Website Smears Father Of Slain US Army Officer With Accusations of Muslim Brotherhood Ties- Can Things Get Any Lower?

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Two years ago, the GMBDW complained about the misuse of GMBDW research. As we wrote at that time:

The GMBDW has been publishing for over seven years. Prior to this, following 9/11, the GMBDW editor was already gathering information on the networks, leadership, ideology, funding, and other salient facts about the global network later named the Global Muslim Brotherhood (GMB). From the outset, our greatest challenge has been gaining acceptance for the notion that there even is such a phenomena as a Global Muslim Brotherhood as we have defined it. Some 3700 posts later, that challenge still exists due to a regrettable combination of ideology, political correctness, and willful blindness to the factual evidence presented on these pages. On any reasonable view, these facts speak for themselves.

More recently, an additional challenge has emerged, namely the use of GMBDW research to spin unsubstantiated and fanciful stories about the same networks we have so carefully tried to document. The most egregious example is the claim, since gone viral, that the Muslim Brotherhood has “infiltrated” the Obama administration. Stories based on this alleged infiltration typically feature rogues galleries of “Muslim Brotherhood operatives” said to be whispering in the ear of the Obama administration and aimed at causing the downfall of the United States. In most cases, the stories include high-profile individuals first identified by the GMBDW as tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood using criteria we have long since publicly explained.

It has now come to our attention that one of the worse offenders in this regard has sunk to even new lows. As one media report explains, a long time friend and confidant to Donald Trump has called Khizr Khan, the father of slain US Army Captain Humayun Khan, a “Muslim Brotherhood agent.”:

Roger Stone, a longtime friend and confidant to Donald Trump, jumped into the fray over Khizr Khan’s scathing criticism of the Republican presidential nominee on Sunday, calling Khan a “Muslim Brotherhood agent.” Khan, the father of slain American war hero Humayun Khan, slammed Trump for his anti-Muslim rhetoric and “schoolyard bullying” in a DNC speech last week. His comments prompted a great deal of praise, but they also triggered a spat between Trump and the Khan family, with Trump questioning why Khan’s wife did not speak during the DNC speech. While Trump’s VP on Sunday apparently engaged in damage control by saying Trump “adores” the Khan family, Stone took to Twitter to write: “Mr. Khan more than an aggrieved father of a Muslim son—he’s Muslim Brotherhood agent helping Hillary.” Stone then linked to a conspiracy theory website claiming Khan’s son was killed not as a hero in Iraq, but as a Muslim on an “Islamist mission” killed before he could complete it. Trump has not yet commented on Stone’s remarks.

The website referred to in the above report has frequently used GMBDW research to spin conspiracies about the Brotherhood so convoluted that neither the GMBDW editor, with over 25 years of investigative experience, nor any other trained analyst can even follow the chain of “logic” in the reports. Arabic translators also tell us that the Arabic media sources used by the site, often dubious in the first place, often do not remotely say what the reports assert they do. In the case of Khizr Khan, we forced ourselves to once again to delve into the tortured analysis and found that the site claims Mr. Khan is a “Muslim Brotherhood agent” because:

  • He wrote a paper on Islamic law that acknowledges the writings of a “S. Ramadan”, presumably but not confirmed to be the now deceased Said Ramadan, the he son-in-law of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna.
  • He was once in Saudi Arabia “the motherland of Wahhabism”,  although the amount of time he spent there is not identified nor any activities on the part of Mr. Khan that anything to do with “Wahhabism.”
  • His law firm provides immigration services for Muslims.
  • He is said to have authored a paper called “In Defense of OPEC although the link to the paper provided does not link to such a paper nor could such a paper be found.
  • He once worked for a law firm that does work for the Saudi Embassy and that donated $50,000 to the Hillary Clinton Campaign.
From these slender reeds, the site concludes that Mr. Khan:
  •  Is a promoter of Islamic Sharia Law.
  •  Is a Muslim Brotherhood agent, working to bring Muslims into the United States.
  •  Is a Muslim plant working with the Hillary Clinton campaign, probably for the interest of Muslim oil companies as well as Muslim immigration into the U.S.
  • Is upset, that a Trump victory will eliminate and destroy decades of hard work to bring in Islamic immigration into the United States
The GMBDW has reviewed Mr. Khan’s article on Islamic Law and finds nothing within that could remotely be construed as “promotion” of Islamic Sharia Law. In addition, we note that S. Ramadan, whoever he may be, is not cited as a source within the text so it is likely that Mr. Khan wanted to credit his contribution to his thinking on the subject. Even if S. Ramadan is, in fact, the individual in question we fail to see how crediting him in an article could conceivably be used as evidence for being an “agent of the Muslim Brotherhood.” As for the rest of the so-called “evidence” we will leave to our readers to decide if the conclusions drawn have any connection to reality.
The site compounds the distasteful and blatant smear attempt on Khizr Khan with the vile suggestion that his son was somehow on “an Islamist mission” during his Army service in Iraq:

