"Foggy Bottom" is a Little to Foggy

The State Department is often referred to as the "Foggy Bottom". It needs to clear some of the fog away and fast. How was Shabbir Ahmed able to obtain a visa form the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan?

In October 2001, Ahmed was one of the main speakers at an anti-American rally in Islamabad. At this rally he exhorted the crowd to join in the jihad against the United States and he used "Holy War" and not inner struggle. In November, he openly advocated the overthrow of Gen. Pervez Musharraf. These statements were published widely. How did he manage to receive an uncontested three-year "religious worker" visa to the United States in 2002?

The Madrassah Jamia Farooqia religious school in Karachi, Pakistan was listed as a terrorist originization in 2001. One of the others being held for immigration violations in Lodi is Mohammad Adil Khan. Khan was Ahmed's teacher at the madrassah in Pakistan and it was he who guaranteed Ahmed a job in the United States. Lodi News

I realize that things were chaotic during this time period, with the start of Operation Enduring Freedom but lapses like this need to stop. These men were part of an orginization that preaches jihad against the US. It is scary to think that there by other Ahmeds and Khans who may have gained entry into our country the same way. The State Department should have had a dossier on Ahmed long before the June 24 immigration hearing. It should have been done before he received any visa.

In another article there is this tidbit about the proposed Islamic center in Lodi:

Jamia Farooqia Islamic Center: At a glance

Lodi's Farooqia Islamic Center was named after a larger institution in Pakistan called the Jamia Farooqia International University for Islamic Studies.

Location: Karachi, Pakistan.

Enrollment: About 2,300 students from Pakistan and other countries.

Founder: Maulana Saleernullah Khan.

Lodi connections: Khan's son, Mohammad Adil Khan, oversees the proposed Farooqia Islamic Center; Shabbir Ahmed was a former student at teacher at Jamie Farooqia. Ahmed was imam at Lodi Mulsim Mosque until Sunday, when the mosque board fired him.

Not a word in this description about the terrorist links that the one in Pakistan has. Ahmed keeps saying that he regrets his speeches in Pakistan. I do not believe him. It seems there was a little plan to place a madrassah in California. Thank goodness that there appears to be some question about the money raised to build this center and plans for building it have stopped.