Oxymoron

'Devout' Muslims in U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)? Is that an oxymoron?

Maybe...

In April of 2009 (this is the first I've heard of this), Arif Alikhan (top) was appointed to the position of Assistant Secretary for Policy Development in the U.S. DHS. Kareem Shora, in June 2009, was appointed to Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Now, are Alikhan and Shora terrorists lurking in the shadows waiting to unleash a stash of anthrax or was this the Obama Administrations continuation of their "Hug a Muslim" policy? Upon review of these two individuals, I'll lean toward the latter (however, Shora gets under my skin a little bit with his views on immigration and foreign policy). Alikhan is very accomplished in judicial law and has been instrumental in stopping cyber crime and supporting California police, fire, and other emergency departments (his efforts helped to hire 1,000 LAPD and secured over $400 million for Homeland Security and public safety grants).

Although I feel that these newly appointed officials are nothing to sweat over, I want to caution the vetting process for such positions. In any elected office, I think it is imperative that we (U.S.) conduct full and thorough investigations of foreign born candidates (including assessments of ideologies). With terrorism taking on a new face, the United States must keep close the influences that promote a global decrease of radicalism and jihad.

At any rate, I think this is just another attempt from the Obama Administration to appeal to the Muslim world...whatever that means.