HOMELAND INSECURITY FILES
(Make sure to scroll down for updates on the latest press conferences, etc.)
ABC News first reported last night on an al Qaeda threat to New York City corporations. This is the key:
Intelligence sources say al Qaeda plans to move non-Arab terrorists across the border with Mexico.
The warning is related to the arrest of Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed (see Terrorists Don’t Stop at the Rio Grande).
Dean Esmay suggests that we needn’t worry so much about border security since Ahmed was caught. Nonsense. She was caught at the airport by alert Border Patrol agents, not at the border or anywhere along the way as she crossed from Mexico by river into Texas by foot. The Washington Post reports:
Among her possessions were a pair of wet blue jeans and muddy shoes scored with thorns, a border official said.
Authorities now believe Ahmed may have entered the country at least 250 times. Esmay muses optimistically that authorities were watching her all along. Yeah? Who watched her as she swam in her jeans through the Rio Grande untold times, and what possible reason would they let her do the backstroke into the U.S., only to be caught by happenstance at the airport, if she had been under surveillance all along? Like John Stossel says: Give me a break.
Meanwhile, Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas), ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, has been warning that Middle Easterners with possible terrorist ties have been detained after entering the country from Mexico but released for lack of jail space. And Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) has reported that his office was informed by U.S. Attorney Michael T. Shelby of the Southern District of Texas that several Middle Easterners have used Hispanic surnames to enter the country undetected.
Esmay also argues that since Ahmed is a non-Arab woman who was holding a South African passport, this case shows the futility of profiling Arab males and the ineffectiveness of applying heightened scrutiny to foreign visitors from terror-supporting countries. Esmay trots out the old “What about Timothy McVeigh?” argument against profiling and notes “terrorists can be white, black, or brown, and maybe even mixed-race looking like filipinos. They may be carrying passports from any country, and they may in fact be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.”
Ahmed’s last two names–”Mahomed” and “Ahmed”–are both Muslim names. This is not a case where profiling would have been futile. And while it may be true enough that terrorists come in all colors, it simply does not follow that profiling should be eschewed or outlawed. Allowing homeland security officials to take race, ethnicity, or religion into account is not a mandate to stop every person with those characteristics. Profiling is just one discretionary investigative tool among many. It is far from an infallible aid, but if law enforcement officials were only permitted to use fool-proof techniques, they would be left with no tools to fight terrorism at all. I’ll have much more to say on this topic in weeks to come.
Meanwhile, there’ another interesting tidbit from the ABC News report that has gotten overlooked:
Particularly disturbing to authorities were the intelligence reports that the attack may involve one or more suicide truck bombings, a tactic never seen in the United States, but one widely used by terrorists elsewhere.
“I think they want to try and shake our psyche again,” says Jerry Hauer, an ABC News consultant and former director of New York City’s Office of Emergency Management. “And I think the easy types of attacks right now are car bombs, truck bombs.”
Which reminds me again that the 44-foot gas tanker stolen from a New Jersey parking lot, which I wrote about back in May, is still missing.
Update: I’ve been off the computer and out of the house most of the afternoon. Good stuff at Blogs of War, who has been keeping track of the press conferences, live-blogging, etc. Tom Ridge says:
“This is not the usual chatter. This is multiple sources that involve extraordinary detail,” Ridge said.
Full transcript of Ridge press conference here. Ridge denying a connection between Ahmed’s arrest and the new terror alert:
RIDGE: Well, first of all, that investigation is still ongoing. The FBI is doing a great job of following it, but to date, based on what we know in that investigation, there’s no connection between that individual who was apprehended at the border to the information and the targeting that I’ve discussed with you this afternoon.
