The Left Is Right; Bush Has Made America More Dangerous

[Aught Six]

Yeah, right....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush;_ylt=AqslvRprOh7tlHvdy8mxUeus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMT A2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Bush Says Cooperation Thwarted 2002 Attack




By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 41 minutes ago[/i]

[/align][/align]President Bush said the U.S.-led global war on terror has "weakened and fractured" al-Qaida and allied groups, outlining as proof new details about the multinational cooperation that foiled purported terrorist plans to fly a commercial airplane into the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast.

"The terrorists are living under constant pressure and this adds to our security," Bush said. "When terrorists spend their days working to avoid death or capture, it's harder for them to plan and execute new attacks on our country. By striking the terrorists where they live, we're protecting the American homeland."

But the president said the anti-terror battle is far from over.

"The terrorists are weakened and fractured, yet they're still lethal," the president said in a speech at the National Guard Memorial Building. "We cannot let the fact that America hasn't been attacked in 41/2 years since September the 11th lull us into the illusion that the threats to our nation have disappeared. They have not."

Bush has referred to the 2002 plot before. In an address last October, he said the United States and its allies had foiled at least 10 serious plots by the al-Qaida terror network in the last four years, including plans for Sept. 11-like attacks on both U.S. coasts. The White House initially would not give details of the plots but later released a fact sheet with a brief, and vague, description of each.

The president filled in details on Thursday.

He said that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks who was captured in 2003, had already begun planning the West Coast operation in October, just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. One of Mohammed's key planners was Hambali, the alleged operations chief of the al-Qaida related terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. Instead of recruiting Arab hijackers, Hambali found Southeast Asian men who would be less likely to arouse suspicion and who were sent to meet with Osama bin Laden, Bush said.

Under the plot, the hijackers were to use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door of a commercial jetliner, take control of the plane and crash it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, since renamed the US Bank Tower, Bush said.

In his remarks, Bush inadvertantly referred to the site as "Liberty Tower," and immediately afterward, the White House corrected him.

The president said the plot was derailed when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al-Qaida operative. Bush did not name the country or the operative.

Bush has been on a campaign to defend his controversial domestic monitoring program. But the White House would not say whether the 2002 plot was thwarted as a result of the National Security Agency program to eavesdrop on the international e-mails and phone calls of people inside the United States with suspected ties to terrorists.

Bush said only that "subsequent debriefings and other intelligence operations" after the arrest of the unnamed operative led to information about the plot, and to the capture of other ringleaders and operatives involved in it. Hambali, for instance, was captured in Thailand in 2003 and handed over to the United States.

"It took the combined efforts of several countries to break up this plot," the president said. "By working together, we took dangerous terrorists off the streets. By working together, we stopped a catastrophic attack on our homeland."

Bush's speech in October cited two other attacks inside the United States that were foiled, including one to use hijacked planes to attack the East Coast in mid-2003.

The third was the case of Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member who converted to Islam and allegedly plotted with top al-Qaida commanders to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a U.S. city. Padilla, whose plot never materialized, now is being held without bail in civilian custody on charges that he was part of a secret network that supported Muslim terrorists.

He was arrested in May 2002 and had been held as an enemy combatant without criminal charge at a Navy brig in South Carolina until last month.

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[kevin1]

I feel a dammed sight safer now than I did during the ham handed Klintoon administration , and wasn't it during that same period that the plotting and training for 9-11 was occuring in the first place ? Terrorism has existed as long as people have , extremism has too , neither are going away . Better to keep those jerks looking over their shoulders than us doing the same .

[Knightia]

Clintoon( either one), kerry, carter they all would be[&:][:'(] alternates

Nothing at all wrong will killing & capturing
the enemys, thats whats suppose to happen.( not peace corp/un rescue mission soldiers)

When you act like a drunkin santa& think you buy friends& allies with tax dollarsis part of the problem of polticans

[Alsatian]

I agree, we are safer now. I think this is pretty clear. Now, on the other hand, our news media and much of the world news media is so bent on disparaging George Bush that this may be difficult to discern. Iraq, for example, looks to me like a success story. Granted, success is not here, but it is a lot better than the media suggests. For example, Christianne Annapoor says Iraq is a disaster. I don't think so. Let history judge, not the Washington Post or Ted Kennedy or Le Monde: most of these mouthpieces have an interest in seeing Bush fail, so they definitely cant the truth.

