Should We Be Concerned?
By Erick Posted in 2007 | Virginia — Comments (19) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
This is one of those issues that troubles me. You don't want to judge a man by his ethnicity or background, but there are more and more people troubled by the candidacy of Faisal Gill. He's running for 51st District Delegate against Julie Lucas and some of the grassroots guys are concerned.
I don't know the guy, but a cursory review of Michelle Malkin's site gives me pause. It seems Mr. Gill, when he worked for Homeland Security, failed to disclose his association with Abdurahman Alamoudi, a muslim leader indicted on terrorism related money laundering charges. This is compounded by Gill's work with the American Muslim Council, which encouraged muslims not to cooperate with the FBI after 9/11.
Also troubling is that a lawyer connected to Gill is rumored to be the Washington Post leaker of the NSA wiretapping program. Frank Gaffney wrote about Gill, primarily due to Gaffney's war with Grover Norquist, who was one of Gill's references for the DHS job.
As Michelle wondered,
How does a guy with no intelligence background get appointed director of intelligence policy at DHS--and how does he keep that job and his security clearance after committing two possible felonies by failing to list his two foreign-funded employers on sworn government forms?
And now the guy looks like he just might be the GOP nominee for the Virginia House of Delegates.
Question for Virginia readers: is Gill being smeared or is there a legitimate concern about him, or about the Dems painting the GOP terribly if Gill is the nominee? I think the latter is probably likely, but I wonder about the former.
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Should We Be Concerned? 19 Comments (0 topical, 19 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
doubts about Mr. Gil, then so do I. Mr. Norquist's asociation with radcial islamists in the past, exposed by Frank Gaffney, is troubling.
never heard of this guy before but the information in this post is more than enough reason to be concerned
You wouldn't think that the democrats would try to smear him, as they proclaim to be honest and fair and equal, etc. (bull). The funny thing is, if we flipped parties here, and Gill was a democrat, they would be SO PISSED if GOP even hinted that he might be sketchy.
Anyways, let's not judge him until real and hard evidence comes out, there's not enough info to really start tearing him apart.
Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but also as a determination to live decently.
" if we flipped parties here, and Gill was a democrat"
WE'D BE ALL OVER THIS STORY. WE'D TURN OVER EVERY ROCK,and bank account, where he may have something hidden.
WE WOULD and we'd be right to do so.
If we investigate our own candidates we give the democrats less ammunition.
Who knew? Honesty is actually good political strategy.
"Also troubling is that a lawyer connected to Gill is rumored to be the Washington Post leaker of the NSA wiretapping program." That lawyer is Asim Ghafoor.
This has nothing to do with Mr. Gill's ethnicity. The issue is Mr. Gill's past and current associations. He has worked for Asim Ghafoor at AG Consulting and is currently law and lobbying partners with Mr. Ghafoor in two different firms.
Please read this local blog post from today that summarizes the issue with Mr. Gill.
