|| -----Original Message-----
|| From: Hakki Alacakaptan
|| || -----Original Message-----
|| || From: Michael Pugliese
|| ||
|| || Hakki cites Jared Israel quoting BBC Newsnight, Greg
|| || Palast reporting.
|| || Since I just saw a new book by conservative terrorism expert
|| || Steven Emerson,
|| || and the WAMY is made much of in my quick skim, here 'tis...
|| || http://www.google.com/search?q=World+Assembly+of+Muslim+Youth+St
|| || even+Emerson
|| || +
|| || (...)
|| Calling Steve Emerson a "terrorism expert" is a tad more
|| questionable than
|| citing Jared, though. Vince Cannistraro is a terrorism expert
|| and he says
|| Emerson works for Mossad.
||
|| Hakki
||
Talk of the devil... Salon just released an article on Emerson's role in the campaign against Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/19/bubba/print.html The prime-time smearing of Sami Al-Arian By pandering to anti-Arab hysteria, NBC, Fox News, Media General and Clear Channel radio disgraced themselves -- and ruined an innocent professor's life.
- - - - - - - - - - - - By Eric Boehlert
Jan. 19, 2002 (...) Despite the fact no charges have ever been brought against the USF professor (on the contrary; he's met personally with both Presidents Clinton and Bush in recent years), Emerson has been branding Al-Arian a terrorist for close to a decade. During a 1996 speaking engagement in St. Petersburg, Emerson, citing anonymous sources, assured the audience that Palestinian radicals at USF were involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Testifying before Congress that same year, Emerson said that materials seized at Al-Arian's home constituted "one of the largest acquisitions of raw terrorist material ever found in the United States."
And during a 1997 speech Emerson laid it on thick, insisting, "From the safety of [his] Tampa office, Mr. Al-Arian operated a terrorist organization, raising funds, recruiting terrorists and bringing them into the country, devising terrorist strategies, and actually directing specific terrorist attacks." Again, Emerson's unspecified sources made it impossible to verify these sensational charges. Of course, if Emerson had real evidence to support them, Al-Arian wouldn't be sweating an appearance on the "The O'Reilly Factor" today; he'd be doing hard time.
Despite that string of hollow indictments, producers at NBC's news magazine "Dateline" didn't hesitate to usher Emerson on the air last October for a segment to -- what else? -- accuse Al-Arian of aiding terrorists.
In her introduction, NBC's Jane Pauley recklessly stressed a connection between Al-Arian and Sept. 11: "We're told that it's probable, if not certain, that there are still terrorists among us. Now investigators say there is evidence that an organization with ties to Middle East terrorists may have been operating in Florida for as long as a decade."
The "investigators" turned out to be ... Steve Emerson. In fact, NBC never interviewed a single law enforcement official for its Oct. 28 report. The "Dateline" piece consisted entirely of Emerson, who was given a prime-time platform to air his creative accusations. (Al-Arian refused to appear on the show.)
Emerson told "Dateline" reporter Bob McKeown that Islamic Jihad "had essentially relocated to the United States in the city of Tampa," where it was operating as "a shadow government" for the terrorist group.
Emphasis on shadow, since neither the FBI, the INS, the CIA, USF nor the Tampa police were ever able to uncover it. Only Emerson. (...)