Analyst's note: Extremely troubling. The FBI shunned the organization known as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) when it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a terror trial. One must ask why is the State Department now sending a CAIR leader to Mali, when this same CAIR leader frequently describes America as Islamophobic?
We continue to observe the enemy's ability to manipulate our national laws and use them against us, for example, " [....] CAIR's ability to share lecterns with FBI officials despite a ban on contact with the group, raises the question why the U.S. government continues to legitimize and even promote the conspiratorial messages of radical Muslim officials."
Please consider doing a search internal to this CSIA Report on the terms of "Phares" and "Tawfik" in order to help connect-the-dots. You will also find "Dialog: East Coast – West Coast – “Understanding the Jihadist” useful. This streaming broadcast is found under the "Media" tab on this site.
"The FBI severed its relationship with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in 2008, saying until it determines "whether there continues to be a connection between" CAIR leadership and Hamas terrorists, the organization is not an appropriate liaison partner.Two recent episodes show that, despite this rhetoric and evidence linking CAIR to a Hamas support network – in addition to unresolved questions about its current connections – government agencies continue to engage with the group, even sending its officials abroad to represent the U.S.