In regards to his son, many were the ‘Muslim martyrs’ who joined the US military. ……Is it likely that Khan’s son was killed before his Islamist mission was accomplished? Only another type of investigation will determine that.  Do they ever mention how many soldiers have died because of Muslim traitors? Do they ever bring up how many Christians in the US military were killed?  

In fact, Army Capt. Humayun S.M. Khan who in 2005 was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq after attempting to stop his vehicle and after warning fellow soldiers of the attack. The site’s suggestion, offered without even the usual nonsensical “evidence”, represents a new low in territory already littered by those with seemingly no scruples and who have taken to calling “Muslim Brotherhood” anybody whom they would like to target and for any reason. The author of the site in question has himself claimed to be a former terrorist who saw the light of reason although his claims have been debunked by multiple media outlets. The GMBDW wishes to dissociate itself from and we condemn without reservation the vile tactics of this website in attempting to smear Khizr Khan and his late son who bravely gave his life in service of his country. In addition, we are repeating our 2014 statement on the the misuse of our research for unsavory ends:

In order to combat the pernicious influence of the Global Muslim Brotherhood, it is vital for there to be a realistic understanding of the network that is based on actual evidence about who or what is involved and how it actually functions. While we are fully aware of and since 2008 have posted about GMB deception strategies, fanciful and exaggerated claims about legions of Muslim Brotherhood “infiltrators” with narratives that are constructed for the benefit of ideological communities do nothing to further this understanding and do a disservice to this important cause. They also run the risk of serious damage to the civil fabric in the US by promoting suspicion and hatred among fellow Americans. The GMBDW very much regrets any misuse of the information we have provided that is being used for unsavory ends.

Discussion1 Comment

  1. Several readers have written us abut a series of articles appearing in Breibart, suggesting they support the case made by Roger Stone against Khizr Khan . For example:

    http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/08/01/clinton-cash-khizr-khans-deep-legal-financial-connections-saudi-arabia-hillarys-clinton-foundation-connect-terror-immigration-email-scandals/

    suggests that Khizr Khan has “Deep Legal, Financial Connections to Saudi Arabia, Hillary’s Clinton Foundation” but the article provides no evidence of any such “deep connections.” Yes, a law firm where he was employed as a manager of litigation technology seems to have been registered as a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia but it is not clear what any of this has to do with Mr. Khan personally since the firm is reported to be very large and there is no suggestion that Mr. Khan himself had anything to do with the Saudi Arabian business. That the firm is connected somehow to the Clinton campaign is unsurprising and again says nothing about Mr. Khan’s relationship to the Clintons himself. As far as the charge that “he represents clients in the business of buying visas to enter the United States”, this is part of long-established and perfectly legal program in the US and clients are entitled to legal representation. If every lawyer is now to be tarred with the actions of his clients, the entire legal profession will be untenable.

    Another Breitbart article:

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/08/02/khizr-khan-constitution-sharia/

    dredges up a 33-year-old book review where Mr. Khan is said to “single out for praise the keynote address of fellow Pakistani Allah K. Brohi, a pro-jihad Islamic jurist who was one of the closest advisers to late Pakistani dictator Gen. Zia ul-Haq, the father of the Taliban movement.” Aside from the fact that “jihad” was not even a topic in 1982, it is difficult to see how a book review from 33 years ago is proof of anything and what Mr. Kahn seems to admire in the Brohi does not appear to be particularly problematic. In any event, nobody as of yet presented a single shred of evidence that Mr. Khan holds any kind of views that could be construed as support for jihadism or any other radical interpretation of Islam.

    The GMBDW judges these Breitbart articles to be a desperate attempt at damage control for the Trump campaign and at the least have nothing to do with original charge that Mr. Kahn was a ” Muslim Brotherhood Agent” followed by the assertion that he as not such an agent but rather an associate of Saudi Arabian Islamists. At the worst, the articles are exemplars of the lowest kind of dirt-digging and smear tactics in service of political ends.