FBI Training on Counterterrorism

           How do local police forces and FBI offices find material and instructors for training? 

According to the FBI website, there are specific requirements for different positions. But, there is nothing specific on exactly how they pick and choose trainers or materials regarding counterterrorism. 

This is what they provide on their website: 

To become an FBI Special Agent

• You must be a U.S. citizen or a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands. 
• You must be at least 23 years of age, but younger than 37 upon your appointment as a Special Agent.
• Age waivers may be granted to preference eligible veterans who have surpassed their 37th birthday. 
• You must possess a four-year degree from a college or university accredited by one of the regional or national institutional associations recognized by the United States Secretary of Education. 
• You must have at least three years of professional work experience. 
• You must also possess a valid driver's license and be completely available for assignment anywhere in the FBI's jurisdiction.

To qualify under the Computer Science/Information Technology Entry Program: 

• You must have a computer or information technology related degree, a degree in Electrical Engineering, a Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certification, or a Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) certification. 
• Applicants that qualify by virtue of a CCNP or a CCIE certification must also have a BS or BA degree in any discipline.

To qualify under the Language Program: 

• You must have a BS or BA degree in any discipline and be proficient in a language that meets the needs of the FBI. 
• Current qualifying languages include Arabic, Chinese (all dialects), Farsi, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Pashtu, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Urdu and Vietnamese. 
• Candidates must pass both the listening and reading portions of the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) and demonstrate a proficiency of three or higher on the Speaking Proficiency Test (SPT) in a critical foreign language.

To qualify under the Law Entry Program:

• Candidates must have a JD degree from an accredited law school.

To qualify under the Diversified Program: 

• You must have a BS or BA degree in any discipline, plus three years of full-time work experience, or an advanced degree accompanied by two years of full-time work experience.

To qualify under the Accounting Entry Program, candidates must:

• Have been certified as a CPA; or
• Possess, at minimum, a four-year degree with a major in Accounting and three years of progressively responsible accounting work in a professional accounting firm or comparable public setting, such as state comptroller or the General Accounting Office.

Other than that, there is nothing I could find that provides any information on the process of choosing materials and instructors for training, except that the counter terrorism training division has a lot of autonomy, and it is essentially in charge of putting together its own training module and then is supposed to find a way to fit that training into the broader curriculum for agents. 

I think this would be a good question to ask the United States Department of Justice in a FOIA request. If we know how the process is done, it will help in creating ways to make sure the trainers and materials chosen to train FBI agents regarding terrorists are not anti-Muslim and anti-Islam. It will help in implementing methods in which unbiased trainers and materials are chosen. This could be a great step in combating against the common misconception of all muslims being terrorists and Islam being a violent religion. 

What is a FOIA request?

FOIA is the Freedom of Information Act. It provides everyone the right to to obtain access to federal agency records unless its a matter of national security or the other few exceptions. To file a request, you have to describe the information you want in as much detail as possible and the format you want it in. It has to be a written request that you send to the specific agency that relates to your request. The standard time to receive a response is one month, but it can take longer than that.  

What has CAIR done regarding this issue?

                                                                                          

Firstly, what exactly is the issue? Well, there have been reports of the FBI using anti-Muslim training materials in counterterrorism training session. FBI trainers are teaching their agents that terrorism is related to Islam and Muslims. When this whole operation was uncovered, CAIR, challenged the FBI on the use of anti-Muslim training. They joined a coalition of civil rights and Muslim advocacy groups at a press conference outside FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., to express concerns about persistent reports that agents are trained to view mainstream American Muslims with suspicion and to view the faith of Islam itself as the source of terrorism and extremism. The coalition news conference was scheduled following new revelations that the FBI apparently continues to employ an analyst who tells counterterrorism and security personnel "to go after Islam itself" and to "undermine the validity of key Islamic scriptures and key Muslim leaders."

That same FBI analyst recently told FBI agents that mainstream American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers, that the Prophet Mohammed was a "cult leader," and that Islamic charitable giving is a "funding mechanism for combat."

CAIR then sent a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller calling for "swift action" to reform the agency's use of anti-Muslim instructors and Islamophobic materials during counterterrorism training.

In its letter to Director Mueller, CAIR wrote in part:

“We are concerned by persistent reports of FBI personnel receiving biased training about Muslims and Islam. We believe that just as good training results in good investigations, biased training will inevitably result in biased investigations.

“Last year, in partnership with nine organizations and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, we contacted you about a Joint Terrorism Taskforce (JTTF) training in Tidewater, Va., which featured notorious Islamophobe Robert Spencer. In a letter responding to our detailed concerns demonstrating Spencer’s connection to hate groups, FBI Special Agent in Charge Alex Turner said, ‘[Spencer] was invited because of his reputation as a best-selling author.’

