Good News About CAIR

By Fred Thompson
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

I've talked before about the Council on American-Islamic Relations --
most recently because it filed that lawsuit against Americans who
reported suspicious behavior by Muslims on a U.S. Airways flight.
Better known just as CAIR, the lobbying group has come under a lot of
scrutiny lately for its connections to terror-supporting groups. This
time, though, The Washington Times has uncovered some very good news
about the group.

For years, CAIR has claimed to represent millions of American Muslims.
In fact, they claim to represent more Muslim in American than ...
there are in America. This has alarmed Americans in general as the
group often seems to be more aligned with our enemies than us -- which
isn't surprising as it spun off from a group funded by Hamas. As you
know, Hamas has been waging a terrorist war against Israel and calls
for its total destruction. It also promises to see America destroyed.
Nowadays, Hamas is busy murdering its Palestinian political rivals.

Even with this history, and CAIR's conspicuous failure to condemn
Hamas by name, it has been treated as if represents Muslim Americans
by our own government. The good news is that the financial support
CAIR claims to have among American Muslims is a myth. We know this
because The Washington Times got hold of the group's IRS tax records.

CAIR's dues-paying membership has shrunk 90 percent since 9/11 -- from
29,000 in 2000 to only 1,700 last year. CAIR's annual income from dues
plunged from $733,000 to $59,000. Clearly, America's Muslims are not
supporting this group -- and I'm happy to hear about it.

Of course, every silver lining seems to have a cloud; and this cloud
is that CAIR's spending is running about $3 million a year. They’ve
opened 25 new chapters in major cities across the country even as
their dues shrank to a pittance. The question is; who’s funding CAIR?

CAIR's not saying. The New York Times earlier this year reported that
the backing is from "wealthy Persian Gulf governments" including the
UAE and Saudi Arabia. Obviously, we have a bigger problem here than
the one with CAIR.

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