully qualified
<http://cairunmasked.org/?p=1552> statement: “We do not support directly or
indirectly, or receive support from, any overseas… government.”

Unfortunately for CAIR,
<http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fara/links/indx-act.html#611b> FARA § 611
(b) defines a “foreign principal” far more broadly than just a foreign
government. It can also be a foreign political party, partnership,
association, corporation, organization, or even an individual based outside
of the United States.

For a 72-year-old law, the FARA statute is very much alive and kicking in
2010. We’re seeing it in the news nearly every week now. Underfunded and
underestimated, the attorneys in the small FARA office are protecting
America’s security, in spite of an increasingly politicized DOJ environment.

Just last week former Congressman
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/07/AR201007070
5205.html> Mark D. Siljander of Michigan
<http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/07/07/ex-congressman-admits-illicit-lobbyin
g-for-islamic-charity/> pleaded guilty to violating FARA in connection with
his work for a foreign organization; namely the Islamic American Relief
Agency, a.k.a. the <http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js2025.htm>
Islamic Africa Relief Agency (IARA), a non-governmental “charity” based in
Khartoum, Sudan.  The IARA allegedly paid Mr. Siljander $75,000 in exchange
for his lobbying efforts to have its name removed from a U.S. Senate Finance
Committee list of terror-supporting organizations.

The Siljander case is nearly a point-by-point match for CAIR’s work as an
agent for “foreign principals” in the United Arab Emirates in the wake of
the Dubai Ports scandal of 2006.  As part of a senior CAIR delegation to
Dubai in May 2006, Board Chairman Parvez Ahmad
<http://cairunmasked.org/?p=1631> stated, “If the image of Islam and Muslims
is not repaired in America, Muslim and Arab business interests will continue
to be on a downward slide in the US.”  CAIR was meeting with
<http://cairunmasked.org/?p=2128> Khalaf Al Habtoor and other wealthy Dubai
businessmen to solicit up to $50 million in donations to fund a
<http://cairunmasked.org/?p=1447> public relations campaign in the US.
CAIR’s Ahmad assured the audience, “Do not think about your contributions as
donations. Think about it from the perspective of rate of return. The
investment of $50 million will give you billions of dollars in return for 50
years.”

Within days of the fundraiser UAE Minister of Finance Sheikh Hamdan bin
Rashid Al Maktoum endorsed a proposal to build an
<http://cairunmasked.org/?p=1419> endowment property for CAIR in the U.S.
CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said, ‘The endowment will serve as a
source of income and will further allow us to reinvigorate our media
campaign…”

Furthermore, in 2007 CAIR received  <http://cairunmasked.org/?p=1897>
$325,000 in cash from another “foreign principal” based in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia: the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).  This mammoth
pan-Islamic NGO composed of 57 governments is known for its
<http://www.oic-oci.org/ex-summit/english/10-years-plan.htm> “10 Year Plan
of Action,” calling on all governments worldwide to institute “deterrent
punishments” for the “crime” of “Islamophobia.”  This is the same OIC that
annually sponsors (and passes) resolutions in the U.N. General Assembly to
prohibit “defamation of religions” (i.e. Islam).  Barack Obama
controversially appointed Rashad Hussein as a special US envoy to the OIC
this year.  The $325,000 transferred to CAIR was earmarked to fund a major
OIC conference on “Islamophobia” at Georgetown University.

The ten Russian spies acted as sleeper agents for the Russian government.
They allegedly received
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/11/ap/cabstatepent/main6667343.shtml
> “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from Moscow.  They were indicted under
FARA by the Department of Justice in 2010.

Former Congressman Siljander lobbied members of the U.S. Senate Finance
Committee to remove the Islamic Africa Relief Agency (IARA) from their
terrorist sponsor list.  He received $75,000 from the Sudan-based NGO for
his services.  Siljander was
<http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/news2008/iara.ind2.htm> indicted under FARA
by the Department of Justice in 2008, and pleaded guilty in 2010.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has lobbied for “foreign
principals” and has conducted dozens of political influence operations in
the US on their behalf.  We have posted conclusive documentation at the
<http://cairunmasked.org/> CAIR Observatory website proving that CAIR has
received $6,698,454 in cash and loans from “foreign principals” since their
founding in 1994.  So how close are they to being indicted under FARA?

 <http://bigpeace.com/files/2010/07/cair.jpg> cair

The next few months may tell.  On February 2, 2010
<http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0210/CAIRrelated_probe_focuses_o
n_possible_sanctions_violations.html> Politico.com reported that FBI agents
issued a grand jury subpoena seeking internal CAIR documents.  Lynn Haaland,
an assistant U.S. Attorney in the DOJ’s National Security Division was
listed as an “interested party,” indicating that FARA may have been a factor
in the investigation.

Ten Russians, one former congressman, and CAIR were all paid by foreign
donors.  The Russians, the congressman and CAIR all followed their
paymasters’ orders.  The Russians and the congressman got chump change
compared to CAIR’s millions in foreign funding.

The Russians were indicted and deported.  The ex-congressman was indicted
and pleaded guilty.

What’s in CAIR’s future?



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