“We were encouraged by a Washington Post article last December reporting that your agency has declined to use ‘self-described experts whose extremist views are considered inaccurate and harmful.’

“However, in July 2011, it came to light that a training used within the department asserted that Islam ‘transforms [a] country’s culture into 7th-century Arabian ways.’

“Today, an article by Spencer Ackerman again demonstrates recent Islamophobic training being offered to your personnel, in this case by an individual employed by the agency as an intelligence analyst. Before being employed by the FBI, Mr. William Gawthrop, the analyst in question, had asserted his belief that ‘Muhammad’s mindset is a source for terrorism.’

“CAIR believes it is reasonable to question how a person with such a hostile view of an entire world religion could be placed in a position of responsibility that enables him to spread those views to other agents.

“We request that you take swift action to prohibit the use of biased trainers and training materials in the education of your agents. We believe that objective and factual information will produce agents who can protect our nation. Biased training not only results in wasted resources, but reflects badly on the agency as a whole.”

Media Coverage 

Wash. State Muslims Ask for Probe of FBI Bias (CAIR)

On Monday, October 3, the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) joinED a coalition of community groups at a news conference in Seattle to express concerns about persistent reports that FBI agents are trained to view mainstream American Muslims with suspicion and to view the faith of Islam itself as the source of terrorism and extremism.

FBI Asked Agents to Read Anti-Islam Books (CAIR)

Through the Freedom of Information Act, The American Civil Liberties Union has obtained teaching materials used by the FBI to instruct new recruits about Islam. Included in a 62 page slideshow is the FBI's recommended reading list which introduces the" Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam," "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam." The author, Robert Spencer, runs the jihadwatch.com blog. Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller are co-founders of the Stop the Islamization of America campaign which was cited 64 times in the manifesto of Anders Behring Breivik, (Anders Berring Breiveek) who carried out the recent massacre in Norway. Breivik's writings present him as a right-wing nationalist fueled by a combined hatred of Muslims, Marxists and multiculturalists. The Oslo perpetrator, in his manifesto quoted extensively from the writings of European and American bloggers - including Spencer and Geller. The FBI says Spencer's book is no longer being recommended to new recruits, But CAIR wonders what impact that will really have, considering the group says, Robert Spencer is still a trainer at the FBI. The FBI says it is now encouraging agents to seek out a variety of viewpoints and that the learning material obtained by the ACLU was a rudimentary version used for a limited time.

FBI halts anti-Muslim training

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it has discontinued a lecture that taught counter-terrorism agents that mainstream Muslims were violent. 

The move comes after leaked documents revealed the controversial elements in the FBI's training manuals.According to the FBI documents: most American Muslims are likely to be sympathizers to "terrorist" groups like al-Qaeda. Spencer Ackerman, the journalist who broke this story for the website Wired dot com, told Al-Jazeera why the FBI teachings are "constitutionally dicey". "There is still a real ignorance and to some degree a real fear of Islam that has found a surprising home in the FBI," he said."If they spend their time and resources going after indicators of violent behavior based on the amount of religiosity a person displays, then first of all they are not going to get actual terrorists, but innocent people."

FBI's Anti-Muslim Training

Spencer Ackerman from Wired's Danger Room has acquired a course handbook used to train FBI counterterrorism officers at the FBI training ground in Quantico Virginia. The course focuses solely on the threat of terror from Muslims, and encourages trainees to focus on a Muslim's religion as the sole factor in determining if they might be a terrorist. What's worse, use of the word "radical" isn't even a focus in this handbook because according to these teachings, even mainstream Muslims are terrorist sympathizers. So basically, every Muslims likes terrorists according to them.

Public Officials' Views

• Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky challenged the anti-Muslim training and even questioned the FBI director about the allegations.  

• FBI Director Robert Mueller tries to defend FBI policies regarding their training materials. 

• US Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday told lawmakers that FBI counterterrorism training that painted practicing US Muslims as likely extremist sympathizers was "flat-out wrong" and dangerous.
  "That can really undermine the really substantial outreach efforts that we have made and really have a negative impact on our ability to communicate effectively, as we have in the past, with this community," said Holder.
  He is completely against the use of anti-Muslim training materials.

• Democratic Senator Dick Durbin quoted FBI training that tarred Islam as "a highly violent religion," said "mainstream American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers" and called traditional Muslim attire, growing facial hair, and frequent mosque or prayer group attendance danger signs. He completely against the use of anti-Muslim training materials.