http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/us-taxpayers-pay-defense-iranian-regime
U.S. Taxpayers Pay for Junket by Defender of Iranian Regime Yes, our mosque-sponsoring friend, Feisal Abdul Rauf. BY <http://weeklystandard.com/author/47> William Kristol August 16, 2010 Feisal Abdul Rauf is in the news primarily as the sponsor of the Ground Zero mosque. But leave aside the planned mosque. What about the fact that Rauf is now touring the Middle East on a trip <http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/confirmed-state-dept-sending-ground-zer o-mosque-imam-middle-east-junket> sponsored and paid for by our State Department? Is he delivering the message we want foreigners to hear from the American people? It's hard to find out what Rauf is saying abroad-or even to whom. But to get a sense of what he might be saying, here's <http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content/what-president-obama-should-say -about-irans-election> a statement he posted on the website of his Cordoba Initiative in June, 2009, after the suppression of the Green movement in Iran, advising President Obama on the position he should take: "President Obama said many of the right things as the turmoil surrounding the outcome of the Iranian election unfolded. After Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke Friday, Obama has an opportunity to make an additional crucial point....Friday, Khameini reaffirmed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner. And he made clear that this election was not a referendum on the foundations ofthe Islamic Republic....After the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took the Shiite concept of the Rightly Guided Imam and created the idea of Vilayet-i-faqih, which means the rule of the jurisprudent. This institutionalizes the Islamic rule of law. The Council of Guardians serves to ensure these principles....[President Obama] should say his administration respects many of the guiding principles of the 1979 revolution -- to establish a government that expresses the will of the people; a just government, based on the idea of Vilayet-i-faqih, that establishes the rule of law." So presumably Rauf is now travelling the Mideast, courtesy of the U.S. State Department, touting the idea of vilayet-i-faqih-and the Iranian application of that idea-as appropriate for Muslims. Aren't State Department representatives supposed to make the case for liberal democracy, or even an Islamic version of liberal democracy? Surely they're not supposed to be justifying Khomeini-ism? And surely not Khomeini-ism as interpreted perhaps even more illiberally by Khamenei? But since Rauf wanted Obama to endorse vilayet-i-faqih, it's presumably what he's endorsing. On a trip paid for by the American government. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
