Deadly cartoons

The Islamic reaction to cartoon drawings of Mohammed is startling. Consider this map supplied by Google.

I think that Flemming Rose, one of the publishers of the cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, wrote an excellent response in the Washington Post to all the critics.

The United States has an increasing Muslim population, especially in the Dearborn, Michigan area. While not every Islamic follower is bent on America's destruction, some of key figures, including Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi, the director of the Islamic House of Worship just outside of Dearborn. The Islamic House of Worship is one of the largest mosques in America.

Debbie Schlussel, a Detroit-based columnist and attorney, was the first to call attention to Elahi's ties to Iranian government officials.

“Mr. Elahi, I believe, is an agent of the government in Iran. Not only does he have sympathies for them, but he did work for them. And I believe he's still working for them,” Schlussel said. “I went to his Web site, and I found even more outrageous pictures of him with Ayatollah Khomeini, who we know held many Americans hostage for 444 days…We have pictures of him delivering prayers to the Iranian parliament. We have pictures of him with the former President of Iran, Mr. Khatami. We have pictures of him with Mr. Karrubi, who is the speaker of the house of the Iranian parliament.”

Erick Stakelbeck, a reporter for CBN news, writes about his personal interview with Imam Elahi.

Regarding Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent call to wipe Israel off the map, Elahi wrote:

--"It is very clear that Mr. Ahmadinejad was not making an anti-Semitic statement."

--"The Iranian president's quip can best be understood in the context of the Declaration of Independence."

--and, "Israel must stop instigating violent conflicts in the Muslim world."

Another Elahi column described Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin as a "Palestinian spiritual leader, (who) had a heart full of love for humanity." Yet another compared the Iranian constitution to that of the United States.

Eric also has a national security watch with lots of great information here.