On the surface, it looks like Rep. Peter King has folded like a cheap lawn chair on his March hearing about the danger of so-called home-grown terrorists lurking among Muslim communities. He has gotten a barrage of furious attacks from CAIR and the left, and King has appeared to shrink back from his original intent.

Opponents of a rigorous examination of Islamic behavior in America claim to protect the mysterious moderate Muslims who are rumored to reside here. (Buffalo Wife Beheader Muzzammil Hassan was once held up as a model of the moderate Muslim type before he reverted to the traditional Islamic style of marital relations.)

Supporters of hostile Islam realize that every day brings news of more deaths at the hands of jihadis around the world as the Religion of Peace works to establish a universal caliphate. The brutal facts on the ground make the job of Islo-propagandists increasingly more difficult. An elected representative of the United States Congress criticizing hostile Islam would add to the governmental voices (including David Cameron of the UK and Angela Merkel of Germany) who no longer support the multicultural fantasy of peace through weakness.

My priority for the hearing would be a discussion of Muslim immigration – why have it at all? It constitutes a national security threat and has nothing positive to offer the American people. Most citizens don’t feel culturally enriched by honor killing or attempted terror attacks. Yet Muslim immigrants continue to accumulate as if there were no problem with welcoming potential enemies.

Today’s news included an article in the New York Times that noted King’s decision to disinvite Ayaan Hirsi Ali (pictured), the Somali feminist who became an Enlightenment fundamentalist after she absorbed Western culture in the Netherlands for several years. (Perhaps he read my article critical of her for caving on the vital immigration question, Why Won’t Anti-Sharia Campaigners Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Frank Gaffney Oppose Muslim Immigration?)

Muslims to Be Congressional Hearings’ Main Focus, New York Times, February 8, 2011

WASHINGTON – The new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Monday that he planned to call mostly Muslim and Arab witnesses to testify in hearings next month on the threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism.

Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, said he would rely on Muslims to make his case that American Muslim leaders have failed to cooperate with law enforcement officials in the effort to disrupt terrorist plots – a claim that was rebutted in recent reports by counterterrorism experts and in a forum on Capitol Hill on Monday.

”I believe it will have more of an impact on the American people if they see people who are of the Muslim faith and Arab descent testifying,” Mr. King said.

The hearings, which Mr. King said would start the week of March 7, have provoked an uproar from both the left and the right. The left has accused Mr. King of embarking on a witch hunt. The right has accused him of capitulation for calling Muslims like Representative Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, to testify while denying a platform to popular critics of Islamic extremism like Steven Emerson, Frank Gaffney, Daniel Pipes and Robert Spencer. [. . .]

Mr. King said he had changed his mind about summoning as a witness Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born feminist critic of Islam who became a member of Parliament in the Netherlands and then fled because of threats on her life.

The visible symptoms look like creeping weakness, but Rep. King came out swinging today, by declaring that PC would not sway him from the truth.

Rep. King won’t let ”political correctness’ derail probe of Muslims, The Hill, February 8, 2011

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Tuesday he would ”not allow political correctness” to prevent him from holding a hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims.??Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) began receiving criticism from the American-Muslim community and some colleagues after announcing plans last month to look into al Qaeda’s efforts to radicalize Muslims in the U.S. King also wants to examine the role American Muslims play in assisting law enforcement and counter-terrorism experts in fighting terrorism.

The ranking Democrat on the panel, Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), wrote to King last week asking that he broaden the scope of the hearings to examine extremist groups such as neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups.

But King on Tuesday wrote Thompson to say ”the committee will continue to examine the threat of Islamic radicalization, and I will not allow political correctness to obscure a real and dangerous threat to the safety and security of the citizens of the United States.”

Here is the Feb. 8 letter to Rep. Thompson, the ranking member of the committee:

King Letter to Ranking Member Thompson Reaffirming Islamic Radicalization Hearings

Dear Ranking Member Thompson:

I am writing in reference to your letter of February 1, 2011 wherein you state that the upcoming hearing on radicalization within the Muslim-American community should be expanded to include ”a broad-based examination of domestic extremist groups regardless of their ideological underpinnings.” I strongly disagree.

While there have been extremist groups and random acts of political violence throughout our history, the al Qaeda attacks of 9/11 and the ongoing threat to our nation from Islamic jihad were uniquely diabolical and threatening to America’s security, both overseas and in our homeland.

The sui generis nature of this threat was demonstrated by, among other things, (a) Congress authorizing the President to use military force against al Qaeda, (b) enactment of the PATRIOT Act and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Protection Act of 2004, (c) the largest government reorganization since 1947 in the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and (d) the creation of the Homeland Security Committee.

Because of these and other measures taken after 9/11, al Qaeda has realized the difficulty it faces in launching attacks against our homeland from overseas. Thus it has adjusted its tactics and is now attempting to radicalize and recruit from within our country. In the last two years alone more than 50 Americans have been charged with terror related crimes.

It was this dramatically increased threat which Attorney General Holder said ”keeps him awake at night” and drove him ”to make people aware of the fact that the threat is real, the threat is different, and the threat is constant.” Attorney General Holder also noted that the teachings of Islamic jihadist Anwar Al Awlaki inspired many of the most recent terrorist attacks. This threat is real, and we can hardly afford to ignore the motivating ideology behind nearly every recent homegrown attack, such as the Zazi plot, the Times Square Attack, Fort Hood, the Portland Christmas bombing attempt, and numerous others.

In short, the homeland has become a major front in the war with Islamic terrorism and it is our responsibility to fully examine this significant change in al Qaeda tactics and strategy. To include other groups such as neo-Nazis and extreme environmentalists in this hearing would be extraneous and diffuse its efficacy. It would also send the false message that our Committee believes there is any threat equivalency between these disparate groups and Islamist terrorism.

Very simply, the Committee cannot ignore the fact that al Qaeda is actively attempting to recruit individuals living within the Muslim American community to commit acts of terror. Pursuant to our mandate, the Committee will continue to examine the threat of Islamic radicalization, and I will not allow political correctness to obscure a real and dangerous threat to the safety and security of the citizens of the United States.

Sincerely,

PETER T. KING

Chairman