http://www.bvbl.net/?p=1059
He cannot win in November against a democrat and he probably should not be in elected office given his continued partnership with Mr. Ghafoor
It's all about his judgement, or the lack of it. It seems kind of flaky (or deceptive) to me, for him to be a muslim who believes in the koran, but then sends his kids to a catholic school. Oh, and here is where his donations come from. He doesn't seem to be too assimilated into non-muslim political hacks:
(Source: http://www.vpap.org)
$10,000 Khan, Saleem A (Woodbridge, VA)
$6,000 Gill, Rashid S (Alexandria, VA)
$5,000 Bashir, Junaid (Woodbridge, VA)
$5,000 Citgo - Franconia (Springfield, VA)
$5,000 Gill, Ahmad Nadeem (Martinez Branch, GA)
$5,000 Sir Inc T/A Shiney’s Sweets (Annandale, VA)
$2,000 JBS Title (Springfield, VA)
$1,000 Akhtar, Hanif M (Vienna, VA)
$1,000 Anjum, Ehsan E (Baltimore, MD)
$1,000 Gill, Naveed M (Fairfax, VA)
$1,000 Grove Dental Clinic (Falls Church, VA)
$1,000 Jaffrey, Samira (Annandale, VA)
$1,000 Janssen, Richard (Alexandria, VA)
$1,000 Lateef, Babur (Woodbridge, VA)
$1,000 Nationwide Limo Service (Alexandria, VA)
$1,000 Nova Eye Center (Winchester, VA)
$1,000 RNS Bedford Park (Bedford Park, IL)
$1,000 Shaikh, Shabbir (Alexandria, VA)
$500 A&T Heating & Air Conditioning Inc (South Riding, VA)
$500 Amerpak Inc t/a Goddard School (Waldorf, MD)
$500 JCW Co Inc (Fairfax, VA)
$500 Nationwide Funding Corp (Fairfax, VA)
$500 Rizvi, Manzar (Leesburg, VA)
$500 Tameez, Iftikharuddin (Houston, TX)
$500 Tameez, Qamarunnisa (Houston, TX)
$300 Bokhari, Adnan Sharif (Springfield, VA)
$250 Diwan, Sharfali (Houston, TX)
$250 Tyebji, Abeezar (Houston, TX)
$200 Farouk, Shahid (Gaithersburg, MD)
$200 Khwaja, Faheem (Houston, TX)
$200 Lodhi, Tariq (Fairfax Station, VA)
$200 Mohiuddin, Imran (Sugar Land, TX)
$200 Sanm & Sams Inc (Centreville, VA)
$200 Siddiqui, Assadullah (Annandale, VA)
$200 Sing, Varinder (Houston, TX)
$200 Suleman, Muhammad (tbd, VA)
"It seems kind of flaky (or deceptive) to me, for him to be a muslim who believes in the koran, but then sends his kids to a catholic school."
Is that true of the many protestant parents who do the same? Or are you upset that a parent picked the best school for their child? Don't we want Americans to find the best school for their child rather than base their education on whatever minority group they are in?
His choice of a Catholic School makes me more likely to see Mr. Gill as the type of conservative Muslim Republican that I'd like to see in public life.
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Bobby Jindal Saves Louisiana
I think we should be concerned but I can not further elaborate without being offensive. Frank Gaffney and Michele Malkin can better make the intellectual case against him.
So you are not worried that Faisal Mahmood Gill's business and lobbying partner is Asim Ghafoor:
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=896
I think Gaffney & Malkin have it correct, you should stick to your Louisiana Politics and your "savior" Jindal.
Perhaps you should give being a member for more than a day a shot before you take a swing at one of the front page posters.
making spurious charges related to Adam's comments. Between that your obnoxious "savior" comment you have used up any credibility you might have.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Disagree at will. Your tone, however, will improve, or else your comment total will not.
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We are all heroes, you and Boo and I. Hamsters and rangers everywhere, rejoice!
Well, I have done my research on Faisal Mahmood Gill, but not on Bobby Jindal, so I can't say that Faisal is NOT a Bobby, but that's my guess. Maybe one of you can shed some light?
RedState is a place for reasoned debate. Pick an issue, make your points, provide backup and links that buttress your opinions. Then respond to commenters who have differing points or contradictory data.
You've blown in here from Neverland, or wherever, been here for less than a day, thrown stuff against our wall to see if it would stick, and then gotten snotty when asked by one of our moderators to behave yourself.
Frankly, if you don't know who Bobby Jindal is, I would offer that you are, at best, not well read. Do your own research. On Bobby it's easy.
And this post of yours is not an improvement on your tone. Or anything else for that matter.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
You've fallen into the center of a local blogger vendetta and a small rift in a local party between conservatives and "moderates", with Gill being part of the "conservative" wing that is seen as being too "anti-tax" and to rigid to attract the "moderates" and "progressives" we need to win elections.
The blogger is being sued by a candidate for lies told last year about him. Faisal was friends with that candidate, and Faisal's law firm is representing the candidate against the blogger. The blogger has been targetting Faisal since the lawsuit was first threatened.
