Sunday, June 05, 2011

(neo) conning the Shi'a Muslim community in the US

Two good recent articles on the neo-con infiltration of the Shi'a Muslim communities in the United States:

1. The Secret War: The Zionist Spy and the Formation of the Shia-Con

In a recently published tell-all book, Is it good for the Jews?: the Crisis of America's Israel Lobby, neocon Stephen Schwartz describes how some Shi'a clerics and leaders from inside the US were groomed and promised positions of power and clout if they openly accepted and indoctrinated the Shi'a masses into accepting the neocon agenda. These Shi'a clerics and leaders were referred to as "Shia-Cons" by US government officials and were funded and supported by the neocon movement months before the Iraq war. Lawrence Anthony Franklin, was instrumental in nurturing groups such as the Universal Muslim American Association (UMAA) which lead to the formation of other Shi'a groups.


UMAA:Whose Tune Are You Singing?

In addition to the questionable endorsement of Daniel Pipes from at least one member of UMAA’s management, UMAA provided a platform in 2003, for the very master-mind behind the war on Iraq, namely the then U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz. Wolfowitz was one of the first officials to push for an invasion of Iraq, immediately in the aftermath of 9/11, and less known to the public is that he was also investigated for passing classified documents to Israel through an intermediary in AIPAC. Although in recent times, UMAA has attempted to distance itself from the event; their formal response has been a weak apology at best....