National security conference to preface Las Vegas debate

A conference on homeland security will convene in Las Vegas on Monday, coming against a backdrop of terrorist attacks in California and GOP front-runner Donald Trump's call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.

The Nevada National Security Action Summit is sponsored by The Center for Security Policy, a group with a questionable survey that Trump cited to justify his stance against Muslims entering the U.S.

The event comes one day before Republican presidential candidates gather at The Venetian on Tuesday for a debate televised live on CNN.

In Trump's statement earlier this week calling for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the country to give lawmakers time to examine the issue, Trump noted that the center's survey found 25 percent of Muslims polled agreed that violence against Americans in the U.S. is "justified as part of the global jihad."

That same survey found 51 percent of polled Muslims "agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah," or Islamic law based on the teachings of Islam.

Trump's statement put media attention on the center, which was already planning Monday's homeland security summit. Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative, for example, called the center's survey "deeply flawed" and questioned its methodology in surveying 600 Muslims. The initiative said the group's online "opt-in" method was flawed and unable to accurately represent the views of American Muslims because the pollster doesn't know who is responding.

The center, for its part, defended its work earlier this week, saying it's consistent with international standards for online research. The center initially released the results of its online survey in June.

"The Center for Security Policy stands by the findings in our nationwide poll and we invite anyone to view its findings," the organization said in a statement.

The center was founded by Frank Gaffney, who was a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the 1980s during the Reagan administration. A Washington Post report noted that Gaffney is "one of the main drivers of the idea that there was a deep-rooted Muslim infiltration of the government."

The event was planned well before the attacks in California or Trump's use of the group's research. Tommy Waller, the center's director of state legislative outreach, said the event offers the presidential candidates a chance to talk about homeland security in advance of the debate. The attacks have generated more awareness, he said.

"I think what it has done is it has probably awakened even more Americans to the real nature of this threat," Waller said. "That it's not only an external threat. It's obviously domestic as well."

Asked about the online survey, Waller pointed to the center's statement about the survey and said candidates are welcome to cite its work.

The lineup of speakers at the all-day events includes video addresses from three Republican presidential candidates: retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; Carly Fiorina, former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard; and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. A fourth candidate, former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, is scheduled to speak in person.

Other speakers include U.S. Rep. and Senate candidate Joe Heck, R-Nev., and John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"Sometimes the debates don't talk as much about national security as we would hope," Waller said.

He pointed to the variety of topics to be discussed. Listed seminars include "America's Military in Decline," "Border and Immigration Insecurity," and "America's Electric Grid & Threats to Critical Infrastructure."

The fourth is "Shariah, the Global Jihad Movement, and the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Waller pointed to practical implications for Las Vegas and the electric grid.

"Especially in Vegas, just imagine if the lights went off for an extended period of time," he said.

Contact Ben Botkin at 702-387-2904 or bbotkin@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.