Pro: Weapons sent to radical Islamic nations likely will end up killing Americans, Israelis

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — EDITOR’S NOTE: The writers will be addressing the question, Should the U.S. end funding for Egypt and other nations tied to the Muslim Brotherhood?

The Obama administration should stop sending taxpayer dollars to nations that embrace Islamic terrorism—nations that behave like adversaries, not allies.

Case in point: Egypt and the radical Muslim Brotherhood. The Obama administration recently agreed to spend an additional $250 million in taxpayer funds to send weapons to this increasingly unstable nation.

That’s in addition to the more than $1 billion annual taxpayer giveaway to Egypt. The U.S. is putting highly sophisticated tanks and warplanes in the hands of terrorists—terrorists who are hostile to America and to our longtime ally, Israel.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is a blatant and outspoken anti-Semite who calls Jews the “descendants of apes and pigs” and says that Egyptian children should be “nursed” on “hatred” for Israel.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the governing political body in Egypt, is widely recognized as an organization that inspires and supports terrorism and is affiliated with the terrorist group, Hamas. Al-Qaida’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, even has direct ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt is now becoming not just a source of terrorists but also a launching pad for terror attacks; including deadly ones launched against Israel from Egyptian soil. And Egyptian terrorists were present in the 2012 Benghazi attack and in the recent attack and violence in Algeria. There also are credible reports that Egyptian authorities denied the U.S. direct access to a Benghazi terrorist suspect, a disturbing act from an alleged “ally.”

Egypt has passed a Shariah-based constitution that restricts religious freedom and provides a legal basis for continued persecution of Egypt’s embattled Christian minority. The government-backed persecution of Coptic Christians gets worse by the day.

The reaction from the Obama administration? Send Egypt hundreds of millions of dollars in high-tech weapons—200 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks and some 20 F-16 fighters. The most recent shipment of four warplanes was sent to Egypt just weeks ago. Eight more F-16’s will be delivered by the end of the year. The troubling fact is that the U.S. has become Egypt’s major arms supplier.

This is not only dangerous to our national security, but it also represents an extremely significant threat to Israel. As Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, put it: “Friends don’t send U.S. taxpayer-funded F-16s and tanks to the enemies of their friends.”

Every new F-16 or tank delivered to Egypt is another weapon that can be used to consolidate the Muslim Brotherhood’s grip on power. Every new dollar of economic aid buys the Brotherhood more time.

For President Morsi, this aid represents far more than a marginal increase in military and economic strength; it represents an American seal of approval and a stamp of legitimacy on his repressive regime. Every F-16, every Abrams tank is a propaganda victory for the Morsi regime.

Egypt still has a chance for moderation. After all, few things cure radical impulses better than the experience of radical rule, and the country does have a long recent history of peace with Israel. But moderation will be infinitely more difficult to achieve if we arm and aid its most dangerous enemies.

With Americans asked to tighten their financial belts because of the sequester, our government should withhold sending hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds to nations such as Egypt, until we get proof—and that means actions, not just words—that they are a true ally. It’s time we sequester terrorists.

As Egypt still struggles to determine its destiny, if we put our thumb on the scales at all, we must not do so in favor of jihadists. The Muslim Brotherhood needs our weapons and our money. We do not need the Muslim Brotherhood.

And we don’t need U.S. taxpayers footing the bill.

Jay Sekulow is chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice. Readers may write him at ACLJ, 1000 Regent University Drive, RH-422, Virginia Beach, VA 23464.


SOURCE http://gazettextra.com/news/2013/jun/27/pro-weapons-sent-radical-islamic-nations-likely-wi/

More Organizations Join Legal Battle Against IRS‏

An additional 16 Tea Party and conservative organizations signed on to a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service filed in federal court in the nation’s capital on Monday, according to the class-action suit’s lead attorney.

Attorney Jay Sekulow, the founder and leader of the American Center for Law and Justice filed the amended lawsuit by adding an additional organizations, including a pro-life group, to the complaint.

According to Sekulow the addition groups brings the total number of organizations represented in the court challenge to 41.

Following the discovery that the IRS targeted groups seeking legal tax-exempt status whose names contained certain words such as “patriots,” “constitution,” and others, the ACLJ filed the initial lawsuit on May 29 on behalf of 25 organizations.

