« Morning Reads | Main | Where Do Our Oil Dollars Go? »

June 28, 2005

More Lowdown on Lodi: Media Continue Painting With Whitewash

Topics: War on Terror

In an article in the Lodi News-Sentinal on Monday entitled "Some see Adil Khan as a peacemaker, others describe him as clever politician," we have yet another swipe with a broad brush by the media to paint an alleged (did I say alleged?) terrorist as just another fine intellectual from a small farming village in Pakistan - just trying to get along in America.

And of course while he's at it, build an Islamic school to teach peace and tolerance? Right.

- Lodi News-Sentinal

Mohammed Adil Khan generated excitement and controversy in Muslim circles when he joined the troubled Lodi Muslim Mosque in 2001.

The soft-spoken Pakistani immigrant promised to build a progressive Islamic school open to everyone, girls as well as boys, non-Muslims as well as Muslims.

He holds a doctorate in Islamic studies -- a rare distinction among California imams, who often have little formal religious training.

He has led prayers and given speeches to Muslims worldwide. His father is a well-known Muslim thinker and writer who founded Jamia Farooqia, a large Islamic school, or madrassah, in Karachi where Adil Khan taught.

Now, Adil Khan, 47, has helped put Lodi, a San Joaquin County city of 62,000, on the international map -- not for his modern ideas or distinguished background, but because he apparently is the target of a federal terrorism investigation.

Earlier this month Adil Khan and his protégé from Pakistan, Shabbir Ahmed -- who also served as imam of the Lodi mosque -- were jailed without bond on allegations of U.S. immigration violations, along with Adil Khan's 19-year-old son, Mohammad Hassan Adil.

At Ahmed's immigration hearing Friday, the government began laying out its case against the two imams, trying to link them to anti-American activities.

Paul Nishiie, a prosecutor for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that in a recent FBI interview, Shabbir Ahmed admitted giving five speeches in Islamabad shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, "encouraging people to go to Afghanistan to defend Osama, to defend the Taliban and to kill Americans."

Ahmed denied the charges, saying, "I simply said to try to pressure the Americans to stop bombing (Afghanistan)."

But I quess it's all in the way you look at a situation, some recognizing a polecat while others just think about sniffing for perfume, as long as it's soft on Islamists and anti-U.S. government. But Robert Spencer looks at the same situation and sees, "Lodi Imam Admits Giving Speeches Urging Pakistanis to Fight Americans."

Posted by Hyscience at June 28, 2005 9:39 AM

Articles Related to War on Terror:

• "The Saudis' Secret Agenda" - May 03, 2008
• State Department And Homeland Security Choose To Fly Blind In The War On Terror - Apr 30, 2008
• Bush Erupts Against Attention-deficit Media - Explains 'Winning Doesn't Mean War Is Over' (Must See Video) - Apr 29, 2008
• Request For Contributions Of Mohammad Caricatures - Apr 23, 2008
• Al-Sadr's Familiy Turns On Him - Disowns "Rogue Son" - Apr 23, 2008
• Md. Man Who Sent Threatening Letters to Bush Sentenced to 15 Years: So What Should 'Little Bush Hater' Get For YouTube Video? - Apr 22, 2008
• Carter Again Proves He's The Useful Idiot Of Terrorists - Apr 21, 2008
• The World According To Jimmy Carter - Apr 14, 2008
• (Video) Hamas MP: Islam Will Conquer Europe and the Two Americas - Apr 14, 2008
• Top Al Qaeda Leader Abu Ubaida al-Masri Confirmed Dead in Pakistan - Apr 09, 2008