Update II: Excellent analysis from Bryan Preston at Junkyard Blog.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Homeland Security Headlines
- InTheBullpen.com
- The Spoons Experience
- protein wisdom
- Urban Scrawl
- HOG ON ICE
- The Pink Flamingo Bar Grill
- TacJammer
- Suburban Sundries Shack
- marcland
- Blogs of War
- Petrified Truth
- Dean's World
- JunkYardBlog
- Teleologic Blog
- JunkYardBlog
- Utube videos
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Categories: Border Patrol
Ed Driscoll
» Charges Filed In Kenneth Gladney Case
Riehl World View
» Bet: Ratings Fail - Oprah/Obama Christmas SpecialMudville Gazette
» The five-year planNewsBusters.org
» Oprah To Do Primetime Christmas Special With The ObamasNewsBusters.org
» To Kos, Taliban's Real Crime Is Being Un-PCRiehl World View
» Dowd: Dem Elites Displeased With Obama As Palin Rises
LA: Maybe true, but at the same time there’s no room for complacency. I live in NYC. I don’t wanna lose my life.
Time for a reminder:
>”We have the right to kill 4 million Americans – 2 million of them children–and to exile twice as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands. Furthermore, it is our right to fight them with chemical and biological weapons, so as to afflict them with the fatal maladies that have afflicted the Muslims because of the [Americans'] chemical and biological weapons.”
–Al-Qaeda spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith
(http://www.rightwingnews.com/john/twoyearslater.php)
Ah hem, I beg to differ with ABC News. We have had one enormously successful truck bombing in the US. Namely, the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.
If you’re determined or angry enough to do something about the immigration disaster then start here:
Here are the folks working to reduce the flood:
* See Fax Congress for free
http://www.numbersusa.com/fax
* See Legislative Action Center
http://www.fairus.org
We are working for a good cause. I urgently request your help. Your help is needed.
Sincerely.
Attention Everyone:
Liberal Avenger WILL go away, if no one responds to he/she/it.
The only way to kill a troll is to starve it.
Eventually, deprived of calories they move onto another site….and the cycle repeats itself.
Leave it to Michelle to take a news article saying that the terrorists will be non-Arab as another reason for profiling Arabs.
As soon as I read the ABCNews.com story, I came straight to michellemalkin.com
Those of us in New York City are sick and tired of being in the terrorists’ cross-hairs.
Thanks for the new info.
Well, this is just an example how we cannot ONLY use profiling.
clif,
“Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed” sounds like an Arab name to me.
I think the Texas Rangers should raise some volunteer companies like they used to do pre-1900s, and let them watch the Rio Grande for us.
Regarding that missing 44 foot gas tanker, maybe they should start hooking them all up with those Lojack devices so that they can be tracked if stolen.
As long as a large number of Muslims and the vast majority of the Muslim leaders do not denounce terrorism and actively support the war on terror, all Muslims have to expect to be the targets of profiling. The present political correctness is going to be the downfall of the western civilisation.
Haven’t posted here before. Don’t have time to give a lot of history here.
Here’s a good summary (posted over at Roger L. Simon’s blog on nukes in Iran) and links to other essays and supporting information on the War On Terror against the rise of Islamofascism. This is truly a war of Good vs. Evil.
This is a message the American People must hear that the media is not coverning for a number of reasons.
Ron
This could be bigger than an Uh-Oh!
Here’s a recent piece I posted re the danger the world faces from the rise of Islamofascism as defined by Victor Davis Hanson.
I hope that President Bush has a “Hail Mary” pass in the works. It’s third down with 40 yrds to go and the game clock is ticking down, . . . tick,tick,tick, . . .
Could be the Israelis have been given the “Green Light” to take care of business.
The media is still in a snit over, “Where’s the Beef [Iraq]?” There have been little snippets here and there that someone may be taking care of business. The media can’t see the forest for the trees through their anger.
Also check this link on our site re WMD:
http://hspig.org/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=979
This could be the beginnings of a good PI yarn for Mr. Simon if what John Loftus has said is true about a conspiracy with Iraq, Libya, and North Korea to build nukes in Gadhafi’s caves.
Also check out the “Power and Politics of Blogs,” I think there is a real chance to unite with the Iranian bloggers to overthrow the repressive Islamofascist theocracy.
Be sure to check all the embedded links to other stories and essays.
*****
07-29-04
Sheri and Natalie
Thx. I’m forwarding your msg on to some other colleagues and friends.
YES, WE MUST NEVER FORGET!
Could you please route this message back to those who sent it? Our media has failed to educate and objectively report to the American People the clear and present danger the free world now faces from the rise of Islamofascist terrorism. Regardless of where on the political spectrum you fall, this is a message that all American people need to hear. Our culture and very way of life are at stake.
