Jihad camp to be built in Iowa on U.S. government land:
I can't believe I forgot to blog this one. The hypocrisy is almost paralyzing (next up, a similar tale, from Boston):

March 27, 2006

Lease signed for Muslim youth camp ASSOCIATED PRESS? March 23, 2006 http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060323/NEWS/60323003/1001/NEWS


North Liberty, Iowa. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has signed a lease for up to 25 years with a group that wants to build a Muslim youth camp at Lake Coralville.

The lease allows the Cedar Rapids-based Muslim Youth Camps of America to build on 114 acres of federal land. Construction can start once the group works out details with county and state regulators, the corps said Wednesday.

Plans for the $934,000 camp north of North Liberty call for lodging up to 60 campers ages 10 to 17 in cabins and tents plus staffers during the summer and up to 40 per night in the offseason. When completed, the camp will include a 2,400 square-foot lodge, a beach, recreation trails, five cabins, five tent pods and a bathroom.

The initial plan, submitted in 1999, called for a 17,500-square-foot lodge, 12 camping platforms, 10 cabins, bathrooms, trails and a beach. The scaled back plan was presented after an environmental assessment.

Neighbors who had been opposed to the camp said they no longer were as concerned as they had been.

Rick Hollis, whose property adjoins the land, said he could live with the scaled-down version.

He said it is closer to the size of a Girl Scout camp there previously. 'I like the quiet neighborhood the way it is, but if they really keep it the size of the Girl Scout camp, it should not be a big intrusion on the neighborhood,' Hollis said.

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MIM:For background on the camp see the article below :

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=8670
Camp Terror
By Joe Kaufman

Environmental concerns have been a factor. Parking accommodations have been a factor. How many people? Where will they stay? Will it cause traffic? All of these issues have been addressed to one degree or another. But a significant few issues have been sidestepped entirely, covered up in such a manner that would suggest either political correctness or deception was to blame. This is especially significant in light of the fact that there is a terror connection to the proposed new Muslim Center.

Issue number one: The Church-State Problem

In July of 2002, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) won a long fought battle to remove a cross from the Mohave Desert public preserve, as a Federal judge ruled that it was in breach of the 'establishment' clause of the Constitution.

Of the case, Peter Eliasberg, an attorney at the ACLU stated, 'The federal government should not offer public land – owned collectively by people of every faith and of no faith – as a site for the advertisement and promotion of Jesus Christ, Buddha, Pope John Paul II, or any other particular religious figure. Contrary to what some believe, it is not the role of the federal government to advance Christianity or any other sectarian belief.' He further stated, 'The courts have consistently held that a permanent religious fixture on federal land is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.'

While the ACLU feels it necessary to take action against symbols of the Christian faith, it seems they do not attribute the same set of standards to Islam."