SF-TX
10-19-2011, 15:50
If the claims are true, I am anxious to see who the administration considers an acceptable 'teacher' of Islamic history and doctrine. I'm sure CAIR has some qualified propagandists.. Excuse me, instructors.
In the article Mr. Coughlin's last name is misspelled.
ANTI-TERROR TRAINERS BLOCKED
The CIA and Department of Homeland Security abruptly canceled a conference in August on homegrown U.S. radical extremism in what officials close to the issue say was an effort to block two conservative anti-terrorism experts from presenting their views.
The conference was slated for Aug. 10 through 12 at agency headquarters in McLean and was to have been hosted by the CIA Threat Management Unit. It was organized by the intelligence subcommittee of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
“The conference topic is a critical one for domestic law enforcement, and the sponsors — in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security — have decided to delay the conference so it can include insights from among other sources, the new National Strategy for Counterterrorism in an updated agenda,” wrote CIA police officer Lt. Joshua Fielder in an email announcing the postponement in early August.
According to people close to the conference, the event was ordered “postponed” after Muslim advocacy groups contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the White House about the scheduled speakers, who included Stephen Caughlin and Steve Emerson, both specialists on the Islamist terror threat.
Mr. Caughlin, a former Pentagon Joint Staff analyst, is one of the most knowledgeable counterterrorism experts specializing in the relationship between Islamic law and terrorism.
Mr. Emerson, head of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, is a leading expert on Islamic violent extremism, financing and operations.
The Department of Homeland Security did not return a call seeking comment.
CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf said she did not know if Mr. Caughlin or Mr. Emerson will be speakers when the conference is rescheduled at some future date.
“The goal is clear and important — to ensure that conference participants receive material that is as current and comprehensive as possible to support the essential mission of safeguarding Americans here at home,” she said in a statement nearly identical to language used in Lt. Fielder’s email.
One intelligence official said the conference was stopped after the White House learned that Mr. Caughlin and Mr. Emerson were speaking.
This official said that to prevent the two experts from taking part in future conferences, the administration is drafting new guidelines designed to prohibit all U.S. government personnel from teaching classes on Islamic history or doctrine.
The new rules also will seek to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay contractors for such training.
Another official familiar with the conference denied that the postponement was abrupt or in reaction to specific speakers.
“The goal — an entirely appropriate one — is to ensure that an important issue is addressed in the most informative and accurate way possible,” this official said.
“This is a big deal,” former FBI counterintelligence agent David Major said of the postponement.
If new guidelines are used to block experts like Mr. Caughlin and Mr. Emerson, “we will be in ‘1984’ with ‘Newspeak’ on our society in total violation of the First Amendment,” Mr. Major said, referring to George Orwell’s classic novel, in which simplified language is used as a tool to support totalitarian rule.
Matthew Chandler, a DHS spokesman, said the conference will be rescheduled.
“The conference topic is a critical one for domestic law enforcement, and the sponsors decided to delay the conference so it can include insights from, among other sources, the new national strategy for countering violent extremism,” Mr. Chandler told Inside the Ring.
Mr. Chandler said the department along with the National Counterterrorism Center, Justice Department and FBI are developing training programs “focused primarily on better preparing front line law enforcement personnel to identify those behaviors and indicators associated with terrorism-related criminal activity.”
“Equally important is ensuring that the input state and local law enforcement is received so that conference participants receive material that is as current and comprehensive as possible to support the essential mission of safeguarding Americans here at home,” he said.
Link (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/5/inside-the-ring-295822498/?page=all)
In the article Mr. Coughlin's last name is misspelled.
ANTI-TERROR TRAINERS BLOCKED
The CIA and Department of Homeland Security abruptly canceled a conference in August on homegrown U.S. radical extremism in what officials close to the issue say was an effort to block two conservative anti-terrorism experts from presenting their views.
The conference was slated for Aug. 10 through 12 at agency headquarters in McLean and was to have been hosted by the CIA Threat Management Unit. It was organized by the intelligence subcommittee of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
“The conference topic is a critical one for domestic law enforcement, and the sponsors — in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security — have decided to delay the conference so it can include insights from among other sources, the new National Strategy for Counterterrorism in an updated agenda,” wrote CIA police officer Lt. Joshua Fielder in an email announcing the postponement in early August.
According to people close to the conference, the event was ordered “postponed” after Muslim advocacy groups contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the White House about the scheduled speakers, who included Stephen Caughlin and Steve Emerson, both specialists on the Islamist terror threat.
Mr. Caughlin, a former Pentagon Joint Staff analyst, is one of the most knowledgeable counterterrorism experts specializing in the relationship between Islamic law and terrorism.
Mr. Emerson, head of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, is a leading expert on Islamic violent extremism, financing and operations.
The Department of Homeland Security did not return a call seeking comment.
CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf said she did not know if Mr. Caughlin or Mr. Emerson will be speakers when the conference is rescheduled at some future date.
“The goal is clear and important — to ensure that conference participants receive material that is as current and comprehensive as possible to support the essential mission of safeguarding Americans here at home,” she said in a statement nearly identical to language used in Lt. Fielder’s email.
One intelligence official said the conference was stopped after the White House learned that Mr. Caughlin and Mr. Emerson were speaking.
This official said that to prevent the two experts from taking part in future conferences, the administration is drafting new guidelines designed to prohibit all U.S. government personnel from teaching classes on Islamic history or doctrine.
The new rules also will seek to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay contractors for such training.
Another official familiar with the conference denied that the postponement was abrupt or in reaction to specific speakers.
“The goal — an entirely appropriate one — is to ensure that an important issue is addressed in the most informative and accurate way possible,” this official said.
“This is a big deal,” former FBI counterintelligence agent David Major said of the postponement.
If new guidelines are used to block experts like Mr. Caughlin and Mr. Emerson, “we will be in ‘1984’ with ‘Newspeak’ on our society in total violation of the First Amendment,” Mr. Major said, referring to George Orwell’s classic novel, in which simplified language is used as a tool to support totalitarian rule.
Matthew Chandler, a DHS spokesman, said the conference will be rescheduled.
“The conference topic is a critical one for domestic law enforcement, and the sponsors decided to delay the conference so it can include insights from, among other sources, the new national strategy for countering violent extremism,” Mr. Chandler told Inside the Ring.
Mr. Chandler said the department along with the National Counterterrorism Center, Justice Department and FBI are developing training programs “focused primarily on better preparing front line law enforcement personnel to identify those behaviors and indicators associated with terrorism-related criminal activity.”
“Equally important is ensuring that the input state and local law enforcement is received so that conference participants receive material that is as current and comprehensive as possible to support the essential mission of safeguarding Americans here at home,” he said.
Link (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/5/inside-the-ring-295822498/?page=all)