Why are U.S. Troops Getting Training at Terror-linked Ohio Mosque?

From Creeping Sharia:

Why are U.S. Troops Getting Training at Terror-linked Ohio Mosque?

Posted on February 29, 2012 by creeping

Atlas Shrugs reports via Troops Learn About Foreign Cultures At Hilliard Mosque | WBNS-10TV.

HILLIARD, Ohio – An unconventional type of military training undertaken by soldiers at a local mosque on Sunday could help troops cope with deployment to countries like Afghanistan.

The Noor Islamic Cultural Center welcomed about 40 members of the U.S. Army 412th Civil Affairs Battalion for a visit aimed to help bridge the cultural divide between American soldiers and civilians in Muslim-majority nations.

Some soldiers immersed themselves in the experience, 10TV’s Jessa Goddard reported.

Army Specialist Tara Campbell wore a headscarf in addition to her uniform to help her learn what it symbolizes to Muslim women.

“The headscarf is just respect. Respect for the center here, the women that are here and just respect to the people. We come into their place being respectful,” Campbell said.

Army Reservists sat down with Muslim Americans to learn more about their religion and different cultures in Muslim-majority countries.

Members of the Islamic center told 10TV News that they saw it as an opportunity to dispel myths about their religion and to serve their country.

“It’s our civic duty to assist the armed forces who are going abroad – who are going to be entering countries where a lot of our (members) here are natives from,” Asim Haque said.

Sergeant First Class Jason Hoyt, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, said that nations in the Middle East are diverse with varying faiths and values.

“I’ve learned a lot from them, but that’s one country’s and one sect’s side of what they do,” Hoyt said. “And the opportunity here is nice, because we’ll get different individuals from different countries and a kind of a mix of how they perceive things.”

People at Noor addressed misunderstandings about Islam, shared multi-ethnic foods with troops and engaged in a question-and-answer session, Goddard reported.

“It’s a great opportunity for (fellow troops) to learn about the culture, learn about some of the customs and things like that before they end up overseas,” Hoyt said. “And that’s kind of the first chance they get in kind of that trial by fire.”

Haque said the training exercise to let others know who they really are was an opportunity most Muslims wish they would have.

“We are regular, normal Americans, right? I will make sure to watch the Buckeye (basketball) game this afternoon. I go to work Monday through Friday, just like everybody else,” Haque said.

Now the background via Atlas Shrugs, US Military Submits to Dawah at Ohio Terror Mosque:

Atlas readers are long familiar with the Noor Islamic Cultural Center. The Noor mosqueteers spied on Rifqa Bary and ratted her out to her parents. Rifqa Bary was a secret convert out of Islam but never told her family for fear of her life. Her mosque spied on her and told her parents. Her father threatened to kill her — you know the rest. Rifqa was saved becuase of our activism, our letterwriting, and protest/demonstrations and, of course, her legal team.

Salah Sultan was a resident scholar at the Noor mosque before being banned from the United States.  Anwar Al-Awlaki (Major Hasan’s imam as well as that of the 911 Muslim terrorists, the Times Square bomber, etc.) andSalah Sultan went on haj together. Dr. Sallah Sultan called for the assassination of the Israeli Ambassador and tourists in Egypt.

There are more radical ties to the Noor mosque: Noor Mosque imam is a Muslim Brotherhood leader. There was an in-depth investigation of the Noor mosque (here), exposing the radical ties. Rifqa’s Imam Hany Saqr was taking Calls from Hamas Leader.

Four areas of concern related to the Noor Center:

1. THE NOOR CENTER CEO AND THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
   The leader of the mosque, Dr. Hany Saqr, was previously an imam for another area mosque at the same time the largest known Al-Qaeda cell in the U.S. since 9/11 was operating out of the mosque. Additionally, Dr. Saqr was identified in exhibits submitted by the Department of Justice in a recent terrorism finance trial in Texas as being one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America – an international organization responsible for birthing virtually every Islamic terrorist organization in the world, including Al-Qaeda. One of his subordinates identified in those trial exhibits was identified in a FBI memorandum as providing $735,000 to Hamas while under Dr. Saqr’s direction.
2. THE NOOR CENTER SCHOLAR AND TERRORIST LEADERS
   A former Islamic scholar associated with The Noor Center is Dr. Salah Sultan, a cleric that has been photographed with terrorist leaders designated as such by the U.S. government. Dr. Sultan has recently appeared on television inciting violence against Jews, and he has previously appeared at events in support of designated terrorist organizations while an active part of the Noor Center community. Following his departure to Bahrain, unconfirmed reports indicate that his US citizenship application has been denied and that he has been banned from reentering the US.
3. THE NOOR CENTER AND EXTREMIST SPEAKERS
   A number of extremist speakers have been featured at recent Noor Center events who are on record making statements in support of violence, terrorism and extremism. Evidence also indicates that some of these speakers have been directly involved in fundraising and supporting the mosque since its inception. One regular speaker and fundraiser for the Noor Center was listed by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing trial.
4. IV. THE NOOR CENTER TIED TO NATIONWIDE FBI TERROR INVESTIGATIONThe Noor Center has also been directly tied to the ongoing nationwide investigation into Somali-American youths who have left the U.S. to train in terror camps operated by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab terror organization. CNN has identified Columbus as one of the main centers of the FBI’s investigation. This story was recently the subject of a lengthy front-page New York Times story. One Minneapolis mosque leader who has been named by others in the Somali community as allowing Al-Shabaab recruiters to operate in his mosque was a featured speaker at a Noor Center Somali youth conference just last November. And a Noor Center Somali youth has appeared repeatedly with another Minneapolis imam who has been questioned by the FBI regarding more than a dozen of mosque attendees who have left under such circumstances and been placed by the Department of Homeland Security on the no-fly list.

Additionally, there are also other extremist elements in the Central Ohio Muslim community that raise concerns about Rifqa’s potential safety in light of the national media attention to this case. One example already mentioned is the Al-Qaeda cell that had been operating in the area. The nationwide FBI investigation into the missing Somali youths has focused on Columbus as one possible hotspot for terrorist recruitment, as the city with the second largest Somali population in the country.