Other commenters here were brought over here by the blogger's comments about this thread (as was I). They are supporters of Gill's opponent, who I guess is having trouble getting republicans to show up for a convention to vote for her.
Faisal Gill is an active-duty military guy. In addition to being called a terrorist by this blogger, he's also been called fat, been attacked for having a picture in uniform, and they've had a list of other embarrasing attacks on him.
Before there was a contest, our committee chair did some work for Faisal, which faisal paid for. This blogger group made that into a "major issue" of bias against the other candidate, and tried to have our committee chair voted out of office.
I think anybody who doesn't like Grover Norquist would find Gill unsettling, since Gill is tied to Grover -- in fact, I met Grover for the first time at Gill's campaign kickoff (I'm not a Gill supporter, I was there taking pictures of a supposed "protest" against Gill that never happened).
I don't know about all these "networks". Gill is a muslim, and has a lot of muslim friends, and they are tied to muslim organizations, and some of those have had people involved with groups that are seen as terrorist support networks. Muslims don't seem to suspect other muslims as quickly as we non-muslims, so I guess almost any muslim is open to the charge that they "should have known" what was going on.
I'll let the sane people who read Redstate make up their own minds about those allegations. I know Faisal a bit, and know people involved in his campaign, and from what I know I find the suggestion he wasn't competent for his DHS position, that he is anything but a completely patriotic american serving his country well in a military capacity, that he has ANY sympathy for terrorists or terrorism, or personally supports terror networks absurd.
But I trust the fair-minded redstate readers (unlike the local bloggers and local commenters who have obvious motives for driving this story, due to legal issues and personal involvement with the opposition).
I hope I've been sufficiently "well-toned" for my first post. I left off a list of about 6 things the aforementioned blogger has charged Gill with in the last two months that have been proven false.
Funny how Charles cannot refute a single point made against Mr. Gill regarding his troubling connections, except for this:
"and they are tied to muslim organizations, and some of those have had people involved with groups that are seen as terrorist support networks."
They are "seen" as terrorist support networks by the United States Government. Check Treasury Department records.
From the US Treas web site:
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/po3553.htm
"...The Global Relief Foundation (GRF), has connections to, has provided support for, and has provided assistance to Usama Bin Ladin, the al Qaida Network, and other known terrorist groups...."
ASIM GHAFOOR, FAISAL GILL'S PARTNER, IS A BAD GUY IF HE WAS A LOBBYIST FOR GRF!
"blown in here"? Mr Becker, I thought these blogs promoted free speach? Do we have to have your "tone" in order to particpate? I don't like your "tone" either. So now you can ban me from your blog I guess. Even though I have left several links and comments that should be of significant interest to conservatives in Virginia (not Louisiana). And I can assure you, despite what Charles says, this is NOT AN "ANTI-TAX" issue, it is a NATIONAL SECURITY issue.
From the US Treas web site:
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/po3553.htm
"...The Global Relief Foundation (GRF), has connections to, has provided support for, and has provided assistance to Usama Bin Ladin, the al Qaida Network, and other known terrorist groups...."
ASIM GHAFOOR, FAISAL GILL'S PARTNER, IS A BAD GUY IF HE WAS A LOBBYIST FOR GRF!
He seems to be a mid-level government worker who got his job due to connections. If he wasn't a Muslim, would this really be news or a concern?
Here's his issues page:
Note a couple things:
1) The only thing he bolds on his issue page is that he is pro-life.
2) Most Muslim-Americans are social conservatives and could be won over by a combination of emphasis on social issues, personal responsibility, and focus on the family. These Americans have voted Republican in past and could in the future.
3) Mr. Gill seems like a good person to reach out to Northern Virginians who put a premium on "diversity" but are not as far left as NYC or DC proper. Mr. Gill could help the Republicans in a region where they are facing set backs.
Unless there is some direct evidence of actual wrong-doing in his past, Mr. Gill seems like a good nominee for the Republicans in the 51st.
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Bobby Jindal Saves Louisiana