Our country is at war with an asymmetrical enemy that has launched the first strike. One could argue this war began as far back as the attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut or earlier. This enemy is transnational in nature with a common bound of Islamofascist ideology. We have not countered this threat in any meaningful way, because we are a peaceful and tolerent people. We have failed to understand the true threat. Our enemy does not understand our freedom of speech and our current political debate. Instead it sees our greatest freedom and our tolerance of other cultures and religions as a sign of weakness and indecisiveness. The time for political correctness is past. Our freedoms we enjoy are at the very root of this battle.
This is a war of ideology, culture, and religion. We will win this war because Islamofascism is a failed ideology. At stake is how many human lives will be lost, before we as a country unite, and crush this enemy.
Yes, this expression is trite and regardless if support President Bush or Senator Kerry, this is a war of “Good” vs. “Evil.” As President Bush said, we are a tolerant people but once aroused, we are a fierce adversary.
Please read the following essays (See links below). Please follow the embedded links within these essays to other related articles and supporting information.
To the American people, I say, “Let’s Roll!”
FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!
Ron Wright, Moderator
HSPIG Forums Site
http://www.hspig.org
Essay Links:
FREEDOM – Thx to The Greatest Generation for Preserving It
Geo-Political Strategic Analysis on the War On Terror
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=11881#c0162
Iraq, Libya, and N. Korea almost built Islamic Nuke
http://hspig.org/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=979
US Media Lack of Objectivity
http://hspig.org/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=922
EXCELLENT READ – Hating America [Anti-Americanism]
http://hspig.org/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1141
The Power and Politics of the Blogosphere
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=11881#c0153
Just heard that Tom Ridge will hold a news conference at 2:00pm EST today. Trying to confirm.
LA – glad you post here. How boring if all of us agree on everything. You can dish it out but you take it too. I agree with you on maybe one issue – eminent domain – but the debate is good.
Now, to briefly divert to a more serious issue – am I the only one ready for football season?
Just because her name sounds “Arab,” that, by no means, means she is.
Many American, white and black converts to Islam take on names such as this.
Anyway, I made a post on this topic and I think suicide bombing will eventually happen here.
If they can get over the Shia-Sunni divide, they can certain allow women to be suicide bombers. (which this lady migh have been)
Al-Qaida has its priorities straight.
See, this is why Bush is such a failure. He drags us into war with Iraq (why?) and refuses to militarize our own border because he has some childish fetish for Mexican peasants. Disgusting.
Sorry Marc, you comments say reams about you but very little about the greatest U.S. President since Reagan. I’m a Texan and since we’re not ready to seal the border and shoot all resisters Bush is a failure? He’s going for the slow solution with the workers program. After he is re-elected(grins at all sour faces)and ENFORCES it (i.e. no card=no stay-gooooooodbye!!) the border will be controlled, but then you will be happy to know you can call him a racist/nazi for defending our security. And as for Iraq, we took the whoop ass to them rather than wait for their next attack. Now they are desperate to get us out of Iraq, Huge amounts of their man-power and money have been spent there INSTEAD of here. Al Qaeda has stated they need to kill 3-5 million of us to break our spirit and defeat us and I personaly do not think they would have cracked off 9-11 and THEN tried to smuggle WMD into the U.S.It’s already here waiting to be used when they feel it is the best TIME to strike.
But as I always say, when there are no more of the enemy left willing to die to kill us, we will still be here and WE WILL STILL BE AMERICANS(anarchists,commu/socialists,anti-american pukes all scream and shout in pure anger!!)
Boo Hoo Hoo….too bad
I see the Apologists are out in full force. They are focusing on defending everything in NYC (Wall Street, etc..) when we should have stopped them at the border (which would have helped protect the entire US).
Unfortunately I am very afraid that even another 9-11 won’t deter these ‘open border’ advocates or the ‘anti-profiling’ advocates.
I hope and pray that this isn’t so but I think it might take 2-3 more 9/11 size hits for the idea to occur in the Kerry/Edwards, Congress (on both side ) and yes Bush / Cheeney that perhaps we should stop them from entering the country at the border. This is of course only one layer of a multi-layer defense which includes foreign and local (interior) actions.
