http://shark-tank.net/2012/07/22/rubio-sides-against-bachmann-rooney-regarding-huma-abedins-possible-ties-to-terrorism/

Rubio Sides Against Bachmann, Rooney Regarding Huma Abedin’s Possible Ties to Terrorism

July 22, 2012 | Filed under: Florida Review,Marco Rubio

By Javier Manjarres

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s recent letter to the Department of State expressing her concerns about the possible infiltration of radical Islam throughout the federal government has received pushback from moderate Republican senators John McCain and Scott Brown.

McCain called Bachmann’s letter “scurrilous” and full of “sinister accusations,” and categorized the questioned raised about Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin as “nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated American and a loyal public servant.” You can read Bachmann’s letter here. Predictably, the Palm Beach Post is raising the specter of “McCarthyite tactics” being used by Rooney for simply signing the document.

Perhaps somewhat more surprisingly, Senator Marco Rubio has waded into this controversy and has sided with his Senate colleagues against Bachmann and Florida Congressman Tom Rooney, who has also signed Bachmann’s letter. Senator Rubio responded to the Shark Tank’s request for further comment by stating, “I stand by my statements.”

Question- would Rubio be taking a similar position if Abedin was Cuban and had family members with close ties to the Communist regime of Fidel Castro?

Rubio, who sits on the ‘temporary’ Select Committee on Intelligence, said the following in regards to the matter-

“Everyone I talk to who has dealt with her, [says she is] a professional and hardworking and patriotic American who loves her country and in the service of her country is serving it.”

“I am not a signatory to that letter,” Rubio said of Bachmann’s letters to the inspectors general of several national security agencies demanding investigations. “I don’t share the feelings that are in that letter. Obviously, every member of Congress has a right to express their opinion and every member of Congress is held accountable for their opinion, if they’re right or if they’re wrong.”

“I can tell you that I don’t share the feelings that are in that letter,” he continued, “And in fact, I’m very very careful and cautious about ever making accusations like that about anyone.”-Senator Marco Rubio (Salon)

While Salon is no doubt spinning Rubio’s reaction being a condemnation of Bachmann, what is perplexing is why Rubio appears to be so risk-adverse and hesitant to ask some common-sense national security questions in this matter. After reading the letter, there is nothing wrong with the questions Bachmann and her colleagues have raised, regardless of whether they’re perceived as inconvenient questions by Democrats. We are not sure if Rubio read the whole letter or was impulsively reacting to a snippet of information that he may have been briefed on by one of his aides, but Bachmann’s questions are valid ones and should not be dismissed out of hand.

Bachmann questioned Abedin’s family connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, and she made it clear that Abedin was not being singled out. Bachmann rightly questioned how Abedin received such high security clearance given her family’s membership with the Muslim Brotherhood. If you or I were trying to obtain a TS clearance from either the federal government or as a civilian contractor and it was discovered during the vetting process that we had immediate family members who were affiliated with a terrorist organization, we would be rejected for the same security clearance that Abedin currently has.

Here is the section of Bachmann’s letter that mentions Abedin’s possible ties to the Muslim Brotherhood-(Click here to read the whole document)

Considering the following red flags that have popped up about her family’s relationship with radical Islam, including her late father, Syed Zainul Abedin’s ties, Bachmann’s letter seems to have merit. Abedin is also close to newly elected Muslim Brotherhood-backed Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi. (Source-Shoebat

)

1. Abedin’s mother is not only a member of the Muslim Sisterhood, but also sits on the Guidance Board of that organization. Making her not only a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s female auxiliary, but also a prestigious member.

2. Another member of the Muslim Sisterhood’s Guidance Bureau is Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s wife, which means Abedin’s mother and the wife of an renowned Muslim Brotherhood member are in regular and frequent contact.

3. Lastly, Abedin’s brother, Hassan Abedin, has allegedly collaborated with Omar Naseef and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, two of the most influential terror supporters in the world. -Breitbart

Frontpage’s Robert Spencer adds this-

And in Abedin’s case, there are ample reasons for raising these questions. Her father, Syed Z. Abedin, was a professor in Saudi Arabia who founded the Institute for Muslim Minority Affairs, an organization supported by the Muslim World League, a Brotherhood organization. Her mother, Saleha Mahmoud Abedin, is a member of the Muslim Sisterhood, the Brotherhood’s adjunct organization for women. The Brotherhood itself is in its own words, according to a captured internal document, dedicated to “eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house.”-Robert Spencer (Source)

Unfortunately, Senators McCain and Brown are taking the politically correct approach to national security and would prefer not to upset anyone’s feelings than ask the hard questions that need to be asked. If only McCain went after potential threats to our national security with the same vigor he has attacked conservatives in the past and now Bachmann in this instance, we would be a hell of a lot safer.

As many anti-terrorism experts around the world will point out, radical Islamists will do just about anything to impose their radical ideology onto every culture as well as attempt to subvert non-Islamic governments- radical Islam’s track record of attacks in the United States, Europe, and Africa is clear as day.

The State Department was previously infiltrated in 2009 when Kendall Myers, a State Department Intelligence Analyst was arrested for espionage and charged with being a Cuban spy for thirty years. He too had a very high security clearance, so is it too far fetched to at least ask Abedin some very pointed questions about her family members? (Source-U.K.Telegraph)

Bachmann is simply asking for a inquiry into Abedin and her very questionable associations to the Muslim Brotherhood. For Rubio to side with his Senate colleagues in their efforts to delegitimize Bachmann is premature at best, completely uncalled for at worst. Was Rubio wrong to side against Bachmann?