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Judge OKs 'flag of Islam on American soil'

Bob Unruh - WND

Decision approves government funding for Shariah indoctrination

Attorneys for a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War say they have filed a petition to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a federal district judge ruled it is OK for the U.S. government to fund commercial enterprises that promote the indoctrination of Islamic law, or Shariah, in the United States.

The decision came from Judge Lawrence Zatkoff, who changed his perspective on the issue and said just last week that he would dismiss a constitutional challenge brought by Kevin Murray against the U.S. government's bailout of AIG, the insurance giant.

AIG used more than "$100 million in federal tax money to support Islamic religious indoctrination through the funding and promotion of Shariah-compliant financing. … SCF is financing that follows the dictates of Islamic law," said the Thomas More Law Center, or TMLC.

TMLC is representing Murray in his challenge to the use of federal tax money to promote Islam in the U.S.

The non-profit legal advocacy group's president, Richard Thompson, warned of the precedent.

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"Judge Zatkoff's ruling allows for oil-rich Muslim countries to plant the flag of Islam on American soil," he said. "His ruling ignored the uncontested opinions of several Shariah experts and AIG's own website, which trumpeted Shariah-compliant financing as promoting the law of the prophet Mohammed and as an ethical product and a new way of life."

TMLC and co-counsel David Yerushalmi immediately filed a notice of appeal to the 6th Circuit.

"[Zatkoff's] ruling ignored AIG's use of a foreign Islamic advisory board to control investing in accordance with Islamic law," Thompson continued. "This astonishing decision allows the federal government as well as AIG and other Wall Street bankers to explicitly promote Shariah law – the 1,200-year-old body of Islamic canon law based on the Quran, which demands the destruction of Western civilization and the United States."

Thompson warned it is the same law "championed by Osama bin Laden and the Taliban; it is the same law that prompted the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks; and it is the same law that is responsible for the murder of thousands of Christians throughout the world. The law center will do everything it can to stop Shariah law from rearing its ugly head in America."

The lawsuit, Murray v. Geithner et al., was brought because Murray, as a taxpayer, alleges he is being forced to contribute to the propagation of Islamic beliefs and practices predicated upon Islamic law, which he says is hostile to his Christian religion.

Among those who submitted statements in the case were two noted experts in Islamic law and terrorism, Stephen C. Coughlin and Robert Spencer.

Coughlin, a lawyer and decorated Army Reserve officer, is a leading Pentagon expert on the link between Islamic law and jihad. He explained that by engaging in Shariah-compliant financing, AIG and the federal government – which owns 79.9 percent of AIG – are engaging in the religious practice of Islam.

Islam teaches hostility and discrimination against Jews, Christians and anyone who doesn't accept the Quran as the "word of Allah," he said, explaining that the indoctrination stems from the same law that motivated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

As WND reported, Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, has studied Islamic theology and history for 30 years. He is author of "Stealth Jihad: How Radical Islam is Subverting America without Guns or Bombs," "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades" and eight other books on Islam. He has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the U.S. Central Command, the U.S. Command and General Staff College, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the U.S. intelligence community.

Spencer explained that by offering Shariah-compliant financing, AIG is promoting religious behavior that teaches hatred and discrimination against Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims.

TMLC said it is challenging the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that allows $70 billion in taxpayer money to fund and financially support the federal government's majority ownership interest in AIG, which is considered the market leader in SCF.

The company uses its assets to subject certain financial activities to the dictates of Islam.

"In this case, the United States government has a majority interest in AIG. AIG utilizes consolidated financing whereby all funds flow through a single port to support all of its activities, including Shariah-compliant financing," TMLC explained.

"Pursuant to the EESA, the government has injected AIG with tens of billions of dollars, without restricting or tracking how this considerable sum of money is spent. At least two of AIG's subsidiary companies practice Shariah-compliant financing, one of which was unveiled after the influx of government cash. ... Finally, after the government acquired a majority interest in AIG and contributed substantial funds to AIG for operational purposes, the government co-sponsored a forum entitled 'Islamic Finance 101.'

"These facts, taken together, raise a question of whether the government's involvement with AIG has created the effect of promoting religion and sufficiently raise plaintiff's claim beyond the speculative level," TMLC said.

During the discovery portion of the case, TMLC said it obtained "thousands" of documents supporting its claim.

"The circumstances of this case are historic, and the pressure upon the government to navigate this financial crisis is unfathomable. Times of crisis, however, do not justify departure from the Constitution," the organization said.

www.wnd.com/

Jan. 19, 2011

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