And that means stopping ***ALL*** Illegal border crossers! Arab, Latin American, Asian, Indian, Martian, — ALL of them. It also means profiling as well. Yes profiling is not nice or PC but it *IS* necessary.
Jihadaeon:
Here is what your GREAT PRESIDENT has done:
* Hugest expansion of Welfare since LBJ: medicare
* Greatest level of government spending since LBJ ( even excluding war)
* Amnesties and Hispandering
* Increased funding of NEA ( Remember Piss Christ? )
* Capitualation to ICC, International Criminal Court, so our soldiers can be prosecuted by Euro Socialists.
* Signed and worked with TEDDY KENNEDY for that horrible education bill.
* Went to supreme court to argue for continued use of Affirmative Action. This is institutional racism against white people, and in some cases East Asians.
FACTS ARE FACTS!
Kerry didn’t do this, Bush did!
I’m not voting for Kerry or Bush.
If you approve of this big gov’t socialism, go ahead and vote for him.
Let me tell you…
Were there, once again, a threat of violence from people who were:
female
brunette
curly haired
almond eyed
I would be DARNED glad to be profiled! If they’re checking me out, then, just maybe, they’re checking out the real threat in the line behind me.
When I (a pale skinned, petite, caucasian woman) pass through the doors of my favorite soul food establishment, all heads turn to look at me. Why? Because I stand out…perhaps, I am even ‘profiled’ by those suspicious of my presence. Am I offended by the stares? No. I DO stand out. I present, with my appearance alone, as out-of-place. AND, had someone fitting my description recently committed an offense in this same community, I would enter into the establishment EXPECTING to be more closely examined.
Has anyone ever passed through a late night police roadblock? One of those temporary stations, set up to catch drunk drivers? Well, I have, and frankly, if I am profiled for simply driving late at night, then so be it. Maybe they’ll catch the drunk in line ahead of me before they kill some innocent passerby…perhaps, someone in my circle of family and friends.
Those with nothing to hide, have nothing to fear.
Damn Bixby! You’re more conservative than I am!!(Grumbles)But the last time I looked into it the only perfect leader earth has known was nailed to a cross. Your points are well taken, however,lets see what the second term looks like!
(Laughs merrily at the screams and groans)
Jihadeoan:
Perfect? Good grief who is expecting perfection, not me. But Bush’s record is atrocious.
Sorry I can’t endorse his wreckless program. If I want what Bush has given I’ll vote Democrat – which I won’t be.
I’ll either not vote for President or vote for 3rd Party.
For the sake of the nation and conservatism Bush must go.
I know some here will denounce me… I don’t care. This isn’t N. Korea.
The “it’s a dirty Bush trick” nonsense has already started at the Democratic Underground.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104×2130489
My comments about Bush are factual. It makes no difference If I am some kind of plant from DU or not: BUSH’S RECORD IS BUSH’S ALONE.
I wouldn’t say a disparaging word about Laura Bush. She seems a class act, to me anyway.
Better than that witch Hillary.
Dean Esmay is building Strawmen because Michelle doesnt ever say ONLY profile. But then again I give a good defense of Profiling in any regards.
But even his strawman argument is weak first off it is a fact that the Al Queda prefers to use Arabs, they want people they can trust with the biggest operations. It is no co-incidence that their biggest, most successful operation was carried out by a mix of Saudis, Yemenis, and an Egyptian given the originizations leadership mix of nationalities. They probably would prefer if allowed by the PC crowd to continue using people whose families and alligencies were known.
Pierre Legrand
PS In regards to Bush vs Kerry….muahahaha…Yea lets get a Anti War protester who hates American to defend it..YEA SURE.
One curious thing to note is how, yet again, leftists insist having it both ways.
If law enforcement attempts to make a very limited use of race, religion or a similar factor in an attempt to do their job – protecting the nation from terror attacks in this case – the leftist chorus immediately screams “racism” and lecture us on the evils of taking race, religion, etc. into account when profiling possible suspects, predictably waving the picture of McVeigh (who may have been working with Iraqi intel – but that’s another story).
