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"Washington Notes" is MPAC's weekly round-up of Washington, DC news and events that impact the American Muslim community. By highlighting Congressional hearings and policy forums, MPAC connects you directly with the Senate, House of Representatives, think-tanks, organizations, and federal agencies. We monitor important conversations on Islam and Muslims in order to enhance the role of American Muslims in the future of our nation. We invite you to do the same...
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June 13, 2006
CONGRESS OKS AID FOR IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN
"As President Bush bolstered support for the Iraq government by appearing with its leaders in Baghdad, the House on Tuesday approved an additional $66 billion for military operations there and in Afghanistan. When combined with earlier bills, the House-Senate compromise brings the tally for the three-year-old war in Iraq to about $320 billion. Operations in Afghanistan have now reached about $89 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service." - Associated Press
SEE: "House OKs More Aid for Iraq, Afghanistan" (Associated Press, 6/13/06)
June 12, 2006
RESOLUTION 681: US Will Prevail in War on Terror
Introduced by Rep. Henry Hyde
"Resolved, That the House of Representatives: declares that it is not in the national security interest of the United States to set an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Iraq; declares that the United States is committed to the completion of the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq; congratulates Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and the Iraqi people on the courage they have shown by participating, in increasing millions, in the elections of 2005 and on the formation of the first government under Iraq's new constitution; calls upon the nations of the world to promote global peace and security by standing with the United States and other Coalition partners to support the efforts of the Iraqi and Afghan people to live in freedom." - Library of Congress
SEE: "Resolution Declaring that the US Will Prevail in the Global War on Terror" (Library of Congress, 6/12/06)
"Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told a gathering of Democratic and liberal activists in Washington yesterday that 'we have to start bringing our troops home.'" - Washington Times
SEE ALSO: "Reid tells liberal activists troops must come home" (Washington Times, 6/13/06)
"[President Bush] is trying to fight this war with rhetoric. Iraq is not where the center of terrorism is. So when he says we're fighting terrorism over there, we're inciting terrorism over there. We're encouraging terror. We're destabilizing the area by being over there 'cause we're the targets. He said before there's weapons of mass destruction. He said there's an al Qaeda connection. There's many things he said turned out not to be true." - Congressman John Murtha (D-PA)
SEE ALSO: "Murtha Details His Exit Strategy" (CBS News, 1/15/06)
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June 8, 2006
HEARING: "The Role of NGOs in the Development of Democracy"
Foreign Relations Committee
Presiding chair: Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
"The President spoke eloquently about the need to advance democracy. And in our struggle against terrorism, and in promoting security and stability, the Administration is right: democracy is our most powerful weapon. But I am concerned that we are not getting it right. Fairly or not, the administration has created the impression around the world that it believes democracy can be imposed by force. And it has created the perception that it equates democracy with elections. We have to recognize that democracy can't be imposed by force from the outside. Instead we should work with moderates from the inside, and over the long haul." - Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE)
SEE: "Statement of Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Hearing on Non-Governmental Organizations and Democracy Promotion" (Foreign Relations Committee, 6/8/06)
SEE ALSO: "The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in the Development of Democracy" (Foreign Relations Committee, 6/8/06)
"My primary focus will be the so-called political NGOs -- those that advocate for human rights and democratic principles and practices. Although they constitute only a small component of the global NGO community, they are the ones that draw the most fire from governments who view them as a threat to their power.
"These NGOs build on a legacy of championing human rights through norm-setting and monitoring. They have helped to shape international agreements, instruments, institutions and human rights mechanisms over decades. NGOs were key to shaping the language on human rights and fundamental freedoms in the United Nations Charter and of the U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights itself. These NGOs courageously defend human rights activists, often while risking reprisal themselves." - Barry F. Lowenkron, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
SEE ALSO: "Testimony Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee" (State Department, 6/8/06)
"Human rights organizations promote, defend and sustain democracy. Besides providing resources and aid directly to such organizations, the international community should exact prompt and effective pressure on governments that attempt to restrict NGO human rights activities –including through adoption of legislation – and maximize their opportunities to build strong roots and constituencies of support within their own countries."
