K
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
Guest
A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted
Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent
more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has
threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander,
was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice
for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic
charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to
terrorists.
A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City,
Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander
$50,000 for the lobbying -- money that turned out to be stolen from the
U.S. Agency for International Development.
[...]
In the indictment, the government alleges that IARA employed a man who
had served as a fundraising aide to Osama bin Laden.
The indictment charges IARA with sending approximately $130,000 to
help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the United States has designated as a
global terrorist. The money, sent to bank accounts in Peshawar,
Pakistan in 2003 and 2004, was masked as donations to an orphanage
located in buildings that Hekmatyar owned.
Who's Mark Siljander?
When Ronald Reagan became President he tapped Congressmen David
Stockman to be his budget director, creating an opening in Stockman's
SW Michigan district. Siljander was one of the first Congressional
creations of the radical religious right.
"I'm part of the silent majority that was heard Nov. 4 [when President
Reagan was elected]," says Siljander. "My support comes from morally
concerned citizens who are sick of the situation in this country."
Siljander pledges to battle the Equal Rights Amendment, pornography,
abortion, school busing and "big spending." He will champion the
neutron bomb, the MX missile and prayer in public schools.
Once in Congress, he became one of the most radical wingers, someone
who in today's Republican caucus would fit in. For instance, in1984
he unsuccessfully tried to amend a civil rights bill "to define the
term ''person'' under the bill to include ''unborn children from the
moment of conception.'" But back then, in the early days of the
radical religious right's takeover of the GOP, he attracted a lot of
attention, too much for some, so in 1986 plutocrat Fred Upton defeated
him in a Republican primary, helped by the crazy news that Siljander
had issued a tape recording to fundies asking them to "break the back
of Satan" by fasting and praying for his victory.
Their prayers weren't answered. He lost, but Reagan cushioned his
landing by appointing him a position at the United Nations.
Siljander eventually made his way to Northern Virginia, even running
for Congress in 1992. As the radical right extended a wider reach in
to the GOP, Siljander followed along, eventually becoming associated
with the Moonies (as described at the time by Kossack Fredrick
Clarkson):
Nevertheless, a politician's past is often a prologue. Siljander has
been a steering committee member of the secretive, theocratic
Coalition on Revival (COR) since 1986. In 1990, he was listed as a
leader of a COR political arm, the National Coordinating Council (NCC)
whose agenda includes the abolition of public schools, the IRS, and
the Federal Reserve by the year 2000. The NCC also calls for taking
over county governments and the establishment of "Christian"-
controlled county militias.
Siljander is slated as a columnist for COR's new journal, Crosswinds.
While COR wages war with the "forces of darkness," Crosswinds is to
provide a "helicopter view of the battlefield."
COR steering committee members are required to agree with such
doctrines as "We deny that anyone, Jew or Gentile, believer or
unbeliever, private person or public official, is exempt from the
moral and judicial obligation before God to submit to Christ's
Lordship over every aspect of his life in thought, word, and deed."
Siljander popped up now and again, like when he was part of the fundie
glitterati at the opening of Mel Gibson's The Passion. He also hung
out with his good buddy, ranking member on the House Armed Forces
Committee, and Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter:
"Incidentally, I met Duncan Hunter in the Members Dining Room in the
House about a year ago. I was having lunch with Rep. Hunter's old
friend and former Michigan congressman Mark Siljander, and the three
of us stood there in the middle of the dining room, along with two of
Duncan's San Diego constitutents (one active military and one disabled
in Iraq and recently relieved from active duty) and we all held hands
and prayed together while other diners gave us curious glances. At
that moment I knew that Duncan Hunter was the right man for the White
House, and I doubt if he'd seriously considered running for president
at that point. A man with the courage of his convictions; what a great
asset for a leader."
I know I was moved by this story and reassured that Duncan Hunter is
the right man for the Presidency! If we pull together we can help make
this great man our next president!
But he was also branching out beyond that boring old American
Christian fundamentalism. He went international, and with some
reading of Islam, ecumenical:
As the veteran-diplomat-turned-amateur-scholar implied, once the
original teachings of the two religions are properly understood, the
differences between them are no greater than the differences between
the multitude of different Christian denominations.
