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England said he rarely disagrees with Islam's guidance. "After all," he said, "if you have a good doctor, you listen to your doctor, right?"
The bad news, dear reader, is that the man above, Gordon England, is the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the United States of America. Why is that bad? Because the man he glows over is none other than Muslim Brotherhood operator, Hashem Islam. Muslim brotherhood? That would be the parent organization of Al Queda. Mr England doesn't seem to get it. That's the bad news. The good news is.... Oh, I don't see any yet.
Let's take a look at Gordon England, a decent old duffer, from what we see.
Gordon England is the 29th Deputy Secretary of Defense. He previously served as the 72nd and 73rd Secretary of the Navy and as the first Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to joining the administration of President George W. Bush, Mr. England served as President of the General Dynamics Fort Worth Aircraft Company (later Lockheed)....
http://www.defenselink.mil
Secretary of the Navy? Maybe Mr. England has a boat, but there's no record of it here. If he has one it's very likely a nice one, maybe even a sail boat.
Gordon Richard England (September 15, 1937[1]) is an American businessman who currently serves as the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense. A two-time former United States Secretary of the Navy, he was nominated for his current position by U.S. President George W. Bush. President Bush recess appointed England to Deputy Defense Secretary on January 4, 2006.
England was a controversial choice for Secretary of the Navy due to his lack of any military service experience... U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ... decided to make corporate experience one of the key requirements in his appointees as was reported in the Washington Times. This policy led to England's appointment alongside other leading industrialists.... On January 24, 2003 England took up his new role as Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security in the newly formed United States Department of Homeland Security.... England was recalled to once again take on the role of Secretary of the Navy after just a few months following the suicide of his nominated replacement Colin R. McMillan. England was sworn in on October 1, 2003.
[....]
England has been actively involved in a variety of civic, charitable and government organizations, including serving as a city councilman; Vice Chair, Board of Goodwill Industries; the USO's Board of Governors; the Defense Science Board; the Board of Visitors at Texas Christian University; and many others.
He has been recognized for numerous professional and service contributions from multiple organizations such as Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Maryland; the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award; the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America; the Silver Knight of Management Award from the National Management Association; the Henry M. Jackson Award and the IEEE Centennial Award.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
It is my personal opinion that any old guy who earns by hard work and dedication the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America has to be a decent fellow. That, in my mind, is not in question. What I question is England's reliance on the good advice of a Muslim terrorist sympathizer who advised England to dismiss one of America's only military advisers on jihad. This is our government in the person of Gordon England:
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., "FRONT-GATE," Jewish World Review. January 23, 2008;
http://www.JewishWorldReview
Stephen Coughlin, [is] a Major in the Army Reserves who was working as a civilian contractor for the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he ran afoul of one Hashem Islam. Islam is Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England's point-man for the Pentagon outreach to the Muslim community.
Hashem Islam is also evidently an admirer of ISNA. He arranged for Secretary England to address one of the group's meetings last year — a huge help to an organization reeling from its designation by the Bush Department of Justice not only as a Brotherhood front but as an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism-financing conspiracy.
According to reporting by the Washington Times' National Security Correspondent, Bill Gertz, the sacking of Major Coughlin was precipitated by a sharp disagreement with Mr. Islam over ISNA. The former had made a serious study of this and other Islamist organizations as part of a 333-page thesis titled "To Our Great Detriment: Ignoring What Extremists Say About Jihad" prepared for, and recently accepted by, the National Defense Intelligence College.
Based on his analysis of the Islamofascist roots and agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood, Stephen Coughlin was given to warning his military audiences that it was no "moderate" organization. For example, he notes that one of the Ikhwan's most prominent leaders, Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, has declared: "The abduction and killing of Americans in Iraq is an obligation so as to cause them to leave Iraq immediately."
Coughlin has also studied the evidence submitted by the government in the Holy Land Foundation trial, including this chilling passage from a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood memorandum about its mission: "The Ikwan['s]...work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."
Mr. Islam reportedly told the Joint Staff's Coughlin to soften his criticism of the Brotherhood's ISNA and, when the latter refused, defamed him as "a Christian zealot with a pen." Some accounts add that it was a "poison" pen. Since Mr. Coughlin is not giving his side of the story to the press, it may require a congressional subpoena to get it properly told.