SEE ALSO: "Written Testimony of Human Rights First: The Importance of Local Human Rights Defenders in Successful Democracy Promotion" (Human Rights First, 6/8/06)
June 13, 2006
HEARING: "Counterterrorism: The Changing Face of Terror"
Foreign Relations Committee
Presiding Chair: Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
"We are determined to deny Iraq to terrorists who seek to undermine its new government. Al-Qaeda and its associated foreign fighters seek to hijack, transform, and direct local Sunni insurgents in Iraq. They view Iraq as a training ground and indoctrination center for Islamic extremists from around the world, particularly from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. They not only want to defeat the U.S., the coalition, the international community and our Iraqi allies, but also the notion of democracy in the Middle East.
"We must replace an ideology of hatred with an ideology of hope. Over the long term, our most important task in the War on Terror is not the 'destructive' task of eradicating enemy networks, but the 'constructive' task of building legitimacy, good governance, trust, prosperity, tolerance, and the rule of law." - Ambassador Henry A. Crumpton, Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State
SEE: "Testimony by Ambassador Henry A. Crumpton" (Foreign Relations Committee, 6/13/06)
SEE ALSO: "Counterterrorism: The Changing Face of Terror" (Foreign Relations Committee, 6/13/06)
"U.S. counterterrorism officials say they are uncovering homegrown Islamic radicals inside the United States who lack formal ties to al-Qaida and operate independently. Those independent qualities - combined with the radicals' ability to organize and plot on the Internet - make them particularly difficult to disrupt, retired Vice Adm. John Scott Redd, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday. In a hearing on the changing face of terror, Redd said the threat from homegrown extremism is a recent trend that was seen in successful transit attacks in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005." - Associated Press
SEE ALSO: "Agencies: Homegrown Radicals Inside U.S." (Associated Press, 6/13/06)
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June 13, 2006
UN CALLS FOR SHUTDOWN OF GITMO AFTER THREE SUICIDES
"The suicide of three inmates at the US "war on terror" detention centre at Guantanamo Bay came as little surprise and highlights the need to shut down the controversial facility, the United Nations' human rights office has said. The deaths, amid a prisoner hunger strike, were described by US officials as the first successful suicides after repeated attempts at the camp, which is located in a US military toehold in Cuba. International human rights groups, UN watchdogs and many foreign governments have repeatedly criticised the United States for holding the vast majority of the around 450 detainees in a 'legal black hole' since Guantanamo was set up in 2002." - Agence France Press
SEE: "Guantanamo Suicides Spotlight Need to Shut Prison: UN" (Agence France Press, 6/13/06)
"The U.S.-controlled detention facility in Guantánamo Bay has undercut America's moral authority. Reports of three detainee suicides further weaken our standing at home and abroad. We must undertake an immediate and independent investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of those in custody. The shroud of secrecy surrounding Guantánamo Bay must be lifted, with independent access to and monitoring of the facilities on an ongoing basis. This monitoring should include the medical treatment of detainees, especially those who have chosen to engage in hunger striking as a way to draw attention to their conditions of confinement." - Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American civil Liberties Union
SEE ALSO: "ACLU Calls for Immediate Independent Investigation into Reported Suicides at Guantánamo Detention Facility" (ACLU, 6/12/06)
SEE ALSO: "U.S. Torture and Abuse of Detainees" (Human Rights Watch, 6/06)
June 14, 2006
PRESIDENT BUSH TRAVELS TO SUPPORT NEW IRAQI PM AL-MALIKI
"President Bush yesterday made a surprise visit to Baghdad to tell new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki face to face that 'the future of this country is in your hands. When Iraq succeeds in having a government of and by and for the people of Iraq, you will have dealt a serious blow to those who have a vision of darkness, who don't believe in liberty, who are willing to kill the innocent in order to achieve a political objective,' said the president, traveling to Iraq less than a week after the U.S. military killed al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab Zarqawi." - Washington Times
SEE: "Bush Drops by Baghdad" (Washington Times, 6/4/06)
