In response to a recent opinion piece by Adele Ferguson: Where she wrote “ ITEM: Muslim mosques in Washington state are participating in a national campaign to encourage Muslims to register to vote as a first step in becoming politically active. ‘ We think Muslims have a lot of positive things to contribute to the political process,’ said Michaela Corning for the Council on American-Islamic relations, a civil rights and advocacy group. “The first step is registering people to vote, then it’s becoming a delegate or affecting policy.’ COMMENT: I’d say the first positive step would be for them to publicly condemn the terrorism by their fellow Muslims. They have had little to say since 9/11 except to complain about racial profiling when they were singled out at airports and such. If they now are or want to be Americans, prove it by standing with us against Muslims who have been identified as or whom they know to be anti-American, instead of maintaining the old Sgt. Schultz routine of “I see nothing, I hear nothing, I know nothing.”
   Adele can write, and I usually enjoy her columns. Perhaps she was in a hurry, and didn’t bother to do a cursory review of Internet websites, or newspaper articles.
   I remember America’s most famous Muslim, Mohammad Ali, visited New York and condemned the attack. I remember Louis Farrakhan (the 2nd most famous American Muslim, though not some one I admire very much) said on 9/16 “I, on behalf of all the members of the Nation of Islam and on behalf of many millions of Muslims here in America and throughout the world, lift our voices to condemn this vicious and atrocious attack on the United States”
   Of course this isn’t the group that Adele referred to that group the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest grassroots American Muslim civil rights and advocacy group,
   On Sept. 11, distributed a statement, which read: “We condemn in the strongest terms possible what are apparently vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with all Americans in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators. No cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts. All members of the Muslim community are asked to offer whatever help they can to the victims and their families. Muslim medical professionals should go to the scenes of the attacks to offer aid and comfort to the victims.”
   They latter issued an ‘alert’ to American Muslims urging that the following additional actions be taken: “Muslim relief agencies should contact their counterparts to offer support in the recovery efforts. Individual Muslims should donate blood by contacting the local office of the Red Cross… They should also send donations to those relief agencies that are on the scene of the attacks.”
   I think the statements are pretty clear condemnation of the attacks and call to action to help defend their country. In my opinion Adele should apologize.

Graham Skelly
Bremerton