Rashad Hussain-Another Questionable Obama Appointee

Rashad Hussain, currently an associate deputy counsel in the White House, has been named as President Obama's ambassador to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, an organization of 57 Islamic nations. The OIC has been most recently involved in trying to get the UN to pass an anti-defamation of religions measure that would apply to all member states. Of course, in practical terms, it only pertains to Islam.

But I digress. The topic of this article is Mr Hussain.

Hussain was born in Wyoming to an Indian immigrant family and grew up in Plano, Texas. His resume seems completely in order. Yet, there is now a growing question as to his fitness for the job. The reason? In 2004, Hussain, then a law student at Yale University, was quoted in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs as stating that ex-University of South Florida Professor Sami Al-Arian was the victim of a "politically-motivated persecution". This allegedly occurred while Hussain was participating in a Muslim Student Association panel discussion.

Al-Arian is currently serving a 57-month sentence based on his conviction for funneling money to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in the Middle East-a US- designated terrorist group. He has become the poster boy for radical Islamists in the US, who paint him as an innocent victim of the big bad Bush Justice Department.

What is interesting is that the quote attributed to Hussain has apparently been deleted from the archives of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. The author of the piece, however, insists that it was Hussain who made the statement even though the White House and the WRMEA is claiming that the statement was actually made by Al-Arian's daughter, Laila, who was on the same panel with Hussain.

It is entirely possible that this question can be cleared up. If Congress would call a short hearing on the matter, Hussain and the other players could be asked about this issue (under oath, of course). I am willing to keep an open mind on this matter-assuming of course that Congress follows up on this.