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Ashcroft Neither Denies, Nor Apologizes For Anti-Muslim Remarks
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Several Muslim and Arab organizations demanded a formal apology from Ashcroft for his remarks about Islam.
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By
S.M. Khalid, IOL Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON,
Feb. 14 (IslamOnline) - Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, under increasing fire
from Muslim and Arab American groups over alleged comments about Islam, said the
reported remarks "do not accurately reflect what I believe I said."
The
carefully worded, one-sentence statement issued by Ashcroft late Wednesday,
February 13, was the latest attempt to contain an escalating public relations
problem, which has further strained relations between the Justice Department and
Arab American groups in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The
flap erupted last week over a previously unnoticed November radio commentary by
syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, who quoted Ashcroft as saying: "Islam is a
religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity
is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you."
The
alleged remarks prompted an outcry from the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
and other groups that said the comments represented a distorted view of Islam
and were particularly alarming when attributed to the U.S. attorney general.
Several
Muslim and Arab organizations, including the Council on American Islamic
Relations (CAIR), demanded a meeting with Ashcroft, as well as a formal apology
for his alleged remarks.
James
Zogby, president of the influential Arab American Institute, asked U.S.
President George W. Bush to fire Ashcroft if the attorney general does not
repudiate the statements.
Justice
Department officials this week sought to distance Ashcroft from the report,
indicating that he was referring to alleged terrorists who distorted Islamic
beliefs.
In
a letter mailed to Muslim and Arab American groups on Monday, two Ashcroft
subordinates said the remarks "do not accurately reflect the Attorney
General's views."
But
the official statements were not explicit in their denials, and Arab American
and Muslim groups said earlier Wednesday that Ashcroft should address the issue
himself.
"The
response from Ashcroft should be simple," said Mahdi Bray, political
adviser to MPAC, which was the first to publicize the Thomas report.
"Either he made the comments or he didn't; and if he did, he either stands
by them or retracts them."
Zogby
also said that Ashcroft's failure to strongly condemn the comments contributed
to an influx of hate mail to the Arab American Institute. One e-mail sent to the
institute was entitled "Ashcroft is 100 percent correct" and ended
with "Kill the Godless Arabs!" Another called Ashcroft "a fine
and decent Christian man," saying: "If indeed, he made these remarks,
I totally agree with him."
In
his written statement Wednesday, Ashcroft said: "The reported remarks do
not express my views and do not accurately reflect what I believe I said some
12-13 weeks ago."
Zogby
said he was "pleased" that Ashcroft issued a statement, but he said it
lacked clarity and could have gone much further.
"The
statement is akin to saying 'I don't recall,' " Zogby said. "The
consequences those remarks have had, and the fact that they've been out there so
long, require a far more emphatic response from the attorney general."
Thomas,
who praised the statement as "profound" during his radio address on
Nov. 9, said this week that the quote was accurate and that he had read it back
to Ashcroft and his communications director during an interview in the attorney
general's office.
The
Bush administration has struggled since Sept. 11 to maintain good relations with
Arab American and Muslim groups, whom have objected to the administration’s
aggressive interrogation and arrest tactics targeting Muslim men.
Bush,
whose candidacy was endorsed by several Muslim groups, was lauded for positive
comments about Islam and Muslim Americans immediately following
"9-11."
In
an unprecedented move, Bush met with a group of Muslim leaders at the National
Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. within days of the attacks and has repeatedly
drawn a distinction between Islam, law-abiding Muslim citizens, and extremist
groups such as the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
But
many American Muslim leaders have been critical of the Bush administration's
response, including allegations that law enforcement agencies have violated the
rights of Muslims in their search for al-Qaeda operatives.
CAIR
said Wednesday that the number of anti-Muslim incidents skyrocketed from about
300 annual to more than 1,700 in the aftermath of the deadly September 11
attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington,
D.C.
"We
are concerned about the alleged comments by Attorney General Ashcroft,"
said Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director. "If he said it, it is unfitting
and unbecoming for an official of the administration to make such statements. He
cannot profess to be unbiased.
"It
diminishes his ability to deliver justice; it diminishes the meaning of the
President's statements that this war is not against Islam," added Awad.
"If he said it, he should apologize to the Muslim community. He has not
come out clearly."
Ashcroft
has met with Muslim leaders and has repeatedly condemned hate crimes directed at
Muslims.
On
Tuesday, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III met with Arab American, Muslim and
Sikh American leaders to discuss similar concerns, including Ashcroft's alleged
remarks, according to participants.
"We
appreciate all the good work that the Justice Department has done since
September 11," said Zogby, who attended the meeting with Mueller. "All
of that great work threatens to be undone by these comments that are just
hanging out there."
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