GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: White House 'no comment' on SINT query over House hearings on radical Islam

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Security Industry News Today

07March2011 2:35pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: WASHINGTON — A 1:57PM call from Security Industry News Today to The White House concerning the House Homeland Security Committee hearings and Congressman Peter King’s efforts to address the topic of radical Islam and to find a link to terrorism.

The barrage of criticism leveled against King and other members of the committee have made this a hot button topic.

Security Industry News Today credits leaers like freshman congressman Ben Quayle (R-Arizona) and others or their tough stand on protecting the United States from the threat of radical, Islamic extremism. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

White GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: House praises Muslims ahead of House hearing

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Associated Press

07March2011 10:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: STERLING, Va. — Muslim Americans are not part of the terrorism problem facing the U.S. – they are part of the solution, a top White House official said Sunday at a Washington-area mosque.

Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough set the Obama administration's tone for discussions as tensions escalate before the first in a series of congressional hearings on Islamic radicalization. The hearings, chaired by New York Republican Peter King, will focus on the level of cooperation from the Muslim community to help law enforcement combat radicalization.

The majority of the recent terror plots and attempts against the U.S. have involved people espousing a radical and violent view of Islam. Just a few weeks ago a college student from Saudi Arabia who studied chemical engineering in Texas was arrested after he bought explosive chemicals online. It was part of a plan to hide bomb materials inside dolls and baby carriages and blow up dams, nuclear plants or the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush.

King said the Muslim community could and should do more to work with law enforcement to stop its members from radicalizing and recruiting others to commit violence.

"I don't believe there is sufficient cooperation" by American Muslims with law enforcement, King said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "Certainly my dealings with the police in New York and FBI and others say they do not believe they get the same – they do not give the level of cooperation that they need." (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: King to Press On With Hearings on Radical Islam Despite Protests in New York

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Fox News

07March2011 4:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: WASHINGTON — Radical Islam poses a threat to the United States as a whole, but is particularly dangerous to American Muslims who are targeted by terror groups, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Sunday in defending upcoming hearings on radical Islam.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is facing a backlash, including a Sunday protest in New York, over his decision to hold Thursday's hearing — the first in a series — on the threat of Islamic radicalization. King said he's surprised the American-Muslim community is not embracing his hearings because they are the ones most victimized when radical elements infiltrate their communities.

"I've said time and again the overwhelming [majority] of Muslims are good Americans, but the threat is coming from their community and we have to find out why, how it is being done and how to stop it," he told Fox News. "We have an absolute obligation to investigate that." (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: King's Hearings on Radical Islam Draw Rival Protest Groups

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: WNYC

23February2011 2:50amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: About 130 protestors demonstrated in front of Rep. Peter King's office in Massapequa Park on Tuesday, some in support and others against the Long Island politician's proposed Congressional hearings meant to examine the threat of radical Islam in the U.S.

King, who is Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, was recently asked to focus his inquiry on "examine extreme environmentalists and neo-Nazis," but King declined, saying, "the Committee will continue to examine the threat of Islamic radicalization, and I will not allow political correctness to obscure a real and dangerous threat to the safety and security of the citizens of the United States."

"Mr. King's hearings are discriminatory and self-defeating," said one demonstrator, Dr. Shaik Ubaid, of the Muslim Peace Coalition USA. "If Rep. Peter King is sincere about the home-grown terrorist threat, as we all are, including American Muslims, for they have the most to lose, then he must invite the director of the FBI and other top law enforcement agencies. He has not done so."

Ubaid added: "[King] must hold hearings on all terrorist groups including the ones who pose the biggest threat such as the armed militias who, according to news reports, are arming for a war and threatening even the President of the United States. He has not done so."

Some supporters of King argued that if most Muslims are not extremists, they shouldn't be afraid of what the hearings will bring out. Others suggested some important revelations could emerge.

"I’d like to see a solid hearing, where they look throughout the allegations in the American community that there’s a lot of radical Islamists who are ready to take action against this country, whether they be natural born citizens, whether they come from other countries," said Jim Duffy, a member of the Conservative Party of Suffolk County. (read full report)

Additional reading: Peter King's "Radicalization" Hearings – Another Barrel of Monkeys?

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.