al-Qaeda Infiltration Into US Prisons - NY Times
ArKLyte_
Report Warns of Infiltration by Al Qaeda in U.S. Prisons
The New York Times
May 5, 2004
ERIC LICHTBLAU
WASHINGTON, May 4 — Groups promoting extremist brands of Islam have
gained a foothold in American prisons, and counterterrorism officials
believe Al Qaeda are likely to try to use the prisons "to radicalize
and recruit inmates," according to a Justice Department investigation.
In a report from the Justice Department inspector general's office,
investigators said safeguards were so loose in the 105 federal prisons
that inmate chapels "remain vulnerable to infiltration by religious
extremists." A copy of the report, to be released on Wednesday, was
obtained by The New York Times.
The investigation grew out of concerns among members of Congress that
groups training Muslim chaplains had terrorist ties and were breeding
extremism. But the investigation found that the problem of
"radicalized" prayer sessions was less a reflection of the chaplains
than of unsupervised inmates who were allowed to lead their own
worship meetings.
"Too many opportunities for abuse of this practice exist," the report
found.
The inspector general's report, the first detailed look into how the
federal prisons have dealt with extremist beliefs since the Sept. 11
attacks, will likely prove controversial among Muslim leaders, who say
they have been subjected to unfair scrutiny and criticism because of
their religious beliefs. Several groups that have trained Muslim
chaplains have vigorously denied charges of terrorist links, and
Muslim leaders point out that charges linking a military chaplain at
Guantánamo Bay to possible terrorism largely collapsed.
The inspector general concluded that while the problem of terrorist
recruitment in the federal prisons was not necessarily widespread,
officials needed a number of systemwide improvements to ensure tighter
control. Prison officials said Tuesday that they had already moved to
fix some problems identified in the report by demanding more
information about outside groups that train chaplains and by improving
communications with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The report
found that prison officials received sparse information from the
F.B.I. about inmates or chaplains who may have terrorist connections.
"We understand the seriousness and the risks inherent with extremist
chaplains, contractors or volunteers," said Dan Dunne, a Bureau of
Prisons spokesman. "And we've made significant changes since the
review was initiated to better screen religious service providers."
A classified addendum to the report details cases in which
counterterrorism officials assert that people leading prison prayer
sessions — including authorized chaplains, volunteers and inmates —
may have ties to terrorist groups.
In a briefing Tuesday for Congressional officials, the inspector
general's office said it found evidence that volunteers leading prayer
services had been linked to people who showed up on terrorist watch
lists, and that people associated with Al Qaeda had already managed to
recruit support within the federal prisons, said Senator Charles E.
Schumer, Democrat of New York.
Federal prison officials "were putting out the welcome mat to any
group that wanted to infiltrate the prisons," Mr. Schumer said. "There
was virtually no vetting of who would become a chaplain or a
volunteer, and there was virtually no supervision. It was an
invitation to danger."
Senators Schumer and Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, requested the
investigation and held a hearing last year after concerns focused on
the case of a Muslim chaplain, Warith Deen Umar, who had run New York
State's Islamic prison program and was a consultant in the federal
prisons. Mr. Umar was banned from the state prison program after he
reportedly expressed admiration for the Sept. 11 hijackers and
espoused a radical brand of Islam, but he maintained he was misquoted.
Senator Kyl said the inspector general's findings confirmed his
concerns about the spread of extremist messages in the prison system,
where Muslims represent an estimated 9,000 of the 150,000 inmates.
"There's a concern that groups may already be radicalizing people in
prison," he said. "Some of the findings are troubling, and clearly
there is work to be done."
The report found that chapels are among the few areas in federal
prisons where large numbers of inmates can meet and talk, and it noted
that several high-profile terrorist suspects had been drawn to Islam
while in prison. Chaplains sometimes supervise the prayer sessions
with no guards present, and some prayer sessions are conducted partly
in Arabic, the report said.
Although some chapel services are videotaped, prison officials
admitted that they might not be in a position to detect radical
religious messages. "Not a whole lot of folks are in tune with that
stuff," said an associate warden quoted in the report.
--
( W W P D ) - What Would Patton Do?
Chedley
well look into the possibility of al-Qaeda infiltrating the US Army, the
Congress and the White House!!! Have you ever heard of the concept of
freedom of religion ? My god, what's happening to this country?
"ArKLyte_" <ArkL...@Now.Net> wrote in message
news:v65h90tierc01s2br...@4ax.com...
Sgt. Butkus
Chedley <ched...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:DsGdnRodGeB...@comcast.com...
> Well, if you believe in this propaganda witch hunt stuff, then you might
as
> well look into the possibility of al-Qaeda infiltrating the US Army, the
> Congress and the White House!!! Have you ever heard of the concept of
> freedom of religion ? My god, what's happening to this country?
>
Freedom FROM religion is what's now, man.
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real muslums don't kill,drink, smoke, use drugs or sleep with your wife
while you are at work !