During his appearance on Fox News Channel on Monday, Sekulow continued to argue that top Obama Administration officials violated the constitutional rights of the groups by secretly targeting these organizations because of their political beliefs. Sekulow and many other observers say they believe Obama’s minions used the IRS during the 2012 election cycle to harass supporters of Obama’s opposition, Mitt Romney.

In a press conference and his released statement, Sekulow said:

“The floodgates opened after we filed our initial lawsuit. We have been contacted by many additional organizations that have been unlawfully targeted by the IRS – revealing that this unconstitutional scheme was pervasive and damaging to our clients. As Congress continues its investigation, and as we expand our federal lawsuit, we’re confident that the truth will be revealed and important questions answered: How did this targeting scheme begin? Who ordered it? How could the White House counsel and White House chief of staff know about this tactic but the President did not? We remain dedicated to ensuring that those responsible for this unconscionable scheme are held accountable.”

The amended ACLJ complaint alleges that officials from the IRS “working in offices from California to Washington, D.C., pulled applications from conservative organizations, delayed processing those applications for sometimes well over a year, then made probing and unconstitutional requests for additional information that often required applicants to disclose, among other things, donor lists, direct and indirect communications with members of legislative bodies, Internet passwords and usernames, copies of social media and other Internet postings, and even the political and charitable activities of family members.”

Among the organizations added to the complaint is an anti-abortion group allegedly singled out because of its opposition to the Obama abortion agenda.

“The ACLJ contends the group, AMEN (Abortion Must End Now) – based in Yuma, AZ – was singled out because of its name and because the group is “focused on defending the Sanctity of Life and to put an end to abortion once and for all” and intends to “provide education . . . about the effects of abortion and to present pro-life brochures,” noted Sekulow.

Jay Sekulow has argued 12 cases before the United States Supreme Court since 1983. He only lost one case.

Sekulow’s amended lawsuit urges the federal court “to find that the Obama Administration overstepped its authority and violated the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as the IRS’s own rules and regulations.”

“The lawsuit requests a declaratory judgment that the defendants unlawfully delayed and obstructed the organizations’ applications for a determination of tax-exempt status by means of conduct that was based on unconstitutional criteria and impermissibly disparate treatment of the groups,” Sekulow said in his statement.

SOURCE http://www.albanytribune.com/26062013-more-organizations-join-legal-battle-against-irs%E2%80%8F/

ACLJ lawsuit against IRS swells to 41 conservative groups

The American Center for Law and Justice Tuesday added 16 additional tea party and conservative groups to their original 25 organization lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service — bringing the number of groups in their court challenge to 41.

“The floodgates opened after we filed our initial lawsuit,” ACLJ chief counsel Jay Sekulow said. “We have been contacted by many additional organizations that have been unlawfully targeted by the IRS — revealing that this unconstitutional scheme was pervasive and damaging to our clients.”

ACLJ is arguing that the IRS unfairly targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny, delaying applications, making “unconstitutional” requests for information such as donor lists, Internet passwords and user names, copies of social media activities and the political activities of family members.

Of the now 41 groups 19 of the organizations received their tax-exempt status after long delays, 17 are still waiting, and 5 withdrew due to frustration over the process.

ACLJ believes the Obama administration, by targeting these groups violated First and Fifth Amendment of the Constitution as well as the the Administrative Procedure Act, and the rules and regulations governing the IRS. They are seeking injunctive relief to protect their clients from retaliation as well as compensatory and punitive monetary damages.

A pro-life group is among the groups added to the suit today. AMEN (Abortion Must End Now) of Yuma, Arizona received a letter from the IRS in October of 2010 questioning whether their goals to educate about the effects of abortion would be acceptable. The group’s tax-exempt application is still pending.

“Now we have evidence that the IRS is somehow uniquely qualified to make a determination about content and regulate how a pro-life organization can explain its mission and beliefs,” Sekulow said of the IRS’ questions to AMEN. “Imagine the outcry if Planned Parenthood or NARAL was subjected to this abuse. This is another blatant example of an IRS out of control — an agency that embraces unlawful and unconstitutional conduct.”

