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Thursday, April 23, 2009
Truth At the Times?Check out this interesting paragraph in an article discussing whether the enhanced interrogation techniques were successful in stopping terrorist attacks on the United States: For both sides, the political stakes are high, as proposals for a national commission to unravel the interrogation story appear to be gaining momentum. Mr. Obama and his allies need to discredit the techniques he has banned. Otherwise, in the event of a future terrorist attack, critics may blame his decision to rein in C.I.A. interrogators. But if he succeeds in discrediting the techniques, maybe folks won't blame him. Yes, indeed the "political" stakes are high. Some (but not the Times) might point out that the non-political stakes are high as well. Consider this: Yet last week Mr. Obama overruled the advice of his CIA director, Leon Panetta, and four prior CIA directors by releasing the details of the enhanced interrogation program. Former CIA director Michael Hayden has stated clearly that declassifying the memos will make it more difficult for the CIA to defend the nation. Labels: Barack Obama, Terrorism
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Hahah, Terrorists? Don't Make Me LaughABC reports that an Al Qaeda cell may already be in the United States: Senior U.S. intelligence officials tell ABC News new intelligence suggests a small al Qaeda cell is on its way to the United States, or may already be here.
The White House has convened an urgent multi-agency meeting for Thursday afternoon to deal with the new threat. Well, you can imagine the reaction at the liberal blogs. Surely they are talking about how we have to leave the partisanship behind in order to combat this new threat? Uh, no. Crooks & Liars: What gives Chertoff the right to tell the country that he has a “gut” feeling that we’re going to be hit with a terrorist attack this summer? Yes, how dare he? Just when everything was going so nice for the Democrats! I question the timing! This is a calculated move to ratchet up the terror in this country to help Republican candidates—PERIOD. They are far behind in raising money and in all the polls. He should be fired, but of course since he’s being instructed to say these things (sounds like a Cheney/Rove play) he won’t be. And a poster at Atrios skates pretty close to the thin ice of trutherism: Shouldn't it concern us that Republicans are constantly talking about how people will all wise up when the next terrorist attack at home comes?
I mean, they really seem to be looking forward to it, and they take great delight in the thought that, by God, people will see things differently when it happens.
They relish the thought. They hunger for that terrorist attack they need to save their Party.
I, Not Atrios, think Democrats would be wise to talk on TV about how the last thing we need is to put people in power who have such a stake in having terrorists attack Americans. Larissa Alexandrovna needs a little schooling on the definition of summer: I can easily start with the obvious - we were attacked in the fall, that is, September 2001. So I would think that the fall is "appealing" to "them," whomever they are. Uh, Larissa, the fall starts on September 21, so September 11 is in the summer. The Firedogs want to remind us that any terror attack means a failure of the Iraq war to do what it was supposed to. The American people can figure out that if there really were a genuine, imminent threat of another attack on US soil it would mean (1) the policy of “fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here” has both failed and even worse, likely provoked another attack here and (2) it’s foolhardy to have our forces, including much of your National Guard, bogged down in Iraq. Good to know we're all on the same team here! Labels: Liberal Bloggers, Terrorism
Monday, July 02, 2007
Terrorism All Over NewsThe British continue to arrest suspects in the Glasgow and London car-bombing rings, including some professionals: An Iraqi junior doctor and a brilliant neurologist working for the NHS are among the suspects being quizzed over the series of bomb attacks across Britain, it emerged today. Details of the suspects were revealed as police staged a controlled explosion at a hospital near Glasgow today.
The junior doctor has been named as Bilal Abdulla, who is said to have completed his medical training in Baghdad.
The suspected ringleader of the Al Qaeda car bombers is a brilliant neurologist working for the NHS.
Saudi Mohammed Asha, 26, was arrested with his 27-year-old wife, who was in traditional Muslim dress, on the M6 in Cheshire on Saturday night. An Islamic cleric warns of more bombings to come: "There is no doubt whatsoever that there will continue to be attacks against the British government, its interests and the home front as long as we see the continued British and American occupation of Muslim land in Iraq and Afghanistan, support for criminal Israel, and draconian measures taken against Muslims in the UK," said Anjem Choudary, founder and former chief of two Islamic groups disbanded by the British authorities under antiterror legislation. And the US is reportedly on high alert for a summer spectacular: "This is reminiscent of the warnings and intelligence we were getting in the summer of 2001," the official told ABCNews.com.
U.S. officials have kept the information secret, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" that the United States did not have "have any specific credible evidence that there's an attack focused on the United States at this point." Labels: Terrorism
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
British Muslim Terrorists Next Threat?Michael Chertoff believes so: The July 7 tube and bus bombs nearly two years ago had shown that Britain had a problem with its Muslim immigrant population that America did not share, he argued.
"Our Muslim population is better educated and economically better off than the average American. So, from a standpoint of mobility in society, it's a successful immigrant population. To some degree, the whole country is a country of immigrants, and therefore there's no sense that we have insiders or outsiders. In some countries [in Europe], you had an influx of people that came in as a colonial legacy and may have always have felt, to some extent, that they were viewed as second-class citizens, and they've tended to impact and be kind of clustered in some areas."
Mr Chertoff, a former federal prosecutor, said that one of his biggest worries was that "unknown terrorists" - such as most of the 7/7 bombers, who were British citizens with no criminal record or intelligence traces - could use the visa waiver scheme to enter and attack America. It certainly does seem that America does a better job of integrating its minority populations than Europe. Labels: British Muslims, Terrorism
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