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Read other letters about this article
.... no big deal.
Keith Ellison, D-MN, IS a Muslim, and, if we're ever to see real change in the United States so far as having multi-religious representation in Congress, then Obama could set a new standard & say he's a Muslim. But, OF COURSE, HE'S not a Muslim.
So far as the issue I feel is important to clarify on his past, is his trip to Pakistan in 1981. HE, after all, made the disclosure in April which he credited with giving him SUPERIOR knowledge in the Foreign Policy arena. Senators Clinton & Senator McCain don't hold a candle to him. The DISCLOSURE was news ... google "Obama Discloses Trip to Pakistan in 1981," you'll have reams of hits. Sift the first 800 & 98% drop out as duplicates. Regoogle every few days, & you'll see more HAS been added.
Obama the one who claimed the trip was astounding for him as an insightful experience. Other than that, nada. Four Pakistanis & one Indian are now associated with the trip. The Chandoo Brothers, of which many have posted some insight in character; the Soomro son; a Mr. Thumpallally, who is Indian & may be associated with Obama's claims he made to Hyderabad, INDIA; Hal Sadiqqi; &, Miam Muhammadmian Soomro.
The latter was a banker in 1981, of some reknown; since, was governor of Sindh State & for a bit, Interim Prime Minister of Pakistan in the transition post Benazhir Bhutto - Mr. Zadari. Mr. Soomro apparently was/is a confidant of Gen. Musharraf, the same General/ President Obama has dissed. Mr. Soomro was & has been a banker of some note, one of which was Pakistan Agriculture Development Bank. They specialized in microfinancing small agricultural projects in Pakistan. Interestingly enough, Ms. Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetero, was associated with the bank in 1985, when she worked with Ford Foundation. She'd worked for USAID and later worked for Women's World Bank.
Both USAID & The Ford Foundation, again, googling for relevance, were organizations the CIA planted operatives in as cover. Valerie Plame was a NOC (Non-Official Cover) operative for the CIA. She was ostensibly an employee of a company which didn't exist beside a PO Box in Boston. That's the way the CIA NOC positions work. Mrs. Obama met Mr. Obama in Indonesia. Some have suggested Mr. O, besides being an opportunist, was also a Marxist in that day. Was he? They met in Russian language class in Hawaii.
Obama's friends, suggest they will provide no details on that trip because Americans will make negative inferences on him being a Muslim. Could that possibly point to an actual Muslim aura that permeated the trip to Pakistan? Mr. Soomro said he cannot disclose who asked him, in 1981, to watch over young Barry/Barack.
Some suggest Pakistan in 1981 was not:
1. A Club Med stopover;
2. Was under the martial law rule of Gen. Zia ul Haq, a real Musharraf generalisimo prototype;
3. Was the springboard for Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) training and funding of mujahadeen in Afghanisan;
4. The place where CIA and Egyptian and Saudi Arabian money was funneled to arm & train mujahadeen;
5. A swell place to buy heroin, opium, hashish or marijuana;
6. A place to look for a poorer Muslim woman as a type of "mail order bride;"
7. A place to come and deepen one's study of Islam, including, wahabbi Islam.
Anyone of these, therefore, could have been a reason to go or not go to Pakistan.
The problem is: Obama, in a faux pas, let this nugget out. BUT, not another detail so far. NOR, might I add, not a single journalist with balls asking for a follow on interview, with detailed questions about the trip.
Note Obama was informed on/about March 20 his passport file had been viewed, without authorization, three times. He disclosed this trip for the first time, in minor context, on April 8-10. Could it be that the State Department, in it's debriefing the culprits, said they wanted to SEE if he'd declared this trip? And Obama self=innoculated to let just enough out to satisfy the FBI or State Department. Whether he'd claimed the trip or not, in then time. Because as President, Senator Obama will theoretically, NEED TO BE CLEARED FOR SECURITY CLEARANCE AT AT LEAST TOP SECRET/SCI.
I can say that had any other person not delcared such a trip, & it had been learned about, & the person was so reluctant to disclose a full itinerary, & people met, he or she would likely NOT be cleared at that level. There would be a concern that with details undisclosed, and/or hidden, he/she would be a security risk. Gosh.
Furthermore, Obama, having been raised in eclectic background in Indonesia & Hawaii, makes friends of at least four Pakistani men (one illegally in U.S.), and one Indian man. Two or three were ultimately associated with his trip to Pakistan. Why so many Pakistanis, all somewhere on a spectrum of commitment to Islam. These are details that the American people have a RIGHT to know.
I could care less if he's a Muslim.
Right now, the paucity of real information on this matter is directly tied TO SENATOR BARACK OBAMA, not we, who wonder about his past.
And, I might add, in classic Obama style, HE discloses, but if details are sought, we're anti-Muslim, racist, or whack jobs. In other words, just like with his cocaine and marijuana use, I DISCLOSED, HOW DARE YOU ASK FOR MORE DETAILS!!! This borders on a hubris that is mind boggling for a Presidential candidate. Obama hasn't said he's an addict in recovery, i.e., anonymous.
This all smacks of a duplicity & elitism the average American would wonder: what the hell WAS that trip about, if he's now so stingy with details, & refuses to give his friends the green light to discuss the trip??
Again: even if he were a Muslim then, or looking at deepening his Islamic connections, it's not a big deal. All we want is a full disclosure on this matter. Absent that, HE's the one who has created the smoke, and burning embers, not US!