"President Bush, just back from Iraq, dismissed calls for a U.S. withdrawal as election-year politics and refused to give a timetable or benchmark for success that would allow troops to come home. [Bush] did not offer any specific targets to measure when Iraqis will be able to govern themselves. Instead, he declared that the government must be able to succeed and that leaving too early would 'make the world a more dangerous place. What we would like is an approach that says, when we reach certain milestones, then we begin a responsible redeployment of our troops and that the commitment is not open-ended', said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi in response to Bush's arguments." - Associated Press
SEE ALSO: "Bush Rejects Troop-Withdrawal Talk After Iraq Trip" (Associated Press, 6/14/06)
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June 12, 2006
STUDY FINDS ARAB AMERICANS FEAR POLICE ACTS
"This study, one of the first to examine the effects, nationally, of September 11 on law enforcement agencies and communities with high concentrations of Arab American residents, provides a window into current relations between Arab Americans and local and federal law enforcement, as well as the challenges that each of these stakeholders faces in responding to pressures that are increasingly global in nature.
"In every site, Arab Americans described heightened levels of public suspicion exacerbated by increased media attention and targeted government policies (such as special registration requirements, voluntary interviews, and the detention and deportation of community members). Although community members also reported increases in hate victimization, they expressed greater concern about being victimized by federal policies and practices than by individual acts of harassment or violence." - Vera Institute of Justice
SEE: "Law Enforcement & Arab American Community Relations" (Vera Institute of Justice, 6/11/06)
"It underscores the importance of community policing, of engaging the Arab and Muslim community in a constructive way and bringing them in to be partners,' said Farhana Khera, the executive director of Muslim Advocates, a national nonprofit organization of lawyers. Arab-Americans reported an increasing sense of victimization, suspicion of government and law enforcement, and concerns about protecting their civil liberties, according to the study. A fear of surveillance ranked high among their concerns." - New York Times
SEE ALSO: "After 9/11, Arab-Americans Fear Police Acts, Study Finds" (New York Times, 6/12/06)
June 22, 2006
EVENT: "UN Common Ground Conflict Resolution Film Series 2006 - Screening of 'Encounter Point'"
Search for Common Ground
Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium
United Nations, NY
June 22, 2006 at 6:30 p.m.
There will be an after-film discussion with Encounter Point's Israeli/Palestinian/North American/Brazilian production team of young women which includes director Ronit Avni, co-director Julia Bacha, producers Nahanni Rous and Joline Makhlouf.
SEE: "UN Common Ground Conflict Resolution Film Series 2006 - Screening of 'Encounter Point' (Search for Common Ground, 6/22/06)
SEE ALSO: "Encounter Point"
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June 13, 2006
COURT HEARS SPYING PROGRAM CASE
"The government's warrantless domestic spying faced its first courtroom test on Monday, with the Bush administration arguing the practice is well within the president's authority but that proving it would require revealing state secrets. The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the case against the National Security Agency (NSA), wants the program halted immediately, saying it violates free speech and privacy.
"'We're not arguing that the administration -- the executive office -- doesn't have the power to protect us by spying,' said Detroit lawyer Noel Saleh, a plaintiff in the case and president of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services in Dearborn, Mich. 'What we're arguing is that they don't have the power to protect us by violating the Constitution.'" - Washington Times, 6/13/06
SEE: "Wiretap program gets day in court" (Washington Times, 6/13/06)
"Under our Constitution, no one is above the law, not even the president. The government's arguments that the president, alone, can decide to spy on Americans without a warrant are fundamentally un-American and contradict the vision of the founders of our democracy." - Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of American Civil Liberties Union
SEE: "Court Hears Arguments on Legality of NSA Spying Program for the First Time Ever" (American Civil Liberties Union, 6/12/06)
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