A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation is once again asking the US Defence Department not to use anti-Muslim extremists to train military personnel. That renewed request by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) comes after Robert Spencer, one of the nation’s most notorious Islamophobes, published a post on his blog claiming he trained members of the “military intelligence community” on January 14. The insignia in the photographs Spencer posted on his hate site appear to correspond to those of the 149th Brigade of the 35th Infantry Division based in Louisville, Ky.
Spencer is co-founder of an anti-Islam hate group called Stop the Islamisation of America (SIOA), which was the main opponent of the planned Park51 Islamic community centre in New York City. SIOA is an outgrowth of a similar group in Europe that seeks to block the construction of mosques on that continent. SIOA’s sister organisation, Stop the Islamisation of Europe, “considers Islamophobia to be the height of common sense.”
The independent national media watch group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) identified Spencer as one of “Islamophobia’s Dirty Dozen” who systematically “spread fear, bigotry, and misinformation.” In its report, FAIR said, “By selectively ignoring inconvenient Islamic texts and commentaries, Spencer concludes that Islam is innately extremist and violent.”
A coalition of Muslim, Sikh, Asian-American, and other civil liberties groups recently called on FBI Director Robert Mueller to explain why Spencer was invited to train state and federal law enforcement officers. The letter noted that Spencer has referred to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad as a “con man.”