CAIR: Friend or foe?

What is the deal with the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)? I’d like to believe they’re a group that can help bridge the cultural divide between Islam and the West. This seemed to be Mark Shields view this past Saturday when he presented his “Outrage of the Week” on “The Capital Gang”:

SHIELDS: And now for the "outrage of the week." The Council on American Islamic Relations took out a full page ad in "The New York Times" to condemn the attacks of September 11. And on that date since, has sponsored an interfaith day of National Unity in Washington.

But nine term Republican Congressman Cass Ballenger of North Carolina says his marriage broke up because he lived next door to the Office of the religious group, which was so close to the capitol, he worried "they could blow the place up."

If stupid bigotry were a felony, Congressman Ballenger would be doing long, hard time. Margaret Carlson?

Fair enough. But is CAIR above suspicion? Senator John Kyl argues otherwise (via Little Green Footballs):

In response to our Senate inquiry, groups such as the Saudi-backed Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) (whose terror-related activities are being scrutinized by my subcommittee as well as the federal government) have been quick to accuse investigators of Muslim bias. Yet three of CAIR's top leaders were arrested this year on terror-related charges. CAIR declined an invitation to appear before my subcommittee to answer questions.

Falsely charging "bigotry" is simply not an acceptable response to serious allegations of criminal activity. Terrorists should not be allowed to disguise their hateful, violent activities under the banner of religious freedom. The fear of being falsely accused of prejudice, coupled with political correctness, may be part of the reason we got into the situation we're in right now.

Here’s where I’m confused: if CAIR is truly an organization with nothing to hide, it has everything to gain and nothing to lose by appearing before the Senate committee. The current leaders could deny or disavow the allegations against previous CAIR directors and state unequivocally that they stand against all forms of terrorism. Instead, well, even Mark Shields can draw his own conclusions.