In an age of combating terrorism it is important that we rely on correct information and correct intelligence gathering. Bad information may be the difference between life and death. That is why we cannot rely on charlatans such as Walid Shoebat, a fake terrorist who has been busted by CNN recently. Before that Shoebat was busted by the conservative “Jerusalem Post” for being a charlatan and by the far-right banshee, Debbie Schlussel yet the U.S. government did not heed their warning.
Besides being a fake terrorist, Shoebat is absolutely of no use to U.S. intelligence in combating terrorism because he does not know what he is talking about and gives misinformation. For instance, Shoebat says that the TSA could have stopped the 9/11 terrorists. Only one problem. The TSA was created after 9/11. Shoebat also does not know the correct number of hijackers. He claims there were only 17 when in reality there were 19. I guess if you trusted Shoebat you would’ve had to rely upon an organization that didn’t exist yet while allowing two of the hijackers to slip away. Great job Mr. Shoebat! You are really helpful and competent in protecting Americans.
Furthermore, Shoebat is wasting U.S. taxpayer money by claiming to be a counterterrorism expert. The Department of Homeland Security spent $40 million on counterterrorism experts and training and who knows how much of that was squandered on this charlatan. Shoebat says that he has an advantage in combating Islamic extremism because he was a former PLO terrorist in Palestine. Yet his cousin Daood Shoebat refutes that claim. Furthermore, the bank he claims to have bombed in Bethlehem called Bank Leumi has no verifiable record of any terrorist incident taking place at its now deconstructed Bethlehem branch. (http://www.loonwatch.com/...).
It seems then that Shoebat’s motives are purely to make money by fooling gullible and petrified Americans (who have very real reasons to be afraid). He created a fantasy pre-life as a terrorist and now boasts his radical transformation to Christianity in order to garner Christian sympathy and trust. Who knows if he is actually even a believing Christian? The man obviously has no conscience and can harbor lies quite easily. He has created numerous false personas before i.e., terrorist, philanthropist, counterterrorism expert. So I would urge Shoebat’s former Christian allies and supporters to distance themselves from him. Shoebat has done nothing but steal their money and betray their trust. He exploited their legitimate fears for profit and saw them only as a commodity and a stepping stone towards fame. Not a very Christian thing to do.
Shoebat now joins the ranks of another humiliated so-called counterterrorism expert, Steve Emerson. According to FAIR, “Emerson presented AP reporters with what he claimed were FBI documents describing mainstream American Muslim groups with alleged terrorist sympathies, according to the AP series' lead writer, Richard Cole (Extra!, 7=8/95). However, Cole said that AP staff discovered that the dossier was almost identical to one earlier authored by Emerson himself.” (http://smearcasting.com/...). So in short Emerson’s dossier was Emerson.
We cannot rely on these frauds for security. They are nothing but conmen. So we must conduct extensive background checks on anyone claiming to be a counterterrorism expert before supplying them with money. Furthermore, if a counterterrorism expert is found to be a fraud or relying on bogus information he or she should be immediately fired and tried for fraud. Conmen do not get a free pass in our society.
Shoebat should be compelled to pay back all the money he earned through his false persona and be arrested for fraud. He should simply be treated like any other fraudster. He is in America now and he is not above the law.