From Artcore III, a show posted on Blog Talk Radio:
Exclusive interview with Detective Michael Riker (Ret.), President of the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association, and surprise guest Erotic Artist Nancy Peach!
Alas, Peach did not in fact appear on the show, although we did hear from Riker: he and host Will Griffith expressed their displeasure and dismay at critical scrutiny to which the ICTOA has recently been subjected. As I blogged earlier this month, the ICTOA features in a new report published by Political Research Associates on some troubling trends in “anti-terror” training being given to law-enforcement professionals. In particular, the report notes an appearance by Walid Shoebat at one ICTOA event:
Shoebat is a convert to Christianity, having formerly been a Muslim with links to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. In his presentation, called The Jihad Mindset and How to Defeat It: Why We Want to Kill You, he accused Muslim men of raping women, children and young boys. “They are paedophiles!” he shouted.
According to the report, Shoebat went on: “The Muslim beheads with a smile. You can see it on YouTube, on TV; the Afghan child trained to execute Christians. You say that Islam is a peaceful religion? Why? It hates the west.”
He also said: “Islam is a revolution and is intent to destroy all other systems. They want to expand, like Nazism.”
…One conference participant from the Southern Nevada Fusion Center told a PRA investigator in attendance that Shoebat’s presentation was “spot on.” The staffer continued, saying that government officials should be saying the same things as Shoebat, but they will not due to fear of “political correctness.”
In November, the ICTOA sponsored an “alternative” Foot Hood massacre memorial event, which featured Shoebat alongside Robert Spencer and Jerry Boykin.
Riker complains that the PRA report (which he and Griffith decline to reference directly, preferring to make references to “internet yahoos”) has unfairly accused him of being a bigot, when in fact his wife is Puerto Rican and his circle of friends and colleagues is multi-racial. Of course, this is beside the point – nobody is accusing him of racial prejudice, but his endorsement of Shoebat’s inflammatory rhetoric speaks for itself. Riker is still sticking with Shoebat, though – he tells the old story of how Shoebat had bombed a bank in Israel some years ago on behalf of the PLO, prompting Griffith to ask: “what better expert on terrorism than a former Palestinian terrorist?”
This unshakable confidence in Shoebat should set off alarm bells for any serious professional: even if it is true that Shoebat did in fact bomb a bank (the Jerusalem Post – hardly a leftist outfit – is sceptical), how does that make him an expert on anything other than how to bomb a bank? Robbing a bank doesn’t make one a criminologist, yet Shoebat constantly dines out on the notion that his background provides unique insight into the “essence” of terrorism and of Islam. Shoebat’s utterances are so extravagant as to be absurd: he claims that he knows that Obama is a Muslim (“Islam could not defeat us by destroying the twin towers. But they are able to defeat us by sneaking in their man”), and he wishes that “nukes” would “take care” of the Muslim world.
And that’s not even counting his second job visiting churches to warn of the coming Islamic Anti-Christ, based on a bizarre pseudo-analysis of the Book of Revelation: as I write these words, Shoebat is at the First Baptist Church in Raytown, Missouri, expounding on just this point in an event alongside Glenn Beck’s End-Times Prophet Joel Richardson.
I previously blogged on Riker’s links to Will Griffith here. Griffith is a rather odd character: in September, he broadcast a strange “9/11 Address To The Nation”, in which he railed against “elites” and the “enemy within”, named as “ultra-liberals” and “diversity”. He also alluded to a personal scandal from before he came “to know God”; this was reportedly a past role as a transvestite prostitute, although, bizarrely, the only details about this are on sites listed as having belonged to “the Griffith Corporation”. After I blogged about this, I received a positive comment from someone purporting to be an Islamist; curiously, this person’s IP address was shared by someone else who commented shortly afterwards, and whose email address tracked back to a name associated with Griffith’s “GCIS” organisation.
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Well its called the 1st amendment. Who he chooses to like is his business and not yours. Your like that little old lady next door who has there nose in everyone else business, get a life Rich
I’m not sure I follow the line of reasoning here. The ICTOA wants to play a role in public life, yet criticising Riker’s judgement is somehow (a) an imposition on his first amendment rights and (b) not the business of a member of the public.
I can’t see that persuading many people.
http://securityindustrynewstoday.wordpress.com/2010/12/26/courage-under-fire/
I know Riker well his intention is keeping the public safety officers that protect us informed. You claim that Shoebat is wrong and out of line, why is that. Have you seen what he has seen. I cant make judgement on you because I have not walked in your shoes. You basically tell Riker your damned if you do help out and your damned if you do. You and Chip Berlet need to see all the topics that have been taught from Riker and know that there is more good than evil in the teachings.
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[…] Moniquet is also a member of the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association, which provides anti-terror training for American police – it is not clear how actively involved he is, although he includes the association in his email signatures, and the ICTOA was given as his affiliation for a January report in Russian in which he opined on the terrorist attack at Moscow airport. The ICTOA has recently come under critical scrutiny over some of the people it hires as experts terrorism, such as Walid Shoebat. […]
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For the record, I agree with Bartholomew, and think Shoebat and Riker are crackpots who undermine serious antiterrorism efforts.
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