The red-white-blue line of heroism -- arching from Valley Forge to the Alamo to Iwo Jima to New York police and firemen on 9/11 -- will be honored as long as our country exists. So how can it be that less than ten years after 9/11, the NYPD is under co-ordinated attack for acting to prevent recurrence of terrorist atrocities?

The uproar began a fortnight ago when an Associated Press reporter, with a track record of smearing US Intel agencies, posted an article asserting that NYPD officers known as "rakers" monitor bookstores, cafes and nightclubs where Muslims gather and that informants known as "crawlers" report on suspicious conduct in mosques. In the spirit of contemporary journalism which exalts opinions over facts, AP charged: "The NYPD operates far outside its borders and targets ethnic communities in ways that would run afoul of civil liberties rules if practiced by the federal government." AP suggested ominously that NYPD's co-operation with the CIA is "unprecedented."

 A Clinton Hack Who Helped Bring on 9/11

It should have been apparent to any sensible citizen that NYPD is keeping its eye on folks who might want to continue jihad in New York. Take it from me (in my former life, I served as an ACLU lawyer), there is nothing unlawful about these astute police activities.  That is probably why the AP cited no legal authorities for its breathless conclusion of violations of "civil liberties rules."  As to "unprecedented" co-operation with the CIA, need I remind the AP that a clueless Clinton hack in the Justice Department helped bring on 9/11 by forbidding sharing of info between CIA and FBI, a practice since wisely relegated to the dustbin of history.  I could give you the name of the Clinton hack, who now luxuriantly represents major corporate malefactors, but why give her 30 more seconds of infamy?

The usual suspects crawled from their safe abodes to assail NYPD. Ibrahim Hooper, speaking for CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), an organization linked to Hamas, said:  "These revelations send the message to American Muslims that they are being viewed as a suspect community and that their constitutional rights may be violated with impunity." He asked the Justice Department to "initiate an immediate investigation of the civil rights implications of this 'spy program' and the legality of its links to the CIA." Who knows how Attorney General Eric Holder, who has been supportive of CAIR and dismissed a proven case against armed Black Muslims threatening Philadelphia voters, will treat this request? The AP brazenly identified CAIR as a "civil rights organization" without mentioning its ties to Hamas.  Isn't that like identifying bin Laden as a religious reformer?  Zaheer Uddin of New York Islamic Leadership Council accused NYPD of "playing against Islam and Muslims, going against the First Amendment and the security of this country (italics added by me)."  The ACLU tut-tutted about "ethnic profiling" and threatened to sue.   A nitwit Brooklyn congresswoman named Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), who sits on the Homeland Security Committee,  joined the catcalls for a Justice Department investigation.  She expressed fear that Baptist churches would be infiltrated by the NYPD.

 NYPD Steps up to the Plate Like Derek Jeter

The NYPD was proud to defend itself against accusations that it is succeeding in preventing terrorist attacks.  Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said police Intel wok has helped thwart 13 terrorist plots in the city since 9/11(remember the Times Square would-be bomber?) and that "we don't apologize" for aggressive techniques.  Browne added: "The AP story shows that we're doing all we can to stop terrorists from killing even more New Yorkers. We commit over a thousand officers every day to stop terrorists who've demonstrated an undiminished appetite to come back and kill more New Yorkers."  He acknowledged that the Department's Intel chief, David Cohen, formerly  worked for the CIA, but explained that the CIA does not direct NYPD activities.  As to CAIR's charge that collaboration with the CIA might be illegal, Browne stepped up to the plate like Derek Jeter: "They're wrong," he said.

The White House  unsurprisingly declined comment on whether NYPD is in conflict with its recent policy paper ("Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States"), which directs authorities to partner with Muslim groups and avoid stigmatizing specific communities.  John Brennan, Obama's counterterrorism adviser, unexpectedly said he is impressed with the "heroic job" NYPD and its Intel unit have been doing to keep New Yorkers safe.  Perhaps Brennan is learning on the job.   Previously, he declined to ascribe any Islamic connection to the Ft. Hood massacre, notwithstanding that Dr. Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he gunned down our soldiers.

NYPD: "One of the Most Impressive Intel Organizations in the World

NYPD's antagonists would have you believe the Department is acting on crude prejudice.  Had the AP and CAIR done their homework, they would have understood that the police work they assail is based on a sophisticated 90-page 2007 study titled Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat, prepared for NYPD by Mitchell Silber and Arvin Bhatt, two of its senior Intel analysts.  The preface to the Study by Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly zeroes in on the clearly present danger by noting that since 9/11 "many of the terrorist attacks or thwarted plots against cities overseas and in the U.S. have been conceptualized and planned by local residents/citizens who sought to attack their countries of residence."  Kelly noted that most of these jihadis were "unremarkable" people with little or no criminal history.  The Study, focusing  on actual terrorist cases, traces how these "unremarkable" people over time became radicalized,  obsessed with the notion that Islam must be  violently defended because  they believed it is under attack, and then moved on to the stage of violence.  Four stages of  evolving radicalization are precisely identified, i.e., pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination and jihadization.  Silber was quoted in Rick Moran's December 8, 2009 American Thinker blog as follows: "Radicalization is clearly happening in the U.S.  In past years, you couldn't say that about the U.S."

The Rand Corporation noted the Study's demonstrating that "becoming a jihadist is a gradual multi-step process," but "since 9/11 the pace has accelerated."  Rand concluded that the Study "will inform the training of intelligence analysts and law enforcement personnel" and "will assist prosecutors and courts in the very difficult task of deciding when the boundary between a bunch of guys sharing violent fantasies and a terrorist cell determined to go operational has been crossed."  Alain Bauer, a Sorbonne criminologist, praised the Study as a contribution to the "essential process" of "early detection of the threats and dangers of the modern world."  Chris Heffelgfinger, West Point counter-terrorism expert, called the Study "one of the first public reports on radicalization to get it right" and concluded "I don't think the CIA or any other analytic agency has better stuff than this." Time Magazine, which usually runs with the media mob, called the Study "the most sophisticated analysis of the homegrown terrorism threat to be made public in the U.S.".  Time's tribute rebukes all the defamers: "The NYPD has, since 9/11 built up one of the most impressive intelligence organizations in the world."

Hunting Terrorists at Sodality Meetings or Hadassah Luncheons?

NYPD is thus employing sound practices based on sound doctrine.  There is no presumption that mosques are filled with criminals.  But neither can we forget the evidence proving that the 9/11 conspirators came together at a Hamburg mosque or that the fugitive U.S.-born preacher al-Awlaki, at his northern Virginia mosque, incited the Ft. Hood mass murderer,  the Times Square bomber and others. Do the AP, CAIR, Rep. Clarke and the ACLU expect the police to hunt terrorists at Sodality meetings and Hadassah luncheons, or do they believe police should be inert until terrorist plots explode? My suggestion: tell NYPD's detractors that they are recklessly wrong.   And the next time you see a New York City policeman, thank him/her for helping to save your life.