Another group added to the complaint, the Arlington Tea Party of Arlington, Texas, received an IRS request for a “a temporary Username and Password that we could use to review your organization’s website” as well as print outs of its social media pages, fundraising solicitations, workshop materials, and handouts.

The group applied for tax-exempt status in 2011.They are still waiting for approval.


SOURCE http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/25/aclj-lawsuit-against-irs-swells-to-41-conservative-groups/

Radical Muslim Brotherhood Gets More US Tax Dollars Despite Terror Ties

The news from Egypt is grim.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammed Morsi, made international headlines this week as he appointed Adel Al Khayat as governor of Luxor, an ancient Egyptian city that is key tourist destination.

The problem with Mr. Khayat? He just happens to lead the “political” arm of a terrorist organization that massacred tourists in Luxor in 1997. The details of the attack are beyond grisly, with many of the dead disemboweled and notes “praising Islam” placed inside their mutilated bodies.

And that’s not all.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported on the rise of blasphemy prosecutions since Morsi ascended to power.

In recent cases, Egyptian courts have sentenced a writer to five years in prison for allegedly promoting atheism, sentenced a lawyer to a year in prison for allegedly insulting Islam in a private conversation, and fined a Christian schoolteacher $14,000 for allegedly insulting Muhammad in her classroom.

These recent revelations pile on top of the “old” news, including violations of the peace treaty with Israel, failing to protect our American embassy from attacks and launching systematic crackdowns on Egypt’s Coptic Christian community.

Against this backdrop of Shariah and jihad—and hidden behind the blanket news coverage of the Obama administration’s other scandals—the White House has decided to increase its financial support for the Muslim Brotherhood, quietly clearing the way for the U.S. to give Egypt $1.3 billion in military aid.

On May 10, the very day that Lois Lerner issued her contrived apology for the IRS targeting conservative groups, Secretary of State John Kerry formally waived—on national security grounds—statutory requirements that he certify that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government was “implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law” before providing any further American military aid.

Think about this for a moment: The Obama administration threw the Mubarak regime (for all its flaws, a stalwart American ally that kept peace with Israel) under the bus ostensibly because of its human rights violations but is waiving human rights conditions to prop up a more brutal jihadist government.

Let’s not forget the motto of the Muslim Brotherhood: "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Quran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."

That is the organization that we are empowering—that we are arming—at American taxpayer expense.

In the coming days and weeks, secular and Christian opposition leaders are planning nationwide protests against a Morsi regime that has proven competent at implementing Shariah law but not at running an economy.

Morsi’s jihadist allies plan a crackdown, and if and when they succeed, you may see the terrible sight of American-made and taxpayer-purchased tanks and other armored vehicles literally crushing the Christian opposition.

The saying goes that there is “no better friend and no worse enemy” than a United States Marine.

The Obama administration has turned this on its head. When it comes to the Middle East, we have proven to be the worst of friends and the best of enemies.

We sat on our hands during Iran’s Green Revolution, when the Mullahs were briefly in danger of being overthrown.

We similarly sat on our hands in the early days of the Syrian uprising against the brutal, Iran-allied Assad regime, before jihadists had taken over the Syrian opposition.

But we acted quickly to support the Egyptian uprising, tossing aside a longtime ally.

Across the Middle East, jihad is ascendant. The Mullahs remain comfortably in power in Iran (busy building a bomb), Syria’s opposition is dominated by al-Qaida-affiliated militias, and Egypt is firmly in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood.

And now we’re arming Egypt and considering arming jihadist rebels in Syria.

The Obama administration is doubling down on failure—at the expense of Egyptian Christians and the American taxpayer.

Jay Sekulow is chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice. This article originally appeared on FoxNews.com


SOURCE http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/39997-radical-muslim-brotherhood-gets-more-us-tax-dollars-despite-terror-ties

As Egypt unravels, Team Obama increases support for Muslim Brotherhood

The news from Egypt is grim.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammed Morsi made international headlines this week as he appointed Adel Al Khayat as governor of Luxor, an ancient Egyptian city that is key tourist destination.

The problem with Mr. Khayat? He just happens to lead the “political” arm of a terrorist organization that massacred tourists in Luxor in 1997. The details of the attack are beyond grisly, with many of the dead disemboweled and notes “praising Islam” placed inside their mutilated bodies.

