In his latest “Secure Freedom Minute” blog post on March 23, anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney suggested a replacement for the current CIA director: Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Gaffney, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan and founder and president of the Center for Security Policy, was critical of a recent Fox News interview with CIA Director John Brennan. During the segment, Brennan said extremist groups like ISIS are “a corruption of the Islamic faith” and do not “represent the Muslim community or Islam.”
Instead, Gaffney says the U.S. deserves a CIA director that shares his anti-Muslim views and is willing to indict the entire religion of Islam.
“John Brennan is dead wrong. Ayaan Hirsi Ali for CIA Director!” he proclaimed.
Hirsi Ali is known for her hostility toward Islam and ostensibly Muslims, which makes her the perfect candidate for the position in Gaffney’s eyes. So what are the specific job qualifications that Gaffney sees in her?
Read: Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not my savior
Hirsi Ali has previously called Islam “a destructive, nihilistic cult of death.” She also says the religion is “inherently violent” and called it the “new fascism.”
“Just like Nazism started with Hitler’s vision, the Islamic vision is a caliphate,” she said in a 2007 interview with the The London Evening Standard.
In 2007, Hirsi Ali told Reason magazine “we are at war with Islam” and that only “[o]nce it’s defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful.”
Moreso, Hirsi Ali also sympathized with Anders Behring Breivik, the far-Right terrorist responsible for killing 77 people in Norway. Breivik, who sought to stop what he deemed to be the Islamization of the West, cited Hirsi Ali in his manifesto. After the attack, Hirsi Ali defended Breivik, saying, “he had no other choice but to use violence” because “all outlets to express his views were censored.”
And recently in 2014, Brandeis University rescinded an honorary degree that was to be awarded to Hirsi Ali. This decision came after a wave of complaints and a petition from students opposed to honoring her.
In a statement following the withdrawal, the university said, “we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values. For all concerned, we regret that we were not aware of these statements earlier.”
Oh yes, CIA director material indeed, Mr. Gaffney.
Read: America’s biggest defense and aerospace contractors are supporting Gaffney’s “work”