: Should Muslims Be Afraid of the New & Improved FBI?

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In response to growing criticism over spying blunders (including a faulty Carnivore snooping system that resulted in the deletion of key evidence on bin Laden, ignoring warnings from both FBI agents about flight training schools in Minnesota and a Muslim informant in Phoenix about one of the 9/11 hijackers), the FBI announced sweeping new reforms that give broad authority to monitor public meetings, libraries, Internet usage, political gatherings, and religious organizations (i.e., mosques) – even without probable cause. The move was immediately blasted by the American Civil Liberties Union. “These new guidelines [say that] you no longer have to be doing something wrong in order to get that FBI knock at your door,” said national ACLU director Laura Murphy. If past behavior is any indication, Muslims may have reason to worry. The crackdown on immigrants with expired visas came down almost exclusively on hundreds of Arabs and Muslims. However, there’s one sure way that Muslims can avoid being targeted – become an FBI agent. New Jersey’s American Muslim Union sponsored an FBI Career Day to help law enforcement recruit more Muslim agents. An onlooker was skeptical, though. “Why didn’t they [recruit] us before September 11?”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.