Welcome to frak'ed up diplomacy

So the Imam of the new mosque being built in New York (Feisal Abdul Rauf) is going to be sent by the U.S. State department (paid by you) to the middle east on a “peace” mission. A peace mission to an area recently heated up by a flotilla that wouldn’t allow Israeli soldiers to inspect one ship for weapons heading for the Gaza Strip.

This flotilla is being supported by the Perdana Global Peace Organization headed by Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad (Former prime minister of Malaysia). Organization whose goal is to stop western globalization has on its mission statement signatures of supports and one is none other than Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf! (click the about tab)

Just to summarize: A group is forcing a conflict with Israel over the Gaza Strip and we are sending a supporter of that group, one our dime, to the middle east to talk about bring peace to the middle east.

1. The State Departments confirmation:
   QUESTION: P.J., there’s a report in Forbes that Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam of the so-called Ground Zero Mosque is going on a trip to the Middle East. It’s basically to bring peace – moderation, and peace, and understanding to the region. And the claim by his people is that it’s a U.S. Government-supported trip. Do you know or rather is the U.S. Government supporting this trip? And would there be any problem with that in light of the – that this could be used as a fundraising – also simultaneously for fundraising for a controversial project?
   MR. CROWLEY: He is a distinguished Muslim cleric. We do have a program whereby through our Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau here at the State Department, we send people from Muslim communities here in this country around the world to help people overseas understand our society and the role of religion within our society. I think we are in the process of arranging for him to travel as part of this program. And it is to foster a greater understanding and outreach around the world among Muslim majority communities. But there are strict procedures as to the kind of activity that occurs during the course of this travel. I think this is exactly what we’ve presented it as. And we’ve done this many, many times with many leading figures since – over the past few years.
   QUESTION: And is it just him and can you give me any guidance to the itinerary or the cost?
   MR. CROWLEY: I think the itinerary is still being worked. And he is by no means the only Muslim religious figure in this country to participate in the program.
   QUESTION: And how about just that last point about whether – there’s been reports in some Arabic language media that he plans to fundraise for the Islamic center and mosque overseas. Might he be –
   MR. CROWLEY: Again, I will double check. But that would not be something he could do as part of our program.
   

(Video) move to 40 min.
NYPost article
Freegaza.org