Siljander touted these notions as "paradigm crashing," and said he
hopes they will "create a movement, a dynamic" resulting in small
groups throughout both the Christian and Muslim worlds who will meet
to study these ideas and advance them.
He related past successes at fostering positive relationships with
Muslims through the sharing of these ideas, most notably as an
emissary to the Sudanese government since May of 2006, mediating the
Darfur conflict on behalf of the U.N.
After days of discussions with Sudan's President Omar al Bashir,
Siljander said the ruler introduced him to his religious and political
advisors, who then invited him and his delegation to speak at the
Khartoum Shari'a Law School.
"It opened up amazing doors," Siljander said.
"We were the first white American Christians to speak on a Friday
afternoon at the Khartoum mosque. That happened, not because we're so
good looking, but because we built bridges of respect," he added.
He said the Al Bashir and his advisors still regarded him and all
Christians as "infidels," but the ruler had gained a greater
appreciation for westerners and for Christianity, giving Siljander an
opportunity to mediate afforded to few, if any other Americans in the
region.
Siljander might have created more common ground between Muslims and
Christians than he intended, though, as the Sudanese sheikh isn't the
only one to regard him as an infidel.
[...]
After Siljander made his appearance in Tulsa, he traveled to
Washington, D.C. where he presented his ideas to 30 of the nation's
top Islamic leaders.
In the past, he's lectured on this topic at the Vatican, Oxford
University, Edinburgh University, and before government leaders in
Sudan, Libya and other Islamic nations.
Let's review. Mark Siljander was one of the original creations of the
fundamentalist right wing. Had he won his seat from a less moderate
area than Southwest Michigan, he might still be in Congress. Hell,
he'd probably be in leadership. So he was shunted aside for a while,
but he continued to move in the interconnected world of fundamentalist
religion, rightwing politics, and lobbying and financial
malfeasance.
In short, Mark Siljander is a archetypal radical rightwing
politician. They espouse patriotism and fundamental values, but
really, they're just ignorant, intolerant, greedy and don't care about
America.
Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent
more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has
threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander,
was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice
for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic
charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to
terrorists.
A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City,
Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander
$50,000 for the lobbying -- money that turned out to be stolen from the
U.S. Agency for International Development.
[...]
In the indictment, the government alleges that IARA employed a man who
had served as a fundraising aide to Osama bin Laden.
The indictment charges IARA with sending approximately $130,000 to
help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the United States has designated as a
global terrorist. The money, sent to bank accounts in Peshawar,
Pakistan in 2003 and 2004, was masked as donations to an orphanage
located in buildings that Hekmatyar owned.
Who's Mark Siljander?
When Ronald Reagan became President he tapped Congressmen David
Stockman to be his budget director, creating an opening in Stockman's
SW Michigan district. Siljander was one of the first Congressional
creations of the radical religious right.
"I'm part of the silent majority that was heard Nov. 4 [when President
Reagan was elected]," says Siljander. "My support comes from morally
concerned citizens who are sick of the situation in this country."
Siljander pledges to battle the Equal Rights Amendment, pornography,
abortion, school busing and "big spending." He will champion the
neutron bomb, the MX missile and prayer in public schools.
Once in Congress, he became one of the most radical wingers, someone
who in today's Republican caucus would fit in. For instance, in1984
he unsuccessfully tried to amend a civil rights bill "to define the
term ''person'' under the bill to include ''unborn children from the
moment of conception.'" But back then, in the early days of the
radical religious right's takeover of the GOP, he attracted a lot of
attention, too much for some, so in 1986 plutocrat Fred Upton defeated
him in a Republican primary, helped by the crazy news that Siljander
had issued a tape recording to fundies asking them to "break the back
of Satan" by fasting and praying for his victory.
Their prayers weren't answered. He lost, but Reagan cushioned his
landing by appointing him a position at the United Nations.
