Saudi influence of Republican fundraiser Grover Norquist
from
InstaPundit's excellent site comes two links:
from
FrontPage Magazine:
bq. At a black-tie dinner on November 5th, nearly 300 conservative activists and politicians gathered at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel to recognize a prominent fixture in their community: tax-advocate and conservative coalition-builder Grover Norquist.
bq. The talk that evening was of the honoree’s tireless efforts to advance his libertarian objective of down-sizing federal, state and local governments by reducing their revenues. He was toasted for organizing nationwide initiatives to memorialize Ronald Reagan, notably with the renaming of the capital’s National Airport after the former President.
bq. Most in the audience were surely unaware that the effect of their tribute – if not its organizers’ intended purpose – was to provide urgently needed political cover for a man who has been active on another, far less laudable and, in fact, deeply problematic front: Enabling a political influence operation to advance the causes of radical Islamists, and targeted most particularly at the Bush Administration. The growing influence of this operation – and the larger Islamist enterprise principally funded by Saudia Arabia – has created a strategic vulnerability for the nation, and a political liability for its President.
later in the article:
bq. The investment began when Alamoudi wrote two personal checks (a $10,000 loan and what appears to be a $10,000 gift) to help found Norquist’s Islamic Institute. In addition, Alamoudi made payments in 2000 and 2001 totaling $50,000 to Janus-Merritt Strategies, a lobbying firm with which Norquist was associated at the time.
bq. Questions about the original source of this seed money would seem to be in order. In particular, it would be instructive to know whether it came from Saudi Arabia or a pedigreed terrorist state like Libya. Last month, Alamoudi was arrested and charged with engaging in illegal financial transactions with the Libyan government. According to an affidavit filed at the time, he admitted to trying to take $340,000 in sequentially numbered $100 bills to Syria, en route to Saudi bank accounts. When apprehended, Alamoudi declared that the funds had been delivered to him after extensive interactions with officials of Muammar Qadhafi’s government by a man “with a Libyan accent.” Its source is alleged to be a charity used by Qadhafi to finance terrorist operations.
it's all nicely footnoted and referenced (81 citations)...
The other link is to the
Winds of Change weblog with some links to other articles and a wonderful quote from Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.):
bq. "If what has happened here is not treason, it is its first cousin. The ones responsible - be they staff or elected or both - should be dealt with quickly and severely sending a lesson to all that this kind of action will not be tolerated, ignored or excused."
UPDATE:
The
Belmont Club weighs in with some good comments too:
bq. One of the myths about the current War on Terror is that it is principally about religion. That is incorrect. It is principally about money. Radical Islamist organizations have attacked the West in the expectation of gain, as argued in
Follow the Money. It is a weapon too, and is wielded with special cunning and precision by factions long practiced in corruption and incitement to treachery. Unless the sword of gold is turned against them, we will bleed upon it even as we kiss it.
Posted by DaveH at December 9, 2003 1:30 PM