What is known, however, is that shortly after this exchange, the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not renew Mr. Coughlin's contract, which will expire at the end of March. Mr. Gertz reports that the Chiefs deemed it "too hot" to retain the services of a man widely believed to be the military's most knowledgeable expert on the Islamist ideology of our enemies.
http://www.slantright.com
I'll repeat it: that I think Gordon England is a harmless old coot, the kind of fellow most children would like to have as a grandfather. Is he a man who is sharp enough in the hurley burley of the world of people who kill and destroy for ideological reasons to make his way and guide the nation through this treachery? I suggest that we do not require a decent old fellow who would be a kindly grand-papa; I suggest we could have used a man who knows when he's being had by a manipulator. I suggest that Gordon England's failure, and the failure of those who appointed him, is that they are good and decent people as well. Gordon England couldn't see through Hashem Islam. This is part of what he couldn't see:
At the Center for Vigilant Freedom we have a series of excerpts from Claudia Rosset dealing with the life and times of Gordon England's advisor on things Islamic
:
January 25, 2008 by Christine: From National Review Online today -
[A] profile of [Gordon England's Muslim adviser Hesham] Islam, released October 15, 2007 by the Armed Forces Press Service under the headline: "Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary Focuses on Relationship Building." Still available on the Defense web site, the article includes an interview with Islam, some ... praise from England ..., and a photo of Islam, flashing a tight smile, seated in his shirtsleeves at his Pentagon desk, next to a bulletin board decked with diplomatic invitations.
But this Pentagon-endorsed profile raises more questions than it answers. It begins: "If Hesham Islam's life story was translated into a screenplay - and it's got all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster - the director would be hard-pressed to come up with a more compelling chain of events landing him as a top adviser to the deputy defense secretary."
As told by Islam to the reporter, "The movie would open with Islam as a young boy growing up in Cairo, Egypt, huddling in terror as Israeli bombs came raining down, demolishing much of the building around him and his family."
There's one problem with this scene. As far as I have been able to discover, Israel during Hesham Islam's entire lifetime has never bombed Cairo. Asked to explain this, the Pentagon spokesman duly conferred with Islam, and relayed to me by phone that Islam says this building-wrecking bombing raid took place during the 1967 Six-Day War. But as for details that might substantiate the when and where in Cairo of this graphic scene, Islam "Doesn't remember. He was seven years old."
[....]Queries I have made to a number of experts in Tel Aviv, the U.S., and Cairo itself all get the same reply: It didn't happen.
[After a list of dubious autobiographical details unconfirmed or contradicted by facts, Rosett writes that Islam immigrated to America and for] five years he worked in what the spokesman describes as the "food services" industry. In 1985 he joined the Navy as an electronics technician in the submarine service. According to his Pentagon biography, he went on to serve on a number of ships, in largely technical and operational posts, before hooking up with Gordon England and finally arriving at his current job in the Pentagon.
So, what qualifies Islam to serve as an adviser to whom Gordon England listens all the time, and whose advice England takes? According to Kevin Wensing, England's pubic-affairs aide: "Mr. Islam brings 20 years of experience in the U.S. Navy and international relations to his current assignment."
[Aside from knocking together a mean falafel, Hesham Islam has] an M.A. in national-security affairs, awarded in 1992 at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. For this degree, Islam wrote a 139-page thesis about the Middle East, entitled "Roots of Regional Ambition." In it, he devoted dozens of pages to lambasting Israel, and the influence of American Jews on U.S. politics. He deplored "Israeli activities which have detrimentally affected U.S. objectives but which have continued with impunity." He argued that U.S. support for Israel "has negatively affected the attainment of U.S. objectives in the Middle East." He blamed the influence of American Jews on U.S. policy for a host of ills, ranging from Arab "retaliation" against Americans, to jobs lost overseas, to hampering sales of "defensive arms to friendly Arab states."
http://www.vigilantfreedom.orgWhen Rosset was done asking questions, what happened?
