Friday, April 20, 2012

From ACT! for America: URGENT - STOP CHANGES TO FBI COUNTERTERRORISM MATERIALS!!!

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 10:12 AM
Subject: URGENT - STOP CHANGES TO FBI COUNTERTERRORISM MATERIALS!!!
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ACT! for America


April 19, 2012

Help us STOP proposed changes to FBI counterterrorism training materials!!!


National conference early bird registration until April 20th!


URGENT action needed! Add your name to open letter to Congress TODAY!!!

Dear Lee,

According to a recent CQ article (see below, highlights added), FBI leadership is moving forward with a plan that could purge from its counterterrorism training materials "references to Muslims…that it deemed offensive." As we all know, groups like CAIR want EVERY reference to radical Islam removed because they deem ANY terrorism reference to Islam "offensive."

We have learned that this potential capitulation by the FBI leadership to politically-correct special interest pressure has some Members of Congress concerned—and they should be.

So are we. And so should you.

With annual congressional hearings addressing the FBI just around the corner, we need to take action NOW to make sure the appropriate congressional committees are aware that there is opposition to these proposed changes from the folks back home. As you know, it's almost impossible to get Congress to take action on something unless they feel some "heat" from their constituents.

This is why it's critical we make our voices heard on this important issue NOW! And it's essential that we speak out loud and strong!

The first step in addressing this issue is an open letter to the chairmen of the appropriate House and Senate committees. Some of these committees are scheduled to hold hearings on the FBI very soon. THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS that making changes to counterterrorism training manuals without any congressional input, to appease political correctness, is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE, because doing so WILL MAKE US LESS SAFE!!!!


Please add your name to this open letter and forward it to everyone you know. Please don't delay. We only have a few weeks to mobilize opposition to these foolish, ill-advised proposed changes before the U.S. Congress discusses issues related to the FBI. We need to be sure that when they do, our federal legislators have the benefit of knowing that many Americans are opposed to these changes.

The Obama administration has already purged all references to radical Islam and jihad from its national strategic threat assessments. We can't let this happen at the FBI as well. FBI agents in the field need to have training materials that accurately define the threat—for their safety and for ours.

We CAN stop these changes from happening, IF WE ACT.

So please, take action TODAY. It will only take a few moments of your time, but it will have a tremendous impact. Add your name to our open letter to congressional committee chairmen and forward this message to everyone you know!



Afternoon Take: FBI to Change Counterterrorism Training Policies

By Chad Brand, CQ Staff

The FBI is reportedly amending its training materials to eliminate references to Muslims and Arab-Americas that it deemed offensive, a change at least one high-ranking Democratic senator has championed.

The bureau recently notified Congress that it removed the references it deemed offensive, along with language saying that agents had the ability to suspend the law and impinge on the freedoms of others in the course of investigations, the New York Times reported. The story noted that Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., wrote to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, earlier this week about the training material.

Durbin's letter raised concerns that an internal review of its training materials by the bureau uncovered evidence of instructions for agents to make assumptions about Islam, Muslims and Arab Americans based on crude stereotypes, including language such as "Islam is a highly violent religion," and "mainstream American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers."

Durbin asked the FBI make the training materials public and hold accountable the individuals responsible for the language deemed offensive.

Rep. Trent Franks, one of a group of House Republicans that has questioned whether the Obama administration's review of its counterterrorism training policies put politics over security, said he was unhappy with what he called the FBI's lack of communication with Congress about its training manual reviews. The Arizona Republican said he wants details about who advised the FBI during the process.

"The FBI must not permit outside parties to censor the true or critical material from FBI training curricula just because someone feels it to be politically incorrect," he told CQ. "We want to know who these outside reviewing parties are, what their affiliations are, and whether they are being permitted in some instances to overrule the judgment of seasoned FBI trainers."



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ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America's national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam. We are only as strong as our supporters, and your volunteer and financial support is essential to our success. Thank you for helping us make America safer and more secure.

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