http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/09/23/327015/fbi-library-and-online-t
raining-resources-stocked-with-islamophobic-material/




<http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/09/23/327015/fbi-library-and-online-
training-resources-stocked-with-islamophobic-material/> FBI Library And
Online Training Resources Stocked With Islamophobic Material

By  <http://thinkprogress.org/author/eclifton/> Eli Clifton on Sep 23, 2011
at 12:55 pm

<http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/pipesspencer.jpg>
http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/pipesspencer-300x234.jpg
Spencer Ackerman's
<http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/07/fbi-islam-101-guide/> reports on
<http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/fbi-islam-qaida-irrelevant/3/>
Islamophobic training
<http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/fbi-muslims-radical/all/1> sessions
at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have sent the Bureau into damage
control mode. On Thursday, the FBI held a conference call with Muslim civil
rights groups to apologize for the offensive training materials, which
Ackerman has published over the past week.

The FBI has promised a "comprehensive review of all training and reference
materials," but Ackerman,
<http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/fbi-islam-domination/all/1> in an
article published today, reveals that the work of well-known Islamophobes
permeates the FBI's training culture and the internal reference resources
available to FBI agents.

Ackerman reports that the mandatory online orientation material for the
FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs), included the following
description of Sunni Muslims:

Sunni Muslims have been prolific in spawning numerous and varied
fundamentalist extremist terrorist organizations. Sunni core doctrine and
end state have remained the same and they continue to strive for Sunni
Islamic domination of the world to prove a key Quranic assertion that no
system of government or religion on earth can match the Quran's purity and
effectiveness for paving the road to God.

An examination of the FBI's library in Quantico, which is not open to the
public, revealed that the Bureau stocks a wide range of resources on Islam
but includes a number of books by well known anti-Islam authors
<http://thinkprogress.org/daniel-pipes-founder-middle-east-forum/> Daniel
Pipes and
<http://thinkprogress.org/robert-spencer-co-founder-stop-islamization-of-ame
rica-director-jihad-watch/> Robert Spencer.

Pipes and Spencer are featured prominently in the Center for American
Progress' new report, "
<http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/islamophobia.html> Fear,
Inc.," which outlines the small but influential group of individuals and
institutions who help promote anti-Muslim hatred in the U.S.

Spencer, who claims that "Islam is not a religion of peace" and has
suggested that President Obama may be a Muslim, gained notoriety after it
was revealed that Norwegian terrorist Anders Brevik's manifesto included
<http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/07/25/278677/islamophobic-right-wing
-blogger-breivi/> 162 references to Spencer and his blog Jihad Watch.

Pipes famously observed that "all immigrants bring exotic customs and
attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most." He also plays
a key role in the Islamophobia echo chamber by repeating the falsehood that
Obama is a former Muslim who "practiced Islam."

The combination of Islamophobic presentation and the FBI's apparent
endorsement of noted anti-Muslim "experts" like Spencer and Pipes raises
serious questions about the FBI's counterterrorism training and the Bureau's
understanding of Muslim Americans.

Earlier this month,
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016171004_copworkshop11m.h
tml> the Seattle Times reported on a disastrous presentation by an FBI agent
at a community outreach workshop. The failed presentation offers insights
into how federal law enforcement officers' training has seriously hampered
their ability to engage with Muslim communities.





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