Talk:Terror Finance Blog
Setting the record straight
Hi everyone this is the real Ilan Weinglass. I just found this page. I need to set the record straight on some statements, particularly the one that implies that since I worked for the Investigative Project, I am somehow anti-Muslim. That's just not the case.
1. The TFB is not an offshoot of the American Center for Democracy. A few people otherwise associated with the ACD are listed as writers for the TFB, though they haven't posted in quite a while. If anyone reading this feels qualified to write about terror financing, hell, contact me and I'll add you to the blog. The Wikispooks entry then discusses the ACD a bit, which is totally legitimate, but this belongs in a separate entry for the ACD. I personally have no contact whatsoever with Richard Perle, Jim Woolsey, et al (though I've met them once or twice).
2. I don't understand why 'terrorism' and 'analyst' are in scare quotes.
3. Regarding the little bio: I am indeed the founder of the blog. I have no idea what working at the Israeli Trade Ministry has to do with anything, by the way.
4. I worked for the Investigative Project in 2004, for three months. I can't emphasize this enough: at least at the time I was there, it was not explicitly anti-Muslim. There were even a few Muslims working there, though all secular. The IP is (or was) opposed to a radical form of Islam that a small minority of American Muslims espoused. Unfortunately, having seen some of the actual primary materials gathered by IP, that small minority actually does exist. But obviously that's not the case for the other 99%. The bottom line is that it is simply wrong to imply that I am anti-Muslim due to my time at the Investigative Project.
Let me also add that if anyone asked why I was only at IP for a short period, they would have discovered I left for precisely some of the same reasons that others criticize IP. I realized quickly that Steve Emerson was frankly too sensational and sweeping in his assertions, too "six-degrees-of-separation." I think he exaggerated the threat from the tiny amount of extremist Muslims in the US, as opposed to just accurately assessing their numbers and motivations. That's why I left. I don't know if the place has gone more right-wing since 2004. If they have it's a shame. I keep the place on my bio because I learned good nitty-gritty research skills there, not out of ideological affiliation.
I can't speak about their donor base, other than to say I know of quite a few who were not "wealthy American Zionists."
The point of all this is to set the record straight. If anyone's wondering, I am frankly disgusted by the level of bigotry and pure stupidity directed towards Muslims in the US.
But all this is kind of moot since hardly anyone posts anything on the blog anymore.
