It is ironically appropriate to apply an old biblical term "den of iniquity" to mosques as the New York City Police Department has been doing for some Islamic centers there.

Originally meaning "a thieves' lair," today the term suggests a center of criminal activity.

A classified NYPD report, written in 2009 but only recently revealed, indicates such dens exist in the city. NYPD has designated entire mosques as "terrorist enterprises."

The designation is important as police are allowed to surveil mosques without specific evidence of wrongdoing. They use "terrorism enterprise investigations" to closely monitor mosque activities.

An ACLU lawyer claims, "These new NYPD spying disclosures confirm the experiences and worst fears of New York's Muslims ... there's no area of New York Muslim religious or personal life that the NYPD has not invaded through its bias-based surveillance policy."

A member of one such designated mosque complains: "I have never felt free in the United States. The (NYPD) documents tell me I am right."

But it is well known mosques are readily used as "safe havens" -- a practice commonly employed against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Knowing Americans were reluctant to enter mosques and prohibited from shooting at them both by international law and U.S. rules of engagement, terrorists hid weapons there or pretended to be worshippers to avoid capture.

Some TEI critics suggest treating every Muslim as a potential terrorist is "completely unacceptable, tarnishing our system of values."

But why should we not believe terrorists in the United States seek to utilize mosques here in a similar manner?

Just like certain locations became dens of iniquity for Mafia gangs long ago, triggering close scrutiny, so too should mosque activities such as exchanging large sums money or visits by known hard-line clerics. The alleged Boston Marathon bombers were known to attend services conducted by just such a hard-line imam.

A former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who later became an undercover CIA agent has warned: "I have been outspoken about the fact that the infiltration of jihadists in our society is deep and wide. I learned during my spy activities for the CIA in the Revolutionary Guards how the Guards successfully use mosques, Islamic cultural centers, Islamic student associations, alliances with other Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and Muslims from Afghani and Pakistani groups to infiltrate the West and to infect its society."

Hassan Abbasi was also a top officer in Iran's IRGC. He reports the duty of a Muslim terrorist is to create terror and fear in the land of infidels (Islamic non-believers), using whatever cover available to hide their activities. They are prepared to attack hundreds of locations within the United States when ordered to do so. Many of these terrorists will gather in these safe havens to launch their attack. He urges America to "wake up."

Iran's commander of the Basij militia recently bragged to followers: "Today we are in a full-scale war with our enemies ... You all have managed to infiltrate into the heart of the enemy's (America's) various nests to the point where even in the streets of New York, Ashura is known as Imam Hossein Day and it is observed by pious self-mortification and prayer ... This is what it means to penetrate into the enemy camp. Today, our enemy is at the front line of a confrontation with us."

At first blush, there appears to be merit to the claim treating every Muslim as a potential terrorist is unacceptable. But whether every Muslim is a potential terrorist need be weighed against facts long ignored by those calling Islam "a religion of peace."

The Islamic holy book -- the Koran -- is clear on Allah's hatred for non-Muslims and his desire to torment them in hell for eternity. Accordingly, as a Western scholar of Islam suggests, "If Allah creates infidels merely to fuel the fires of hell, then there is little reason for Muslims to believe that such lives are of any worth in this world either."

Islam's belief that only Muslims are entitled to human rights was underscored in 1982 when the 57-member Muslim states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, led by Iran, backed away from their earlier support for the United Nation's 1948 "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" recognizing universal human rights for all mankind.

Iran objected as the UDHR's "secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition" couldn't be implemented by Muslims without violating Islamic law. It supported the "Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam" as an alternative, granting "freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Shariah."

This put two different human rights standards into play, yet the OIC hypocritically claims they are complementary.

Koran chapters referencing Allah's hatred for non-Muslims make up approximately 95 percent of the book. As all Muslims -- both extremist and moderate -- believe the Koran to be the word of Allah, they must follow his mandate, one forcing Islam upon non-believers by the sword if not undertaken voluntarily.

Muslims not accepting this belief become apostates for rejecting Allah's command.

Thus, no Muslim can believe in the Koran without condemning infidels to death. Why, then, shouldn't every Muslim be treated as a potential terrorist if this mandate is a fundamental belief.

Understanding this Koranic mandate makes it clear no difference exists between a mosque opening within a U.S. city and a Ku Klux Klan office opening up within the NAACP headquarters. Both are ideological dens of iniquity to encourage violence against those with whom they differ -- thus qualifying as "terrorist enterprises."

Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defines statesmanship as fraud and deceit hidden in smiles. A lot of mosque attendees in the United States are smiling.

(A retired U.S. Marine, Lt. Col. James Zumwalt served in the Vietnam War, the U.S. invasion of Panama and the first Gulf War. He has written "Bare Feet, Iron Will -- Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam's Battlefields," "Living the Juche Lie: North Korea's Kim Dynasty" and "Doomsday: Iran -- The Clock is Ticking.")

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)