In a recent interview Daniel Pipes described Islamism as:

a modern, 20th century ideology, arising at roughly the same time as fascism and Marxist-Leninism. It is attractive to a small percentage of Muslims. It is a mechanism, a blueprint, for taking over governments and running societies. It is something very different from Islam.

He added:

And, by the way, the first victims of militant Islam, or Islamism, are Muslims themselves. We can join together, Muslim and non-Muslim, to fight this totalitarian ideology.

In his most recent book, Militant Islam Reaches America, Pipes went out of his way to differentiate mainstream Muslims from Islamists, and advocated support for moderate Muslims. This is a man who is supported by moderate Muslims. Pakistani journalist Hussain Haqqani recently published an article supporting Pipes' nomination in the Wall St. Journal. The Washington Post published a letter to the editor by Tashbih Sayyed supporting the USIP nomination. Sayyed is an adjunct fellow of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Does Pipes sound like an unreasonable person? Why are some of America’s "mainstream" Islamic groups, like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), so afraid of Daniel Pipes?

President Bush has nominated Pipes for a position on the board of directors of the United States Institute of Peace, and CAIR is outraged. They want to suppress any criticism of militant Islam, portraying opponents of this extreme ideology as "Islamophobes" and bigots.

Pipes is one of America’s foremost authorities on the Middle East, even according to some Lebanese Americans. Receiving his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, Pipes has taught at Harvard, the University of Chicago, and the U.S. Naval War College. His career has included positions at the Departments of State and Defense. Pipes appears frequently on TV (e.g., Fox, MSNBC) to provide insight into the Middle East and has been published in the New Republic, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, just to name a few. Despite Pipes distinguished career, CAIR doesn’t like him.

Should Americans support Pipes or should they listen to CAIR? CAIR has a questionable track record, and the word "questionable" is putting it mildly. For example, Siraj Wahhaj, one of its advisory board members, is an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case. Nihad Awad, CAIR’s Executive Director, has declared himself a supporter of Hamas and the PLO, which are both on the official U.S. list of terrorist organizations. And Bassem Khafagi, CAIR's director of community relations, "was arrested by the FBI in January in connection with a terror-financing front group he helped found that is allegedly tied to both Iraq and al Qaeda." Randall Todd Royer, a former CAIR worker, was charged and arrested on June 27 for his ties to terrorism. Sound bad enough? It gets worse.

CAIR has carried out what some would only consider being a smear campaign against Mr. Pipes. In 2000, someone "put up www.danielpipes.com, which transported visitors to a page on CAIR's Web site titled, 'Who Is Daniel Pipes?'" CAIR denied any involvement, and Pipes won back the right to the website name by threatening a lawsuit.

Why does CAIR oppose sensible legislation like the Syria Accountability Act? Why would an American-based group defend Syria, which is considered by most reasonable people to be a terrorist state, and is on the U.S. list of terrorist nations? Why do groups like CAIR oppose the Pipes appointment? Maybe a statement by CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper would shed light on the subject. In 1993, Hooper expressed his desire to see the U.S. become an Islamic state.

The U.S. an Islamic state? In the Iranian or Sudanese model--both dictatorships and failed states? Does CAIR intend that American women are eventually to be disenfranchised, forced to wear burkhas, and denied the right to an education, as women were under the Taliban in Afghanistan? Does CAIR intend that American economic policies and its judicial system be dictated solely by Islamic law (Shar’ia)?

Does CAIR think the majority of Americans want this? Do they care what the majority of Americans want? Does CAIR even understand democracy, despite the fact that this organization exists in the world’s greatest democracy--whose laws guarantee CAIR’s right to speak out?

I somehow doubt this is what most Americans want.

It is time for sensible Americans to support Daniel Pipes’ nomination. We need a voice of reason--an anti-Islamist voice--in the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Here is what you can do to support Daniel Pipes appointment:

• Write a letter to President Bush and urge him not to withdraw the Pipes appointment. You can use the model letter shown below.
• Send your letter to the President via email, mail or fax.
• Write a letter to each member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and express your support for Pipes. You can use the model letter shown below.
• Send your letter to the Senate committee members via email, mail or fax.
• Write a letter to your state’s two Senators. You can use the model letter shown below.
• Look up your Senate members’ contact info by clicking here and entering your zip code.
• Send your letter to your Senators via email, mail or fax (enter your zip code).
• Sign an online petition supporting the Pipes appointment.