The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has an office in Anaheim, has been in the news (and on this blog) a lot lately following official confirmation that the FBI has been spying on the Islamic Society of Irvine mosque.

CAIR and the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County were among several Muslim advocacy groups that signed on to a statement saying they are considering breaking ties with the feds over such snooping and the FBI's previous breaking of ties with CAIR. But not every Muslim group supports that stand. A different coalition of American Muslim groups has issued a statement of its own commending the FBI.

We, the undersigned American Muslims, have long known the true character of CAIR and its allies. Therefore:

• We observe that they denounce "terrorism" in general terms but not the specific actions of Islamist groups like Hamas or Hezbollah. They denounce violence but not the ideologies behind it.
• We observe their commitment to radical aims, their attempts to chill free speech by calling critics of radical Islam "Islamophobes," and their false, ugly accusations against moderate American Muslims who disagree with their agenda.
• We reject any claim that CAIR and its supporters are legitimate civil liberties advocates or appropriate partners between the U.S. government and American Muslims.
• We congratulate the FBI for adopting a firmer attitude toward CAIR, as a defense of Americans of all faiths from the menace of radical Islam, including Muslims of all backgrounds - Sunni, Shia, Sufi, secular, etc.
• We call on the U.S. Department of Justice to affirm and continue this decision.
• We call on the entire United States government to follow suit in rejecting relations with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The statement is signed by Kemal Silay, president of the Center for Islamic Pluralism; Supna Zaidi, assistant director of Islamist Watch; M. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy; Imaad Malik, fellow with the Center for Islamic Pluralism; Ahmed Subhy Mansour with the International Quranic Center; Khalim Massoud, whose email address is Reform Islam; Nawab Agha Mousvi of the American Muslim Congress; Kiran Sayyed of the Council for Democracy and Tolerance; Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism; a group called Shia Protest; and Jalal Zuberi, Southern U.S. director with the Center for Islamic Pluralism.