Anti-Muslim extremists function as within-establishment security educators, not fringe outsiders

Evidence

The Islamophobia network includes a section of the neocons, Zionist organizations, Christian fundamentalists, and right-wing ex-Muslims from the Middle East and South Asia. A significant number of these new McCarthyites have connections with establishment figures or are themselves from the foreign policy establishment, the military, the CIA, the Department of Defense, or other branches of the security apparatus. … In short, the new McCarthyites aren’t aberrations in an otherwise fair and neutral system, despite their rabidly racist views, but an integral part of it. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 732 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

One of the especially troubling aspects of institutionalized Islamophobia has been in the area of police training, especially given the vast amounts of funding diverted to the new security regime immediately following on the 9/11 attacks. Vast new powers of surveillance, spying, jailing, and interrogation (including the “enhanced techniques” often considered to be torture) were being regularly employed by American officials, largely against Muslims. It was perhaps inevitable that this regime should prove vulnerable to manipulation by anti-Muslim ideologues eager to be paid as “experts” on terrorism. Investigative reporting by Wired.com has revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has sponsored training for its counterterrorism agents presenting mainstream Islam as violent and radical, and depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a “cult leader.” — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 31 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Anti-Muslim activists are networked insiders of the US security establishment — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 720; Anti-Muslim propaganda videos drew mainstream security officials as participants; Former CIA directors shared conference stages with anti-Muslim extremists — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 695 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Islamophobia warriors are integral to the establishment, not fringe aberrations #corroborates (0.95) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 732
• Institutionalized anti-Muslim ideology corrupts official counterterrorism training #corroborates (0.88) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 31