Siljander eventually made his way to Northern Virginia, even running
for Congress in 1992. As the radical right extended a wider reach in
to the GOP, Siljander followed along, eventually becoming associated
with the Moonies (as described at the time by Kossack Fredrick
Clarkson):
Nevertheless, a politician's past is often a prologue. Siljander has
been a steering committee member of the secretive, theocratic
Coalition on Revival (COR) since 1986. In 1990, he was listed as a
leader of a COR political arm, the National Coordinating Council (NCC)
whose agenda includes the abolition of public schools, the IRS, and
the Federal Reserve by the year 2000. The NCC also calls for taking
over county governments and the establishment of "Christian"-
controlled county militias.
Siljander is slated as a columnist for COR's new journal, Crosswinds.
While COR wages war with the "forces of darkness," Crosswinds is to
provide a "helicopter view of the battlefield."
COR steering committee members are required to agree with such
doctrines as "We deny that anyone, Jew or Gentile, believer or
unbeliever, private person or public official, is exempt from the
moral and judicial obligation before God to submit to Christ's
Lordship over every aspect of his life in thought, word, and deed."
Siljander popped up now and again, like when he was part of the fundie
glitterati at the opening of Mel Gibson's The Passion. He also hung
out with his good buddy, ranking member on the House Armed Forces
Committee, and Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter:
"Incidentally, I met Duncan Hunter in the Members Dining Room in the
House about a year ago. I was having lunch with Rep. Hunter's old
friend and former Michigan congressman Mark Siljander, and the three
of us stood there in the middle of the dining room, along with two of
Duncan's San Diego constitutents (one active military and one disabled
in Iraq and recently relieved from active duty) and we all held hands
and prayed together while other diners gave us curious glances. At
that moment I knew that Duncan Hunter was the right man for the White
House, and I doubt if he'd seriously considered running for president
at that point. A man with the courage of his convictions; what a great
asset for a leader."
I know I was moved by this story and reassured that Duncan Hunter is
the right man for the Presidency! If we pull together we can help make
this great man our next president!
But he was also branching out beyond that boring old American
Christian fundamentalism. He went international, and with some
reading of Islam, ecumenical:
As the veteran-diplomat-turned-amateur-scholar implied, once the
original teachings of the two religions are properly understood, the
differences between them are no greater than the differences between
the multitude of different Christian denominations.
Siljander touted these notions as "paradigm crashing," and said he
hopes they will "create a movement, a dynamic" resulting in small
groups throughout both the Christian and Muslim worlds who will meet
to study these ideas and advance them.
He related past successes at fostering positive relationships with
Muslims through the sharing of these ideas, most notably as an
emissary to the Sudanese government since May of 2006, mediating the
Darfur conflict on behalf of the U.N.
After days of discussions with Sudan's President Omar al Bashir,
Siljander said the ruler introduced him to his religious and political
advisors, who then invited him and his delegation to speak at the
Khartoum Shari'a Law School.
"It opened up amazing doors," Siljander said.
"We were the first white American Christians to speak on a Friday
afternoon at the Khartoum mosque. That happened, not because we're so
good looking, but because we built bridges of respect," he added.
He said the Al Bashir and his advisors still regarded him and all
Christians as "infidels," but the ruler had gained a greater
appreciation for westerners and for Christianity, giving Siljander an
opportunity to mediate afforded to few, if any other Americans in the
region.
Siljander might have created more common ground between Muslims and
Christians than he intended, though, as the Sudanese sheikh isn't the
only one to regard him as an infidel.
[...]
After Siljander made his appearance in Tulsa, he traveled to
Washington, D.C. where he presented his ideas to 30 of the nation's
top Islamic leaders.
In the past, he's lectured on this topic at the Vatican, Oxford
University, Edinburgh University, and before government leaders in
Sudan, Libya and other Islamic nations.
Let's review. Mark Siljander was one of the original creations of the
fundamentalist right wing. Had he won his seat from a less moderate
area than Southwest Michigan, he might still be in Congress. Hell,
he'd probably be in leadership. So he was shunted aside for a while,
but he continued to move in the interconnected world of fundamentalist
religion, rightwing politics, and lobbying and financial
malfeasance.
In short, Mark Siljander is a archetypal radical rightwing
politician. They espouse patriotism and fundamental values, but
really, they're just ignorant, intolerant, greedy and don't care about
America.