Tea With Terrorists?

File this under Enemy Within.

FROM INVESTORS.COM:

Tea With Terrorists?
Posted 07/08/2010 06:59 PM ET

Homeland Security: President Obama promised lobbyists wouldn't run his White House. They're just doing it from across the street — at a Shariah-compliant coffee chain tied to a radical jihadist group.

That's right: According to the New York Times, prominent K Street lobbyists are buttonholing Obama officials at a Caribou Coffee shop on Pennsylvania Avenue, raising far more than just ethics questions. What the Times story neglects to mention is that Caribou Coffee is a Shariah-compliant firm owned by an Islamic bank based in Bahrain. One of its founders and a current adviser are leaders in the radical Muslim Brotherhood.

According to the FBI, the Egypt-based, Saudi-funded Brotherhood has a plan to infiltrate, "sabotage" and "destroy" the U.S. "from within." And it's using American agents and front groups to carry out that espionage.

The off-site White House meetings at Caribou also raise national security concerns. Because they're not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., they're not subject to disclosure on White House visitors logs. And there's no Secret Service present — at a shop owned and controlled by a foreign entity hostile to U.S. interests.

A key principal in the 2000 deal by First Islamic Bank of Bahrain to buy Caribou Coffee was Yusuf al-Qaradawi — spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a known jihadist and open supporter of suicide bombings, including some targeting Americans.

The Islamic cleric has been banned from entering the U.S. due to his fatwahs calling for the killing of American troops, and his leadership in a charity blacklisted by Treasury as a terror group.

Al-Qaradawi has ruled that jihad can be an offensive means of expanding the Muslim state, plus a defensive response to attack. Referring to the infidel, he added, "If you kill him he will end up in hell, and if he kills you, you become a martyr."

First Islamic Bank changed its name and removed al-Qaradawi's name from its Web site after anti-jihad watchdogs exposed the connection. But Caribou's parent still lists another major Brotherhood figure as a member of its Shariah Supervisory Board. It calls Muhammad Taqi Usmani a "prominent scholar" with a "proven track record in the practical implementation of Shariah law."

Usmani also has a proven track record of advocating aggressive jihad against infidels. Fiercely anti-American, he has urged all Muslims to support the Taliban as they continue to ambush and kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Dow Jones recently dumped Usmani as an adviser to its Islamic index.

News of these White House meetings at an Islamist-controlled chain comes as Obama has appointed a Muslim lawyer promoting Shariah finance as a White House fellow.

We need more transparency regarding who's getting into the White House, who's lobbying it and who owns the off-site spots where they're conducting official White House business. The FBI should be there too.