However, when it comes to university admissions, government job applications, etc. – all of a sudden leftists do a 180 degree turn as regards their professed ideal of “non-discrimination.” Race, religion, etc. is now miraculously transformed from being a factor that should be ignored altogether into a factor which quite literally trumps all others. Thus the Supreme Court intones that “diversity” is henceforeth a “compelling state interest’ which completely overrules the 14th amendment’s concept of equal protection under the law.
And so we begin to see liberalism’s mask peel away – ever so slightly.
Just posted this on Little Green Footballs which links to an update I just posted re al Qaeda could divert to another target anywhere along the southern border.
I wouldn’t rule out Southern California with the nexus beginning from the San Fernando Valley Area:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=11948#c0070
Ron Wright, Moderator
HSPIG Forums Site
http://www.hspig.org
HELL YES Carolus, that complete contradiction really pisses me off. I was at medical school and required an A- average to continue. A friend of mine only needed a C+ average because of one thing and one thing only; her race. If thats not racist, then profiling for national security CERTAINLY isn’t.
UPDATE ALERT
Here’s an alert I posted to some groups I moderate. It has special relevence here as Michelle has pointed out a significant weakness on our War On Terror against Islamofascism. This being our leaking borders.
A point of reference was the arrest of the female in Texas about ten days ago and the absurdity of the release of the Islamic male subjects detained at the border because of lack of jail space.
DAH! won’t people ever learn.
I’m sorry to bring this message but whether you accept it or not our Country is at war. The time for political correctness is over.
There are those of us who don’t believe the White Horse from DC will be riding into town anytime soon to the rescue. We must realize we all must protect are own backyards.
No putdown on them because their plate is full. The 100k federal agents that can be thrown at this problem is a drop in the bucket.
This must be a concerted effort involving the American People as additional eyes and ears to watch for unusual activity. Don’t have time to go into this here. Check out our site.
But in brief in the world of Trek before a Romulian Bird of Prey can attack, it must decloak before it can fire. This is similar to aQ terrorist cells on the ground already.
THEIR BEHAVIOR – while not criminal will tip of the existence of underground cells.
Key – 3 to 5 males (rare for females but changing tactics), ME of Islamic origin, travel, train, eat, sleep together in the cell group for reasons of operational security (Leader is akin to the political ofc of the old Soviet Union), will pay months in advance for apt/car rentals, will pay in cash, don’t seem to go to work, and stay out of sight.
These are classic signs that Gaven DeBecker, “Fear Less,” calls pre-incident indicators. These are things that regular citizens will see as out of the ordinary. One example is a group going to a farm supply company and wanting to purchase ammonium nitrite prills (fertilizer) when it’s obvious that they are not into farming.
These are the kinds of behavior that will tip the activation of a cell. Generally there will be three types of cells – financial, logistics, and operations.
They will be compartmentalized off form the others with the team leader the only one knowing the facillitator who knows how to contact the other groups.
Financial cell will raise money locally and/or assist in getting funding into the country. Logistics will rent apt/cars and other groundwork including casing potential targets. Operations are the suicidal agents that will carry out attack.
Not uncommon to make a number of dry runs to test defenses and operational readiness to counter attack.
If you see any of these activities,
DO NOT HESITATE to contact one of the Regional FBI Joint Terrorism Tasks Forces through out the Country.
Remember if your hackles go up and it’s unusual to you, CALL don’t wait. Don’t be blown off by dispatchers or phone answerers. Get your info to one of the JTTFs. They are the ones who have their ears on and take action.
Ron Wright, Moderator
HSPIG Forums Site
http://www.hspig.org
Here’s the link to the additional update re the southern border:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=11948#c0070
The tanker from Jersey is still missing..and what ever happened to those three ships that were being tracked in the Indian Ocean?
freaks
Two years ago, several hundred pounds of ammonium nitrate was stolen from an ag supply yard in the San Diego area. At about the same time, several hundred pounds of same were stolen in Colorado. To my knowledge, none of it was ever found. As I recall, the total was 800 pounds.
The possibility of an attack near the southern border is something I have considered as a probability these last few months. Imagine the psychological impact of a successful attack in the San Diego area, with it’s huge military presence. A military presence that has not, in any way, deterred illegal immigration. Not to mention that there’s a 10- or 12-lane freeway running through Camp Pendleton, with lots of base housing very close to it.