And that’s not all.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported on the rise of blasphemy prosecutions since Morsi ascended to power.

[pullquote]

In recent cases, Egyptian courts have sentenced a writer to 5 years in prison for allegedly promoting atheism, sentenced a lawyer to a year in prison for allegedly insulting Islam in a private conversation, and fined a Christian schoolteacher $14,000 for allegedly insulting Muhammed in her classroom.

These recent revelations pile on top of the “old” news, including violations of the peace treaty with Israel, failing to protect our American embassy from attacks, and launching systematic crackdowns on Egypt’s Coptic Christian community.

Against this backdrop of Shariah and jihad – and hidden behind the blanket news coverage of the Obama administration’s other scandals – the White House has decided to increase its financial support for the Muslim Brotherhood, quietly clearing the way for the U.S. to give Egypt $1.3 billion in military aid.

On May 10, the very day that Lois Lerner issued her contrived apology for the IRS targeting conservative groups, Secretary of State John Kerry formally waived – on national security grounds – statutory requirements that he certify that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government was “implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law” before providing any further American military aid.

Think about this for a moment: The Obama administration threw the Mubarak regime (for all its flaws, a stalwart American ally that kept peace with Israel) under the bus ostensibly because of its human rights violations but is waiving human rights conditions to prop up a more brutal jihadist government.

Let’s not forget the motto of the Muslim Brotherhood: "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."

That is the organization that we are empowering – that we are arming – at American taxpayer expense.

In the coming days and weeks, secular and Christian opposition leaders are planning nationwide protests against a Morsi regime that has proven competent at implementing Shariah law but not at running an economy.

Morsi’s jihadist allies plan a crackdown, and if and when they succeed, you may see the terrible sight of American-made and taxpayer-purchased tanks and other armored vehicles literally crushing the Christian opposition.

The saying goes that there is “no better friend and no worse enemy” than a United States Marine.

The Obama administration has turned this on its head. -- When it comes to the Middle East, we have proven to be the worst of friends and the best of enemies.

We sat on our hands during Iran’s Green Revolution, when the Mullahs were briefly in danger of being overthrown.

We similarly sat on our hands in the early days of the Syrian uprising against the brutal, Iran-allied Assad regime, before jihadists had taken over the Syrian opposition.

But we acted quickly to support the Egyptian uprising, tossing aside a longtime ally.

Across the Middle East, jihad is ascendant. The Mullahs remain comfortably in power in Iran (busy building a bomb), Syria’s opposition is dominated by Al Qaeda-affiliated militias, and Egypt is firmly in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood.

And now we’re arming Egypt and considering arming jihadist rebels in Syria.

The Obama administration is doubling down on failure – at the expense of Egyptian Christians and the American taxpayer.

Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). Follow him on Twitter@JaySekulow.


SOURCE http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/06/21/as-egypt-unravels-team-obama-increases-support-for-muslim-brotherhood/

Pastor Saeed Abedini's wife pleads for US action at congressional hearing

The wife and attorney of Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American jailed in Iran for his Christian faith, pleaded for the U.S. government to take action to free him during a congressional hearing Friday in Washington.

Naghmeh Abedini expressed frustration that the government has not been responsive in working toward her husband's release.

"I must say, I'm disappointed with our government; I'm disappointed that our president and state department has not fully engaged in this case, disappointed that this great country is not doing more to free my husband, a U.S. citizen," Mrs. Abedini said. "I expect more from our government."

She gave a heart-felt testimony before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress during a hearing on "The Worsening Plight of Religious Minorities in Iran."

Mrs. Abedini said her husband has endured beatings, torture and told that he must renounce his Christian faith while being held captive in Iran.

The mother of two broke into tears when she told senators on the panel that her kids do not yet know about the eight-year jail sentence and what that means.

"They ask: Does daddy not love us anymore? Does he not want to hear our voice anymore?" testified Mrs. Abedini. "I had to tell them that he was in prison because he loves Jesus."

Earlier in the hearing, Dr. Jay Sekulow, the attorney who has been representing the Abedini family, unleashed his anger at the State Department for being silent on the pastor's case.

