Politics: August 2006 Archives

Officials: Plot suspects met alleged al Qaeda bomber

But officials, who say the plot displays signs of al Qaeda participation but who are still investigating that angle, do not know whether Rehman was involved in the plot.

On the political side, Arrests Bolster G.O.P. Bid To Claim Security as Issue

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said, "This latest plot demonstrates the need for the Bush administration and the Congress to change course in Iraq and ensure that we are taking all the steps necessary to protect Americans at home and across the world."

Always about politics, Harry? Newsflash: Purely defensive measures are an absolute guaranteed failure. If the terrorists keep trying, eventually they will succeed, and they seem to have a surplus of young religiously suicidal males, a combination that is much more difficult to defend against. There are two ways to try to get them to stop: Pay them off, which was tried by Carter and Reagan and Clinton (among others), and leads to more activity and encourages others to get into the terrorism game, or go in and clean them out, like our current president is trying to do. It may or may not work - it won't if Mr. Reid or the terrorists have anything to say about it - but there is at least the possibility it will work, and is therefore the option I support.



on the same point, via Carol Platt Liebau, Newt Gingrich in the Washington Post: The Only Option Is to Win.



via Chequer Board of Nights and Days, Gerald Baker in Times Online The first step towards defeating the terrorists: stop blaming ourselves



Sanity and reasoning are out there. But they don't get nearly as much media play. I was going to say "I wonder why?" but I don't think there is anyone out there who wonders why. The insanity is more spectacular, more bold, more fun. Why limit yourself with consistency or logic or historical precedent?



On the other hand, read this very rational, Alan Dershowitz article at Huff'n'Puff, and then read the comments until you can no longer stomach them. Dershowitz is not exactly your typical long fanged right-wing triumphalist, having considerably more in the way of leftist credentials than centrist or otherwise. Just go read it.



Getting back to the NY Times article,

"The issue is going to be discussed in the fall," this official said. "Are you saying if the Democrats talk about the war, we shouldn't? We will talk about the war, and we will talk about the consequences of the policies advocated by the Democrats."

Sauce for the goose. To quote Peter Lorre in The Raven, "You coward! You're defending yourself!" (nod to den Beste).



Republican strategists don't get it. The President does. Bush, on a Quick Trip From His Texas Ranch, Says Americans Are Safer Than Before Sept. 11. And then he goes back to living his life. Follow the president's example. All reasonable steps are being taken. Living in fear does nobody any good. Enjoy your life. It's the only one you've got. I'm not saying plan trips to Lebanon or Iraq, but there's no reason not to go about normal business.

Airlines on alert after foiled bomb plot

The suspects were "homegrown," though it was not immediately clear if they were all British citizens, said a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. Police were working closely with the South Asian community, the official said.

'Red' Alert on British Flights to U.S.



European Carriers Cancel Flights to U.K.



Airline stocks slammed after terror arrests



Will people stop flying? No. It's too convenient, and nobody believes it will happen to them. But airplanes remain extremely available, extremely destructive weapons. Where else can you find 250,000 kilograms with 100,000 kilgrams of it being flammible fuel, travelling at speeds of 200 plus meters per second, all encased in a fragile aluminum shell and conveniently accessible to members of the public, not disincluding those who have made enemy sympathies all too clear? This is 5 gigajoules just in kinetic energy! Our current precautions are laughably insufficient, and even counterproductive. Move all that stuff to checked baggage? Get real. If electronic devices can still be checked, you've got timed detonation and people who might have been required to sacrifice their lives might simply check in but not actually get onto the plane.



Sooner or later, some more terrorists are going to succeed in taking over airplanes. What are we going to do other than warn people that we're doing out best under the circumstances, but there's a good possibility that won't be enough.



Meanwhile, back on the left, Oliver Willis believes, as usual for things of this nature, that it's just a political frame job. It's like he's got his fingers cemented into his ears and is screaming "I am not listening to Bush!" It may be possible that someday he'll discover the drawbacks of using Super Glue for that purpose, but I'm not optimistic.





via QOAE, who has her own thoughts, Americablog proves he remains a loyal party commissar, hewing to the pravda of the day, and Daily Kos is convinced the War on Terror is all the result of a Bushite plot to control our minds and out government.



Quite frankly, if the scenario the lefties posit were true, The government has already killed some 6000 Americans (9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq) and several time that number of peaceful moslems who never meant us harm. Why would such an Administration stop a second set of murderers short when they could get so much more political mileage out of dead bodies?



I thought Karl Rove was some kind of evil supergenius advising Rethuglicans on how to best maintain their absolute grip on power? I thought George Bush was an undead Hitler zombie with a genius for propaganda manipulation? Silly limited intellect that I am, I saw this in about two microseconds. Why didn't these superhuman intellects of evil?



I suppose if they didn't have fingers superglued into their ears they would be exclaiming Norman correlate! as a prelude to a Scanners-style head explosion.



Protein Wisdom takes down a delusional reporter and his enablers in much the same way. "I question the timing" indeed. Is there any point in time at which this revelation would not be politically helpful to the party which is not in complete denial about the threat we face?



Strata-Sphere connects a couple of dots.



Riehl World View notes that some of those arrested today have ties to those involved in the July 7 bombings last year.



Jawa Report relates information that the terrorists involved are linked to Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, exiled from Britain



Powerline: "No brotherhood excuses murder." I really would rather CAIR were out of the ordinary on this, but if Bar Associations, et al can't do it, why should we expect it of CAIR?



Jihad Watch notes that Moslem employees of Heathrow with "all Access" passes were involved.



via Dean's World, a timesonline report that Pakistani intelligence was a critical factor.



LGF names terrorist names.



I like the way this man thinks: Why Don't We All Consider A Little STFU?



Michelle Malkin has a massively important roundup, and another on the Moslem mindset.



via Instapundit, Irish Trojan wonders if this was the big August 22nd thing Ahmedinejad was talking about? If so, we may be going to war with Iran very soon.