Find The Boots

Gates of Vienna has an interesting post summarizing a post by Dr. Paul Williams’ story about the headquarters of the Muslims of America and Jamaat ul-Fuqra near Hancock, NY. The article tells the story of a compound that sounds like an Al Qaeda training camp.

The 70 acre complex is surrounded with "No trespassing" signs; the rocky terrain is infested with rattlesnakes; and the woods are home to black bears, coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats.

The entrance to the community is at the bottom of a very steep hill that is difficult to navigate even on a bright sunny day in May. The road, dubbed Muslim Lane, is unpaved and marred by deep crevices that have been created by torrential downpours. On a wintry day, few, save those with all terrain vehicles, could venture forth from the remote encampment.

A sentry post has been established at the base of the hill.

The sentry, at the time of this visit, is an African American dressed in Islamic garb - - a skull cap, a prayer shawl, and a loose fitting shalwat kameez. He instructs us to turn around and leave. "Our community is not open to visitors," he says.

Behind the sentry and across a small stream stand dozens of inhabitants of the compound - - the men wearing skull caps and loose fitting tunics, the women in full burqa. They appear ready to deal with any unauthorized intruders.

The hillside is blighted by rusty trailers that appear to be without power or running water and a number of outhouses. The scent of raw sewage is in the air.

Venturing into the complex last summer, Douglas Hagmann, an intrepid investigator and director of the Northeast Intelligence Service, came upon a military training area at the eastern perimeter of the property. The area was equipped with ropes hanging from tall trees, wooden fences for scaling, a make-shift obstacle course, and a firing range. Hagmann said that the range appeared to have been in regular use.

Islamberg is not as benign as a Buddhist monastery or a Carmelite convent. Nearly every weekend, neighbors hear sounds of gunfire. Some, including a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, have heard the bang of small explosives...."They own the mountain and they know it and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can't even do that. Who wants to buy a property near that?"

While buzzing with activity during the week, the place becomes a virtual hive on weekends. The guest includes arrivals from the inner cities of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and, occasionally, white-robed dignitaries in Ray-Bans from the Middle East.

Hmm, quite alarming.

But then again, why? As long as they're not breaking any laws, what's the problem? Let's just assume that it's not felons from their prison recruits that are walking around armed. In fact, I know of another "compound" that sounds much the same. It's my hunting club's lease. Let's rewrite that article a bit:

The 6,000 acre complex is surrounded with "No trespassing" signs; the swampy terrain is infested with rattlesnakes and water mocassins; and the woods are home to black bears, coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats.

The entrance to the community is difficult to navigate even on a bright sunny day in May. The road, without a name, is unpaved and marred by deep crevices that have been created by torrential downpours. On a wintry day, few, save those with all terrain vehicles, could venture forth from the remote encampment.

What appears to be sentry post has been established near the entrance. There are many such towers located throughout the complex, providing wide fields of fire overlooking vast stretches of land.

The sentry, at the time of this visit, is a gun nut dressed in military garb -- a loose fitting set of BDUs, heavy boots, a camouflage cap, and camouflage gloves. He has a radio, field glasses, and high powered, scoped sniper rifle or an assault weapon. He instructs us to turn around and leave. "Our community is not open to visitors," he says.

Behind the sentry and across a field are dozens of inhabitants of the compound - - the men wearing BDUs of various camouflage patterns, the women dressed in a similar fashion. They appear ready to deal with any unauthorized intruders.

The camp is blighted by rusty trailers that appear to be without running water or outhouses.

Venturing into the complex last summer, a local animal rights activist came upon a military training area. The area was equipped with ladders hanging from tall trees, platforms for sniping, and a firing range. The activist said that the range appeared to have been in regular use.

Boondoggie's Hunt Camp is not as benign as a Buddhist monastery or a Carmelite convent. Nearly every weekend, neighbors hear sounds of gunfire. Some, including a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, have heard the bang of small explosives...."They own the farm and they know it and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can't even do that. Who wants to buy a property near that?"

While low key during the week, the place becomes a virtual hive on certain weekends. The guests includes arrivals from the inner cities of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and, occasionally, camouflaged soldiers in Ray-Bans recently back from trips to the Middle East. During the months of January and February, large packs of dogs can be seen running through the cutovers. Long streams of rapid firing from assault rifles can often be heard, 20 - 30 rounds at a time.

For reference, the bang of small explosives are the perfectly legal civil war replica cannons that a few of the members like to set off, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning. The "sentry" is a guy sitting in a deer stand and he's peeved that a "visitor" has interrupted the hunt while he's watching the front field. And the place is surrounded by no trespassing signs.

The Williams article has a map of similar facilities across the US. Imagine what that same map would look like if you plotted hunting clubs with at least 30 members.

So I've got my training camp and they've got theirs. As long as neither of us is breaking any laws, I don't understand why the FBI should be sent in to "shut them down." If they're firing full-auto weapons it's an easy enough exercise to check if they've got the appropriate licenses. If they're in there planning terrorist attacks then they'll get caught. How 'bout the neighbors just take a heaping helping of mind your own business? The last time I checked, trying to lead a clean life, praying a lot, and avoiding contact with the outside world was a laudable endeavor. They've just made what I consider to be a poor choice in religion. Unless we're going to get rid of freedom of speech, religion, and assembly, then what they do among themselves is really up to them as long as they're not hurting anyone else.

In fact, the only differences seem to be that they're dressed in "muslim garb" and we're dressed in "redneck garb." We run power to our trailers. And we eat a LOT more pork barbeque, drink a LOT more beer, our women can shoot, and they're pretty enough that we don't have to hide their faces.

I'll venture to say that the typical liberal is a lot more disturbed by my hunt camp than Islamberg. So if we're going to let them shut down Islamberg for no reason, we're next.

And just in case the folks at Islamberg are planning something nefarious, they ought to consider that the ratio of their camps to ones like mine is about 10,000 to 1. Yeah, if you read the MSM you'd think that Americans are complete wusses. But that description doesn't apply to all of us.