Al Manar – the official broadcasting arm of the terrorist group Hezbollah – is again attempting to discredit (and thus silence) respected American national security experts. And as a means of doing so, they are touting a now-public letter by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) which refers to respected foreign policy analyst Dr. Walid Phares as “an associate to war crimes” and a “conspiracy theorist.”
The issue stems from the fact that the Mitt Romney presidential campaign has named Phares to its team of national security advisors.
CAIR, which authored the letter and sent it to Romney, doesn’t approve of the appointment. Neither does Hezbollah.
In a posting on Hezbollah's official TV broadcast arm al Manar, the terrorist organization (implicated by a UN Tribunal in the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon) attacked Professor Walid Phares.
They cited an article which was based on a CAIR letter leveling vicious attacks on the Jihadism expert and author of The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East. The Hezbollah propaganda arm warned that, by appointing Phares as one of his advisors on Middle Eastern affairs, Republican hopeful Mitt Romney is echoing the appointment by the State Department of Heinz Mahoney as deputy ambassador for the US in Damascus.
They cited an article which was based on a CAIR letter leveling vicious attacks on the Jihadism expert and author of The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East. The Hezbollah propaganda arm warned that, by appointing Phares as one of his advisors on Middle Eastern affairs, Republican hopeful Mitt Romney is echoing the appointment by the State Department of Heinz Mahoney as deputy ambassador for the US in Damascus.
Hezbollah charged that Mahoney "is an American spy, married to a Syrian, speaks Arabic fluently, and is an expert in recruiting agents and spies." On Phares’s non-related appointment, the Iranian regime’s proxy wrote: "imagine what the coming days will bear in terms of surprises, accusations and explosions."
To validate its statement, Al Manar cited the above-noted (US-based) Daily Beast article by McKay Coppins that trashed Professor Walid Phares by referring to the CAIR letter sent to Romney asking for Phares’s removal. McKay's article was based on CAIR's letter and Hezbollah used it to attack Phares.
To validate its statement, Al Manar cited the above-noted (US-based) Daily Beast article by McKay Coppins that trashed Professor Walid Phares by referring to the CAIR letter sent to Romney asking for Phares’s removal. McKay's article was based on CAIR's letter and Hezbollah used it to attack Phares.
Observers noted that this wasn't the first time CAIR and Hezbollah media campaigns converged to the point of merging. Last Spring, CAIR, accused by many to be a front for the terror group Hamas, also sent a letter to Rep. Pete King demanding the removal of Professor Phares from the list of expert witnesses in the hearings on Jihadi radicalization. That letter was also picked up and publicized by the Iranian-backed daily al Akhbar in Lebanon.
Writing in as Siyassa of Kuwait, Hamid Ghuriafi said "the campaign of incitement waged by Nihad Awad, director of CAIR, against Professor Walid Phares, a Congressional advisor, is full of lies and misrepresentations. It was executed at the request of the Iranian regime after Phares appeared in an American movie (“Iranium”) released two weeks ago. In that film, Phares called on the Obama Administration and the international community to expedite a regime change in Tehran by supporting the democratic Green revolution in Tehran, which could lead to the crumbling of the Khamenei-Ahmedinejad regime." (See: CAIR Director Accused of Sectarian Incitement Against Congressional Advisor). Many in the Arab world view CAIR as a force of extremism inside the United States as reported in al Qanat.
Writing in as Siyassa of Kuwait, Hamid Ghuriafi said "the campaign of incitement waged by Nihad Awad, director of CAIR, against Professor Walid Phares, a Congressional advisor, is full of lies and misrepresentations. It was executed at the request of the Iranian regime after Phares appeared in an American movie (“Iranium”) released two weeks ago. In that film, Phares called on the Obama Administration and the international community to expedite a regime change in Tehran by supporting the democratic Green revolution in Tehran, which could lead to the crumbling of the Khamenei-Ahmedinejad regime." (See: CAIR Director Accused of Sectarian Incitement Against Congressional Advisor). Many in the Arab world view CAIR as a force of extremism inside the United States as reported in al Qanat.
