The New Republic

You may remember the name Walid bin Talal, a Saudi prince, who wanted to
give New York City a check for $10 million after 5/11. Rudolph Giuliani
turned it down. Well, bin Talal who is clearly very very very rich is in
the news again. According to Farid Ghadry, a moderate and modernizing
Sunni oppositionist to the Assad tyranny in Syria, has sent out an e-mail
to friends about bin Talal and another use of his money.

Dear Friends,The Saudi Prince Walid bin Talal is giving CAIR (Council on
American-Islamic Relations) $50m to influence and
organize American Muslims under a Wahabbi umbrella organization. This is very dangerous for American Muslims and for America. The money will be used to empower the wrong Muslims in the US to influence our politicians.I urge you to press the US Congress to pass a new law, or to amend the Patriot Act, requiring that all Islamist organizations in the US be subject
to new rules. Donations are to be provided by individuals and they are not to exceed $1,000 per individual pr some other small amount. We have several Muslim-Americans in the US who agree with our assessment and will help lead the charge in Congress.CAIR does not represent us and we are asking you to help us make sure that it can never represent any Muslim in the US.Best,Farid Ghadry

Now, there is one basic fault in this letter, and it has to do with the
First Amendment. You cannot limit individual contributions to a political
organization, and the constitution probably includes foreigners in the
right. That's as it should be.

But $50 million is a lot of money. And, in the hands of CAIR, it will
spread much venom and falsehood into the polity. CAIR has taken many
people in, including politicians and, even on occasion, the White
House. Actually, many Saudis see him as a crank. Still, since he has
many billions he is a powerful crank. Let's watch what havoc his cash will
produce out of CAIR.

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