1/9/2018

AMBASSADOR/NOMINATIONS/RACISM/RELIGION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The new US ambassador to the Netherlands, who was confronted last month by a Dutch reporter with comments he made in 2015 about Islamic ‘no-go zones,’ repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims about the nature of Muslim communities in Europe and pushed a hardline view of Islam, a KFile review of his public appearances and writings shows.
Pete Hoekstra, a former 18-year Republican congressman from Michigan who served for several years as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, was nominated by President Donald Trump last July to serve as ambassador to the Netherlands and confirmed by the Senate in November.
After leaving Congress in 2011, Hoekstra in 2014 joined the Investigative Project on Terrorism, a non-profit group that describes itself as the ‘world’s most comprehensive data center on radical Islamic terrorist groups.’
A KFile review of Hoekstra’s time with the group reveals he claimed on multiple occasions that there are ‘no-go zones’ in European cities and speculated as much as 15% of Muslims are extremists, a number that totals 270 million. He also promoted conspiracy theories asserting longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin had connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and said he considered the possibility that then-President Barack Obama was allowing radical Islam to proliferate on purpose…
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the State Department pointed to Hoekstra’s earlier statement on Twitter. A representative from the White House did not respond to a request for comment.”

-Andrew Kaczynski, “New US ambassador to Netherlands regularly made unsubstantiated ‘no-go zones’ claims, speculated 15% of Muslims could be jihadists,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Jan. 9, 2018 10:29am