The Chairman of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque to whom then-President Bill Clinton addressed a handwritten note, today sits on the Board of a highly suspect organization known as the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF). The SETF became a bit notorious when Fox News Channel’s Neil Cavuto helped expose a blatant conflict of interest with the group’s Political Director, Elizabeth O’Bagy as the Obama administration was considering airstrikes on Syria.
Bill Clinton
The Daily Caller recently discovered a handwritten note by then President Bill Clinton to the Chairman of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in March of 2000. The one thing missing from the article is the name of the Chairman of the Board at that time.
Based on other emails reviewed by Shoebat.com, it appears that this individual would have been Bassam Estwani, who is identified as a Board member of the SETF. The emails show an attempt to craft a response from the Clinton White House to Estwani after the two men had already allegedly met. First, here’s a screen shot of the note written by Clinton:
Note from Clinton to Chairman of Dar al-Hijrah.
Considering the date on the note, Clinton wrote the message on or around March 10, 2000. Documents released by the Clinton Library website include an email from one Clinton aide to several others dated March 13th of that year. The email actually references Clinton’s handwritten note:
I’ve received a copy of a letter from Bassam Estwani to the President on which President wrote: “I’m interested in all these suggestions.” I suspect Estwani met the President at the EID event, made verbal suggestions and was told to write a letter, and did, presenting it to him at the March 9 One America event.
The email goes on to relay Estwani’s “three suggestions”, to include a request for Bill Clinton to visit Dar al-Hijrah mosque. After a series of back-and-forth emails, the Clinton staff appeared to decline to do so. In a subsequent email, the same aide wrote, “…we really would advise against the President going to that mosque…”
This could indicate a knowledge on the part of the Clinton administration that this mosque was potentially radioactive. It would soon become home to Anwar al-Awlaki, the individual who inspired Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Malik Hasan; Hasan and at least two 9/11 hijackers would visit the mosque as well. As Shoebat.com reported, it was learned a little more than a month ago that the Virginia state house inexplicably passed a resolution honoring the mosque. A couple of weeks later a Virgina Democrat who serves on the Virginia House of Delegates doubled down on the disgraceful act.
The Governor of Virginia is very close Clinton ally Terry MacAuliffe.
As for the SETF, its website began incrementally dropping photos of its staff members after O’Bagy’s conflict of interest came to light in the days after the chemical weapons attack in Syria last August. The Executive Director of SETF is Mouaz Moustafa, who accompanied Senator John McCain – who has since hired O’Bagy as Shoebat.com reported – to Syria. While there, McCain was captured in a highly controversial photograph with alleged terrorists.