[DougMD]

true dat

[johnnyBgood]

Everyone making itseem like we was attacked every single day up to 911.How can you say you feel like our country is safer after 911?
You see mexican military cross our borders,We got more hate for this country after the attack on Iraq.You got more terrorists than ever before because of this attack.
You got civilians who are turning themselves into bombs in Iraq to kill american soldiers.Our government has allmost the whole middle east pissed off at americans.
Yea,I feel safer here with our troops being over used on their tours in other countries and no one protecting the borders other than barney and deputy dog.
We got millions of cows here but we know exactly where the one is with mad cow disease.But they don't know where the illegal immagrants are or the terrorists are in this country?Maybe we should put FDA in control of the immagrants and the terrorists?

[buck knife]

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood

We got millions of cows here but we know exactly where the one is with mad cow disease.But they don't know where the illegal immagrants are or the terrorists are in this country?Maybe we should put FDA in control of the immagrants and the terrorists?

Wow, I can't believe you are using this as an argument.

Do you believe that the cows dig tunnels and sneak into the US illegally? You see, we know where the cows are because they aren't hear illegally.

[CalHunter]

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood

Everyone making itseem like we was attacked every single day up to 911.

I didn't see where anybody said that. Did I miss something?

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood
How can you say you feel like our country is safer after 911?

I think most people saying this recognize that other terrorist attacks have been foiled and obviously we haven't had another 911 type attack succeed. 911 was a wake up call for many people that this type of stuff could actually happen to us. Although you may not agree with all of Bush's methods, we haven't had to suffer through another successful attack. And that makes a lot of people feel safer.

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood
You see mexican military cross our borders,We got more hate for this country after the attack on Iraq.You got more terrorists than ever before because of this attack.

We've had ongoing problems with Mexico for years that never have been solved. All of this hatred for America was pretty much in existence already although the media is putting a lot more time and effort to let us know about it daily and almost hourly nowadays.

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood
You got civilians who are turning themselves into bombs in Iraq to kill american soldiers.

These people have been doing that to Israelis for years. And they are now doing it to other countries and their citizens as well. This statement makes it seem like you somehow believe you can rationally discuss or negotiate with psychos like this.

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood
Our government has allmost the whole middle east pissed off at americans.

You're giving our government too much credit here. All of those countries despised America long before either Bush was elected and will continue to do so long after Bush is out of office.

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood
Yea,I feel safer here with our troops being over used on their tours in other countries and no one protecting the borders other than barney and deputy dog.

Your sarcasm about law enforcement is noted. Possibly you should reread certain parts of the constitution about our military can be used for and, more importantly, what they can't be used for.

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood
We got millions of cows here but we know exactly where the one is with mad cow disease.But they don't know where the illegal immagrants are or the terrorists are in this country?Maybe we should put FDA in control of the immagrants and the terrorists?

All cows get tested for this disease and imported cows are tested for this disease before they are allowed to be shipped into the country, or at least that is what the FDA tries to accomplish. Thankfully, the idiotic ACLU isn't protesting Patriot Act type safety precautions we take with cows. We still aren't allowed to take as many precautions with illegal immigrants, terrorists and, most importantly, those Americans who are helping them. Certain people (no names mentioned of course) seem to violently object whenever methods of accomplishing this goal are even mentioned, let alone up for vote.

And last, but certainly not least, I hope you are not in a federal office or in a position to put FDA in control of the immagrants and the terrorists. I would feel like my tax $$ were being absurdly wasted and I'm sure this forum would have several lengthy posts about why that wouldn't be a good idea.

[quiksilver]

Sorry, but I side with Johnny on this one.

I, for one, felt much safer during the Clinton administration. Then again, so did a few thousand New Yorkers, but they're not around here to say so, so I'll do it for 'em.

[burniegoeasily]

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood
Our government has allmost the whole middle east pissed off at americans.

Nope, that started back long before America ever existed. Remember Abraham's son, by his wifes servent Hagar, Ishmael; and Abraham's son by his wife Sarah, Isaac. That was the start of it all.

Islam is actually predicted in the Bible's Old Testament book of Zechariah, as a curse that would spread across the world. I dont think that was writen yesterday.