Is this for real? Why isn't this huge? I don't understand.

"...an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists..."

So, on what basis do we label organizations as terrorist? Considering the record of infallibility of our intelligence organizations, it seems a pretty "iffy" premise to blindly trust their take on this.

This is the problem with some of these new rules--if things are being done secretly by others, how are you supposed to know about it? Any charity could be doing things secretly, or inadvertently supporting another group that is doing things secretly, etc. etc. etc.

I suppose that now that we have Homeland Security, it is best not to give any money to any church, organization, or charity, so as to avoid the possibility of choosing the wrong one.

One of the lesser atrocities coming out of the war on terror, well below the killing of one million Iraqis, Gitmo, suppression of Habeas Corpus, has been the unfounded prosecutions of Islamic charities in this country. Any sensible person should receive these stories with suspicion.

And to think that American's can openly give all the money they desire to West Bank settler terrorists without any government interference. Sometimes life is just not fair.

Having said this much, I agree with MJ; if this guy was a democrat it would headline across all the networks.

Well, Huckabee is goin' to put a stop to all that.

David Corn interviewed Huckabee advisor Jim Pinkerton, and Pinkerton said Huck may put a cop in front of every mosque in America, that will keep those sticky fingered Republicans from shaking down those folks.

Imagine if it was a Democrat!

I'll try to -

(CNN) -- A former congressman has been charged in connection with his work for an Islamic charity accused of funneling money to an Afghan warlord, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Mark Siljander served three terms in the House of Representatives.

The money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges against former Michigan Rep. Mark Deli Siljander are part of a 42-count indictment released by the U.S. attorney's office in Kansas City, Missouri.

Siljander "vehemently denies the allegations in the indictment and will enter a not guilty plea," said his attorney, James Hobbs.

Prosecutors allege Siljander's co-defendants -- the directors of an Islamic charity -- hired him to get the organization off a list of agencies suspected of links to terrorism and paid him with stolen U.S. government funds.

The Treasury Department designated the Islamic American Relief Agency as a suspected fundraiser for terrorists in 2004, The Associated Press reported.

Siljander is also accused of lying to federal agents and prosecutors about his work for the group, which allegedly steered $260,000 to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar -- an ally of the Taliban and al Qaeda.

The United States named Hekmatyar a "specially designated global terrorist" in 2003.

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Read the indictment (PDF)
The money was sent between 2002 and 2004 to accounts in Peshawar, Pakistan. Some of the funds were supposed to go toward renovating buildings Hekmatyar owns in an Afghan refugee camp, according to the indictment.

Five officers of the charity already faced charges of money laundering, theft of government funds and violating U.S. sanctions on Iraq. Wednesday's indictment adds eight counts involving the transfer of money to Hekmatyar.

Siljander's attorney denied wrongdoing by his client.

"Mr. Siljander was never an officer of the Islamic American Relief Agency, nor was he ever involved in any alleged efforts by IARA to engage in any prohibited financial transactions with any U.S.-designated terrorist, including Gulbuddin Hekmatyar," Hobbs said.

"Mr. Siljander is not even named in those counts."

Siljander served three terms in the House of Representatives before losing to a Republican primary challenger in 1986. He later served as a U.S. delegate to the U.N. General Assembly late in the Reagan administration.

He now operates a consulting and public relations firm based in suburban Washington.

Lawmakers who heard the news of his indictment were "shocked," said Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Illinois.

"He traveled the world, almost as a missionary. He was a man of deep faith," said LaHood, who reported seeing Siljander at a congressional prayer breakfast in December.

He called the news "very sad."

Michigan Democrat Dale Kildee said he knew Siljander "very well as a Michigan colleague," calling him "very conservative" and a "devout Christian." Kildee, a former seminarian, said he often talked to Siljander about politics and theology.

"Obviously, this is surprising to me," he said. "I haven't seen him since he left Congress, but I used to talk to him on walks back and forth across the street to votes and in delegation meetings."

I put the italic on the word Republican to help people actually FIND it in this CNN write-up. Now if read casually it wouldn't be too hard to imagine the guy as a Democrat who was DEFEATED by a Republican now would it? Oh and there's also the reference at the end there of a Michigan Democrat who "knew" him so I suppose we can also assume that Democrats associate with these kinds of "terrorist supporters". Even if you don't get the impression that this is subtly painting the guy a Democrat it is certainly distancing him from the Republicans by only using the word Republican in naming who it was that defeated him.

Woe as me, who will save us from the terrorist supporters and their Democratic colleagues!? I guess the Republicans will...

Here is the statement from the U.S. Department of Justice about the case. And here is an interesting paragraph found in the middle of the statement about the case.

It is important to note that the indictment does not charge any of the defendants with material support of terrorism, nor does it allege that they knowingly financed acts of terror. Instead, the indictment alleges that some of the defendants engaged in financial transactions that benefited property controlled by a designated terrorist, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

"To save your world you asked this man to die; Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?" W.H. Auden

Frankly, I replied to hastily yesterday in looking for big coverage later. I think it got about what it deserved and that MJR went off the rails a bit.  Somehow, he had me thinking of a bigger scandal. We've someone who was last in Congress 21 years ago, a lobbyist for an Islamic charity. The public will not easily associate him with the Republican Congress, hypocrisy in the manner of the usual scandals, or the single-minded party focus of the K Street project. They'll think, oh, another lobbyist, when they're probably all raking in bucks, and maybe even guilt by association. Best thing is that it didn't then get used by the GOP to show us that all Islamic organizations are fronts for the bad guys in the GWOT. 

John 

http://www.haberarts.com/

IOKIYAAR

Shouldn't this alarm everybody? This is not a Democrat versus Republican issue. Democrats should be as outraged as any
Republican. Note that the congressman is not accused of knowing that the organizaion was a terrorist organization, or contributing to it. He is charged with "lying" to the authorities. Note that his "lie" is really only spin. He claims they were donating and the government calls it a payment for lobying. The government claims his word spin constitutes a "lie".