Gaffney confronts top Bush official over Shariah
What the desultory townhall-style debate last night in Nashville between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama lacked in passion and focus on the most important issue of our time – the threat posed by Shariah (Islamic law) to our freedoms, way of life and form of government – was much in evidence in another debate held near Baltimore. Under the sponsorship of The Harbor League, Center for Security Policy President Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. squared off with Suhail Khan, the Bush Administration’s Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation for Policy.
As an article by Mr. Gaffney describing the highlights of "the Other Debate" (repoduced below) makes clear, Khan did little to dissipate serious concerns about his past associations with, and affinity for, those who minimize the threat posed by Shariah-adherent Muslims – including many who are prominent supporters of Shariah’s largely stealthy insinuation into this country.
Mr. Gaffney’s prepared remarks and accompanying slides are available. An audio file of the entire debate is available and a transcript will be made available as soon as it is completed. In addition, a producer from Al Jazeera, which filmed the program in its entirety, announced that it would be broadcast gavel-to-gavel (consult your local listings).
Following the Other Debate, Mr. Gaffney observed:
"Americans and other freedom-loving peoples face a grave and growing danger from adherents to Shariah. That danger is greatly exacerbated by those like Suhail Khan who either don’t understand Shariah’s true nature and the stealthy jihad being used to establish it as a parallel theo-political-legal code inside this country – or are deliberately misrepresenting the facts about both. It is worrying in the extreme that the Bush Administration, in which Khan serves as among its most prominent Muslims, is in a position to influence not only assessments of the threat posed by some among his co-religionists but policy needed to address that threat."
It is highly regrettable that these issues were not featured in last night’s other other debate – the one featuring the presidential contenders. Americans have a need to know about where the candidates stand on Shariah, and what they will do to counter this seditious program and the "soft" jihad being waged to advance its mortal assault on our freedoms and Constitution.
More from the debate
- Complete transcript
- "The other debate: Frank Gaffney vs. Suhail Khan"
- Mr. Gaffney’s prepared remarks
- Download or stream the audio
- Responses to the debate from CSP General Counsel David Yerushalmi and Robert Spencer
Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country. He is an associate author of highly acclaimed Shariah: The Threat to America and the publisher of over a dozen other books and monographs from the Center for Security Policy Press.
In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving U.S.-USSR relations, nuclear forces, arms control, missile defense policy and U.S.-European defense ties. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO’s senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.
From August 1983 until November 1987, Mr. Gaffney was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy under Assistant Secretary Richard Perle.
From February 1981 to August 1983, Mr. Gaffney was a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by the late Senator John Tower (R-Texas). And, in the latter 1970’s, Mr. Gaffney served as an aide to the late Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-Washington) in the areas of defense and foreign policy.
Mr. Gaffney holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Mr. Gaffney’s leadership has been recognized by numerous organizations including: the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award (1987), the U.S. Business and Industry Council’s Defender of the National Interest Award (1994), the Navy League of the United States’ Alfred Thayer Mahan Literary Achievement Award (1999), and the Zionist Organization of America’s “Louis Brandeis Award” (2003), the Western Conservative Summit’s Stephen H. Long Award (2015), the Council for National Policy’s George Washington Military Leadership Award (2016) and the IMPACT Award from Ginni Thomas and United in Purpose (2017).
Mr. Gaffney was born in 1953 and resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
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