Congratulations on a job well done. And thanks.

Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States but New York City is its beating heart. It's called the Big Apple because that’s exactly what it is, the biggest, most important, most dynamic city in the country. It symbolizes and epitomizes everything America stands for and has always stood for and is the center of the country in virtually every way imaginable. It is also the center of the world in many, many ways and what happens there affects everyone around the globe, not just Americans.

America is New York and New York is America. That makes it a very tempting target indeed for Islamic terrorists who wish to murder and maim Americans, who wish to sow terror, death and destruction, who wish to destroy freedom and democracy, who wish in the end to destroy America itself and turn it into an Islamic country governed by Islamic law and see terrorist acts as reasonable and legitimate means of doing precisely that. Local, state and federal agencies have foiled many plots by Islamic terrorists to commit small and large scale violent acts in New York since 9/11 and their efforts have saved countless lives and prevented an enormous amount of mayhem and destruction.

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The Intelligence Unit of the New York City Police Department has been and is an integral part of these efforts and was honored recently at the department’s annual Medal Day for its exemplary work in combating terrorism and reducing crime in the city...it was credited with foiling two plots to set off bombs in New York last year alone. It succeeded in this work in large part because it conducted broad surveillance of Muslims in New York and New Jersey, surveillance which some Muslims objected to and tried to end even though it was effective and entirely legal...in fact New Jersey State Attorney Jeffrey Chiesa conducted an exhaustive three-month long investigation of the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey and cleared it of any wrongdoing, legal or otherwise, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly assert that the surveillance program is necessary and falls within legal bounds. Nevertheless, a lawsuit has just been launched by an Islamic group in New Jersey in an attempt to bring the surveillance to an end, even though many people, including Muslims, will be murdered and maimed if the suit succeeds. The Intelligence Unit of the New York City Police Department deserves our congratulations and gratitude and so do Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly for defending it and standing up to the Islamists who would bring it down and the country along with it. All concerned are doing a great service to New Yorkers, Americans and America itself. All too often public figures, public authorities, in the United States have been manipulated, coerced, threatened, intimidated or tricked into acceding to Islamists demands and the country has suffered a great deal as a result. It is very heartening to see Bloomberg and Kelly do what is right, honor the Intelligence Unit and refuse to stop the surveillance. They have saved lives, stood up for America and dealt Islamists in the U.S. a significant defeat. Well done gentlemen, well done. Would that most other public figures, public authorities, in the United States had your sense, foresight and courage. We’d all be better off if they did. Would that the Muslim community in the United States had the sense, foresight and courage to reject the Islamists in their midst and work to save the country from them and from Islam as well. Everyone would be better off if if did that too. Muslims included.