"[The Department of Defense] puff piece on Heshem Islam, the Muslim outreach aide to Deputy Defense Secretary England, who accused Pentagon Islamic Law and Jihad military doctrine expert Stephen Coughlin of being a "Christian zealot with a pen" went 'poof' and disappeared off a website," as we see at Free Republic, which continues:
Bill Gertz who has been in the forefront of l'affaire Coughlin disclosures had this account of the bafflegab by the flacks at the DoD about why the profile of Heshem was taken down.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said "that piece was taken down in an attempt to reduce the rhetoric and the emotion surrounding this issue while we try to determine the facts."
The Pentagon does not comment on such personnel matters, he noted. "That said, we are looking into the matter and trying to reconcile conflicting statements."
But Gertz goes on with this twisted tale to press home and offers some interesting tidbits about Islam's prior views that are disturbing.
Mr. Wensing could not explain why Mr. Islam said in his biography that he was on a freighter sunk by an Iranian torpedo in the Persian Gulf when there is no record of the ship being sunk.
According to his 1992 master's thesis at the Naval Postgraduate School , Mr. Islam is highly critical of Israel and the influence of American Jews on U.S. politics, noting that U.S. ties to Israel have harmed relations to other states in the Middle East .
Some unidentified DoD person gave us a laugh when they commented:
One Pentagon official suggested that any security concerns about Mr. Islam are misguided, noting that someone in his position would have to face a background check.
We read: "someone in his position would have to face a background check." What? I thought you checked!
More here: Bill Gertz, "Inside The Ring," Washington Times, February 1, 2008
From: http://www.freerepublic.com
Thus far, then, we stack up a businessman who has never served in the military taking advice about Islam from a cook in the Iraqi navy. Cook, or more exactly, "food service worker," complains about Major Stephen Coughlin being a Christian zealot with a pen. Some have suggested that Coughlin is a nobody who hasn't published in juried academic journals, who must not be, therefore, a serious scholar. Better, one assumes, to trust a food service worker who lies about his life but who obviously hates Israel.
At Shrinkwrapped, a psychiatrist's blog, I believe, we get this:
"Stephen Coughlin, a lawyer, intelligence analyst and Major in the Army Reserve and an expert of Islamic law and Jihad working at the Joint Chiefs of Staff; he is apparently the preeminent, some say, the only such expert we have in DOD. Coughlin has briefed and given his presentations to many high ranking officers and has gained high praise for his revelatory presentations about what Islamic law has to say about Jihad and how we must analyze the threat we face from Islam.
[....]
According to news accounts, Couglin is being "terminated" from his contract J-2 intelligence position at the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the behest of Mr. Hesham Islam, a Muslim who is a retired Navy Commander and senior civilian advisor for International Affairs on the staff of Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, who England calls his "interlocutor" and "personal, close confidante." Mr. Couglin's analysis of fundamental Muslim texts, Islamic law and statements by Islamic terrorists concludes that the core documents of Islam and the world-view and the law and doctrines derived from them are the driving force which justifies and animates Jihad and also contains many other such unpalatable conclusions about Islam. Mr. Hesham Islam apparently doesn't want people at the Pentagon to hear this view. News accounts quote Islam as calling Coughlin "a Christian zealot with a poison pen," labeling Coughlin's fact-based assessments of Islam as "too harsh" and "controversial," and personally telling Couglin to "soften his message " about Islamic doctrines and Jihad. Since, according to his boss Gordon England, Mr. Hashem does Muslim "outreach," I wonder if it is Mr. Hashem who is responsible for arranging all those briefings of high ranking U.S. military personnel by representatives of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), un-indicted co-conspirators all."
http://shrinkwrapped.blogs.com
Of course, Hesham Islam's c.v. was disappeared from the department of Defense website after Claudia Rosset and others started asking unanswerable questions. But thanks to the Internet, here is some of it, the rest available at the link below:
Although Islam's life lends itself to high-drama scenes typically seen on the big screen, England sees him more as a behind-the-scenes player with a special talent for bringing other actors together.
Before retiring from the Navy, Islam contributed this skill and his regional and language expertise on the staff of then-Navy Secretary England. Much of Islam's work focused on U.S. military engagement with the Middle East.
