US News & World Report found an American University law professor who says USAID programs funding Islamic groups are not kosher.
U.S. taxpayer dollars going to Islamic radio, Islamic TV, Islamic schools, mosques, and monuments–no wonder some officials find the strategy controversial. USAID staffers argue that as long as they offer assistance to all groups and their grants are meant for secular activities, they are allowed to fund religious organizations. “We structure our programming to be in compliance with ‘establishment clause’ case law,” says Jeffrey Grieco, a USAID spokesman, referring to the First Amendment’s church-state divide. But some legal experts question whether America’s growing involvement with Islam is legal, given that American courts have found that tax dollars may not be used to support religion. “For us to be doing this is probably unconstitutional,” says Herman Schwartz, a constitutional law professor at American University. In 1991, Schwartz and the American Civil Liberties Union won a case against USAID to stop it from funding 20 Catholic and Jewish schools overseas.
It’s worth reading the whole thing, especially the section that indicates the CIA currently funds the Muslim Brotherhood, among other organizations . Here’s the money quote on that relationship:
Another strategy being pursued is to make peace with radical Muslim figures who eschew violence. At the top of the list: the Muslim Brotherhood, the pre-eminent Islamist society, founded in 1928 and now with tens of thousands of followers worldwide. Many brotherhood members, particularly in Egypt and Jordan, are at serious odds with al Qaeda. “I can guarantee that if you go to some of the unlikely points of contact in the Islamic world, you will find greater reception than you thought,” says Milt Bearden, whose 30-year CIA career included long service in Muslim societies. “The Muslim Brotherhood is probably more a part of the solution than it is a part of the problem.” Indeed, sources say U.S. intelligence officers have been meeting not only with the Muslim Brotherhood but also with members of the Deobandi sect in Pakistan, whose fundamentalism schooled the Taliban and inspired an army of al Qaeda followers.
* Here's a link to Todd Bullock's official US Government report aboutUSAID chief Andrew Natsios's October, 2005 Iftar dinner:
Washington -- Hosting the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) third annual iftar dinner October 20, USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios spoke of the affirmation of faith and compassion through Islam as well as the U.S. commitment to development throughout the world.
Natsios recognized the achievements of Muslim charitable organizations and reaffirmed the U.S. partnership with many of these organizations in helping improve the lives of those in need throughout the world.
"We are working actively in the Muslim world. Half of our $17 billion budget is spent in Muslim countries from Morocco to Indonesia and in Muslim countries in Africa and Central Asia," Natsios said. His audience consisted of U.S. Muslim civic leaders as well as members of the diplomatic corps in the meal that breaks the daytime fast during the month of Ramadan.
Offering the prayer to break the fast before the dinner, Imam Hisham Hussainy of the Karbala Institute in Dearborn, Michigan, said, "Fasting may be practiced around the world at different times for different reasons but God wanted us all to feel the need and hunger of those who suffer."
"In this time of compassion, we need to pray more and help one another. I am proud to be here at the time of the holy month of Ramadan with those who hold these values," Hussainy said.
"I think a person of faith cannot help but be moved when people of faith reaffirm their faith's connection to God and their commitment to fellow human beings," Natsios added.
He cited USAID's recent efforts to develop a free and responsible media in Afghanistan through the establishment of 29 locally owned and operated radio stations.
Natsios applauded the work of U.S. Sunni and Shi’a leaders who have traveled abroad and engaged audiences on Muslims' active participation in U.S. civil society.
The administrator also recognized the daily work and compassionate acts of USAID's non-U.S. staff around the world, which accounts for 4,966 employees out of USAID'S total staff of 7,193.
Several Muslim leaders also spoke of their successful partnerships with other faith-based organizations on humanitarian projects as well as gains in improving an understanding of Islam in the United States and abroad.
* And here's a link to an item from Militant Islam Monitor on USAID support for Arab terror.
* Finally, this quote on a US Government website from Natsios praising Iraq's constitutional pledge of allegiance to Islamic law:
With respect to Iraq in particular, Natsios said, “A law that reflects basic Muslim values is to be anticipated and welcomed under the new constitution as representing the authentic voice of the Iraqi people that Ba’athist ideology suppressed.”
With Natsios gone, would it be too much to ask Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to stop subsidizing Islamism, when she takes over USAID?