The hearings were highly controversial and often quite contentious, with Democratic members of the committe questioning the line of questioning, as Hill and other Republicans essentially grilled Muslims about cooperating with law enforcement. You can't deny that there are radical Muslims out there willing to do anything to cause death and destruction in the US and abroad. However, to take American Muslim leaders and essentially question their patriotism really seems to be a step backward. Every religion has its fanatics...including Eric Rudolph who famously set off a deadly bomb at the '96 Olympics and bombs at abortion clinics and a gay bar. Yet there were no hearings about radical Catholics and how their churches were the new crux of domestic terrorism.
An interesting statistic did come up in the hearing, courtesy of the Democratic side. An independent study by Duke University reported that American Muslims have been key in foiling 40% of terrorist plots in recent years.