As England moved to the No. 2 Pentagon position, Islam followed, broadening his purview to "the whole globe."
"He's my interlocutor," England said. "He represents me to the international community. He assists me in my own outreach efforts, and he's extraordinarily good at it."
Islam is rarely at his Pentagon desk, believing the best way to serve as England's "man out in town in Washington, D.C." is to be out and about, building relationships.
"I am a strong believer that there are no relationships between countries," he said. "Relationships are between people, and those relationships are what bring countries together."
"It is all about friendships between people," agreed England, "and you build them one person at a time."
England calls relationship building "a contact sport." "You can't develop friendships unless you actually go out and take the effort to meet people and interact with people," he said.
As he represents the Defense Department around the country and the around the world, England said, he counts on Islam's insights and advice. "Hesham helps me understand people's different perspectives and how they see things," England said. "He has a cultural background that's very helpful, but he also works at it very hard to get a better understanding of people and how they think."
Islam works tirelessly to befriend diplomats from around the world, learning from each about their country, its sensitivities, and its requirements. "I help them understand us, as Americans, and help my boss understand them," he said. "My goal is to bridge the gap and help people understand each other, even if we are different."
Not all Islam's efforts are directed toward other countries. A Muslim, Islam works closely with the Muslim-American community, encouraging its members to integrate into American society and take an active stand with the United States in the war on violent extremism. "This war can't be won by just Americans," he said. "It's a war that has to be fought by Muslims. Islam has been hijacked, and it is time to take it back."
Read it all at: http://opinionminion.blogspot
That's what I say. What do we read from other sources possibly more authorative than I am?
"HOMELAND INSECURITY: Islamist 'Trojan horse' in Pentagon, say experts
FBI: Top defense advisers linked to radical Muslim Brotherhood." WorldNetDaily.com; Posted: February 01, 2008
Federal authorities say a high-level Muslim Pentagon aide, who led a campaign to silence a Pentagon intelligence analyst for taking a hard line against Islam, is running an "influence operation" on behalf of U.S. Muslim groups fronting for the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
[....]
Islam ... is heavily involved with one of the groups, the Islamic Society of North America, which U.S. prosecutors last year named as a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and an unindicted co-conspirator in a major terror-funding case.
Recently declassified FBI documents reveal its sister organization, an Islamist think tank known as the International Institute of Islamic Thought, or IIIT, is involved in a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy to wage a cultural and political jihad to eventually take over America from within ? most notably, through infiltration of government agencies.
Islam works closely with Saifulislam (Arabic for "sword of Islam") on Pentagon outreach projects involving Middle Eastern embassies and the so-called Wahhabi lobby in Washington.
"He's a Muslim brother," an FBI official said of Islam. "He's a bad actor. He's well-positioned to be where he is, and that doesn't do us any good."
[....]
A former Pentagon colleague of Coughlin described Islam as a "gatekeeper," who at a minimum, is blocking candid discussion of the religious nature of the threat posed by Muslim terrorists. Such action, William Gawthrop says, thwarts the U.S. war effort, because it denies military brass and rank-and-file the information they need to effectively fight the Islamist enemy.
[....]
"Gordon is so trusting of this guy because he's worked for him for so long," the same official said. "But he's got questionable contacts, and he (England) needs to have his antennae up."
[more] http://wnd.com/news/article
"Gordon is so trusting of this guy....
"He's a Muslim brother," an FBI official said of Islam. "He's a bad actor...."
"It is all about friendships between people," agreed England, "and you build them one person at a time."
He has been recognized for numerous professional and service contributions ... [e.g.] the Silver Knight of Management Award from the National Management Association....
Gordon England is a decent guy, I'm sure of it. He's also the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the United States of America. His close adviser is a Muslim terrorist; and England didn't get it, maybe still doesn't. We can't sit by and allow another man, regardless of how nice he might be, to get fooled by terrorists. It's time to demand an accounting. It's time for gramps and the geezers to shuffle off to Florida. It's time for men to take over the stations of our guidance and protection. In this game, nice don't finish last: they end up as dead as the rest of the losers they didn't save.
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