Paul Sperry’s book, Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives have Penetrated Washington sounds like it is worth a read.
From the April 1, 2007 New York Observer:
Assistant Secretary of State Dina Habib Powell, a 33-year-old who was born in Cairo, also speaks fluent Arabic and is also uncannily stylish—she says she has been told on many occasions that she is Ms. Abedin’s Republican doppelgänger—had some insights into what her colleague is really passionate about.
“[Huma] certainly feels a deep responsibility to encourage more mutual understanding between her beliefs and culture and American culture,” said Ms. Powell. “I think you will see Huma coming out of that role in the background.”
“I think she’s going to emerge as a woman to watch,” she added.
It may have happened in the background, but Ms. Abedin has indeed become a trusted advisor to Mrs. Clinton, especially on issues pertaining to the Middle East, according to a number of Clinton associates. At meetings on the region, they say, Ms. Abedin’s perspective is always sought out.
Huma’s mother’s name is Saleha Mahmood Abedin. (Picture) She’s a sociologist based in Saudi Arabia.
According to this online bio: "Dr. Saleha Mahmood Abedin is a professor of sociology from Pakistan and a specialist in the affairs of minority Muslim groups in non-Muslim countries. Her knowledge of Islam and its role in different cultural contexts around the world has made her a sought-after scholar in inter-religious forums for world peace. Dr. Saleha is currently a peace councilor for the International Committee for Peace, an institute wherein religious leaders are working together to relieve suffering in different parts of the world. Peace councilors provide a positive, alternative example to the popular images of religious division perpetrated by so many. Dr. Saleha is also director of scholarly institutes in London and Saudi Arabia, and is chairperson of the Islamic Committee for Women and Children in Jordan."
Google informs us that Abedin’s mother is Saleha Mahmood Abedin, Vice-Dean of Institutional Advancement, Dar Al-Hekma College, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Here’s the official description from the Dar Al-Hekma website:
Dar Al-Hekma College is a unique, four-year college, built upon a strong and stable foundation of Islamic faith, Islamic wisdom, academic excellence and intellectual curiosity. It was founded when prominent members of the Jeddah community recognized an urgent need for sophisticated higher education for young Saudi women, with high quality academic programs enriched by Islamic values and morals. The Founders engaged the Texas International Education Consortium to work with local and international experts to plan the college and design its curricula. In September, 1999, Dar Al-Hekma College opened its doors to its first freshmen class.
How does the child of two university professors [one of them deceased], who is single, never married, and living on a clerical salary, in one of the most expensive cities in America, afford to "never… wear the same outfit twice"?
Much less purchase from the likes of Oscar de la Renta, Catherine Malandrino, Charles Nolan, Prada, and Marc Jacobs? Not to mention Yves Saint Laurent?
How does the child of two university professors [one of them deceased], who is single, never married, and living on a clerical salary, in one of the most expensive cities in America, afford to buy her own "apartment in the vicinity of 12th and U streets"?
What would such an apartment cost? $500,000? $750,000? $1,000,000?
Where is she getting that kind of money? Who is the co-signor on her loan?
And as bad as the financials of the Observer piece are, the psychological profile it paints is even worse:
"It was like 110 degrees outside," recalled the source, a political aide who asked to remain anonymous. "We were all just pouring down with sweat. But I have this distinct memory of Huma traipsing in in this blue pantsuit—it was like this wool pantsuit—not a bead of sweat on her brow, not a hair out of place, with everything perfectly organized in her Yves Saint Laurent handbag."
That sort of fantastical, supernaturally tinged tale is not unusual. Indeed, in the insular world of New York and D.C. politics, Huma Abedin has become a sort of mythical figure…
"I think she has special powers," said public-radio broadcaster Katia Dunn, who recently crossed paths with Ms. Abedin and Mrs. Clinton at a café on Capitol Hill…
Representative Anthony Weiner, a swingingly single Brooklyn Democrat who has known Ms. Abedin since before Hillary Clinton was elected to office, talked about her ability to perform under pressure "preternaturally"…
"Have you seen Huma?" asked James Carville, the former advisor to President Clinton. "Her appearance is just like, ‘Hoh my God!’ She takes your breath away. She’s an unbelievably, stunningly gorgeous woman. Nobody in that position can be that good-looking; it just doesn’t happen." He added that she is also "damn smart."
"She is a person of enormous intellect with in-depth knowledge on a number of issues—especially issues pertaining to the Middle East," said Senator John McCain, in a statement relayed by one of his aides.
"Huma is an example of why more people, particularly in Washington, need to understand the rest of the world, need to recognize what an asset it is to have cross-cultural experiences," wrote Queen Noor of Jordan in an e-mail…
"I’d call Huma one in a million," said Mrs. Clinton’s press secretary, Philippe Reines, "but that would mean there are 5,999 others in the world just like her, and there simply aren’t. She is truly one of a kind, one in a billion. We are all in awe of her poise, grace, judgment, intellect and her seemingly endless reserve of kindness, patience and energy."
People get nervous & flighty & anxious in life when they CARE.
People are unflappable when they DON’T CARE.
Just from a purely psychological point of view, the fact that she seems to be unflappable within the confines of the biggest pressure cooker in American politics suggests to me that she doesn’t care about American politics – that, instead, she cares about something else – something other than American politics.
And certainly the easiest way to not care about a set of circumstances in life is when you aren’t actually participating in those circumstances, but rather are merely ACTING THE PART of someone who is participating in those circumstances.
The very fact that she spent 15 or 16 years in Saudi Arabia [from roughly the age of 2, until roughly the age of 18], and then showed up in the Clinton Whitehouse, as an intern, in 1996, at roughly the age of 21, is, in and of itself, a massive security breach.
That she then spent another five years in the Clinton Whitehouse, and, for most of the last seven years, has been wedded at the hip to Mrs. Clinton, night and day [whether or not they are engaging in acts of sodomy], is an unthinkable compromise of national security.
And even if it wasn’t an "unthinkable compromise of national security" on Monday, September 10, 2001, it damned sure became an unthinkable compromise of national security on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
As a thought experiment, reverse the roles, and suppose that Huma Abedin was a Jewish girl, with supermodel looks, and that her parents had left America when she was 2, and had emigrated to Israel [even though NEITHER of her parents had been born in Israel], and that her mother was an Israeli professor, and that her father had founded his own institute devoted to Israeli-American and interfaith understanding and reconciliation and published a journal focusing on Jewish minorities living in the diaspora.
And suppose that she had worked her way into the Clinton Whitehouse, in 1996, at the age of 21 [after spending 15 or 16 of her formative years in Israel], and that she had become wedded at the hip to Mrs. Clinton, night and day, for the next 11 years.
[We’ll leave out the part about the 19 Jews – 15 of them from Israel – who hijacked a bunch of jetliners and flew them into the World Trade Center & the Pentagon, back in 2001.]
And suppose that she was spending money way beyond her apparent station in life.
And suppose that she was unflappable in pressure-cooker situtations.
Now suppose all of those things, and then come to the logical conclusion.
People would be screaming "Mossad" at the top of their lungs.