"The problem in this case is that the State Department is AWOL. They are missing. They act as if they are embarrassed about Abedini's faith," said Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice in Washington D.C.
Dr. Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice testifies that religious minorities including Christians in Iran are facing systematic and systemic persecution and discrimination.Photo: Ecumenical News

Sekulow said his organization has received over half a million petition signatures in the past few weeks urging for Abedini's release. He said the European Union and Australia has also called for his freedom.

"U.S. was silent. It is troubling and extremely offensive," he said. The ACLJ lawyer also pointed to their absence at the hearing as a sign of their lack of concern.

Last year, the ACLJ was able to get the State Department and international community to rachet pressure for Iran to free Youcef Nardarkhani, an Iranian pastor who was jailed and sentenced to death for apostasy.

Nardarkhani was not an American citizen yet the State Dept. spoke out, Sekulow pointed out. "Saeed Abedini is an American citizen. He's us," he added. "He deserves more from his government."

Last summer, Abedini returned to Iran with his family to help build a state-run, secular orphanage. The pastor from Boise, Idaho, was arrested and imprisoned without charged for five months.

In January, Abedini was charged with threatening the national security of Iran through his leadership in Christian house churches from years earlier and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Sekulow said the situation of human rights and religious freedom in Iran is "deteriorating," reporting that following the Nardarkhani's case, Christians are jailed under crimes of national security rather than apostasy.

"Christians, either ethnic of coverts, are facing systematic and systemic persecution and discrimination."

A member of Congress also spoke during the hearing, calling it "cowardly" that the State Dept. has yet to respond to a Feb. 12 letter sent by 37 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives urging for the release of Abedini. Another letter by 12 U.S. Senators was also sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Jordan Sekulow, executive director of ACLJ, also testifed before the congressional hearing Friday.

At the end of the hearing, Republican Senator Frank R. Wolf of Virginia urged members of Congress to "publicly stand" with Abedini and work toward his release.


SOURCE http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/pastor-saeed-abedinis-wife-plead-for-us-action-at-congressional-hearing-21874

Chief counsel in lawsuit against IRS: top Democrat Cummings’ claim is ‘ridiculous’

The chief counsel in the nationwide class-action lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service said that Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings’ claim that a lone “conservative Republican” was responsible for the agency’s improper targeting of conservatives is “ridiculous.”

Jay Sekulow, who represents more than twenty conservative groups that were targeted by the IRS in a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Center for Law and Justice, scoffed at Cummings’ claim that the investigation of the agency’s targeting of President Obama’s political opponents should be wrapped up.

“Committee staff conducted a key interview last week with the IRS manager who supervised the team of screeners that evaluates applications for tax exempt status in Cincinnati, and this official stated that he is a ‘conservative Republican’ with 21 years of experience at the IRS,” Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, claimed in a divisive letter to Republican Oversight chairman Darrell Issa earlier this week.

“Based upon everything I’ve seen, the case is solved. And if it were me, I would wrap this case up and move on, to be frank with you,” Cummings then said on CNN.

But Cummings’ claim is absurd in the face of clear evidence that the IRS targeting was planned out of Washington, said Sekulow.

“That’s ridiculous. [Cummings' claim] is nonsense. We know that Lois Lerner was sending letters to tea party groups from Washington. We know that at least four different offices were involved, according to our documentation. Other IRS employees are saying that Washington was involved,” Sekulow told The Daily Caller.

Washington-based IRS lawyer and registered Democrat Carter C. Hull personally oversaw the agency’s targeting in Cincinnati, according to interviews that two Cincinnati-based IRS employees gave to congressional investigators.

“I was essentially a front person, because I had no autonomy or no authority to act on [applications] without Carter Hull’s influence or input,” Elizabeth Hofacre, an employee of the Cincinnati IRS office, said in an interview with congressional investigators. Another Cincinnati IRS employee said that Washington was “basically throwing us underneath the bus.”

Spokespeople for Rep. Cummings have failed to return repeated Daily Caller requests for the name of the “conservative Republican” in Cincinnati that Cummings claimed was responsible for planning the improper targeting. The title given for the unnamed gentleman does not appear in any published organizational chart of the Cincinnati IRS office.

SOURCE: http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/13/chief-counsel-in-lawsuit-against-irs-top-democrat-cummings-claim-is-ridiculous/