I hope with every fiber of my being, that if they carry out another attack(s), that we obliterate certain ME states by whatever means available.
Xlrq:
In case you didn’t see it:
“A USA Today study found that GOP-controlled state legislatures increased spending an average of 6.54 percent a year from 1997 to 2002, compared with 6.17 percent for legislatures run by Democrats. And the biggest hikes in federal spending since LBJ have come in a Washington entirely controlled by Republicans.”
Sean Hannity accuses Kerry supporters as being Kool-Aid drinkers. Well, if being a Republican means something other than being a mindless zombie Bush must be held accountable.
For further info on Illegal Immigration, etc., you need to go to http://www.congress.org and click on all of the letters sent to our President and Members of Congress re Immigration and Homeland Security.
Also go to http://www.securebordersusa.com
You will be shaking in your boots when you discover just how man OTM’s are estimated to have crossed the Arizona/Mexican Border in the last year alone.
Bixby,
What a waste to not vote or vote third party.
I agree with much of what you said- not all, because some of it is not factual- but there is more at stake here than you wittle feewings… LIKE A WAR FOR CIVILIZATION.
Take your Pat Buchanan crap and put it where the sun don’t shine!
lt:
“but there is more at stake here than you wittle feewings… LIKE A WAR FOR CIVILIZATION”
Have I objected to the war?
Do I have to be a Buchananite to oppose ICC, Affirmative Action, Amnesties for illegals, Big Spending? I thought these were “Republican” issues?
Why can’t the “war for civilization” be fought while at the same time opposing big domestic spending, Affirmative Action, and Amnesties for illegals? In fact these policies might hurt the country… and impede the war. Don’t you think?
I’ve also not hurled insults at anyone, or used fowl language. Apparently the truth hurts.
Look, Bixby, I agree with most of your premise. Don’t get in a twist.
I am merely of the mind that sitting home in November is not the thing this election cycle. For obvious reasons.
We’re on the same side. I just implore you to put some of it aside in November.
Maybe we will get lucky and the terrorists will hit the Wall Street Journal, who champions open borders thereby allowing these terrorists in!
Another target might be the fashion industry that produces the culture and images that are supposedly so offensive to
Muslims.
Lt:
Just so you know I am a volunteer for “Republicans” across the country.
I am especially active in my home state – which is being ruined by RINOs!
What Bush is doing at home is aweful. It deserves to be discussed honestly and openly.
It is painful to discuss. That is true. I’. happy Gore isn’t president, that is all I can say for Bush – domestically.
But I think this party must confront the horror of Bush and his domestic policies.
I’m not a DU plant or an inciter.
ok. I’ve had my say.
I drove from Richmond to New York on Thursday, and I was AMAZED at the incredibly tight security I witnessed on I-95. Maryland troopers seemed to be randomly searching semi-trucks. Delaware troopers were stopping EVERY semi-truck and inspecting them – they were flagging them off the road – and were also checking most smaller box trucks. And Jersey troopers were, like Maryland, randomly pulling over semis. I think it would have been impossible for any large truck to approach New York from the south without being scrutinized.
It was nerve-wracking and reassuring at the same time. And needless to say, I wasn’t surprised at all by this morning’s announcement.
All knowing Bixby. Just because you don’t like something Bush has done does not make it wrong. First, Bush has not offered amnesty. Ronald Reagan is the conservative President that has actually granted amnesty to illegal aliens. Bush’s conservative credentials are second to none. He has had two tax cuts passed, he quashed any forced involvement in the Kyoto proposal. He withdrew us from the ABM treaty that has allowed us to proceed with our missle defense, he has pushed for school vouchers and more state control in our education system. He has nominated very conservative judges. He was instrumental in passing the partial birth abortion ban. He had proposed privatizing social security which was only derailed because of 9/11. He has waged two wars against the most evil of regimes and supporters of our terrorist enemies and freed millions. I have no patience with intellectually dishonest people.
Drudge is linking to the NY Times article about the “computer geek” source.
Long story short: apparantly the terrorists had expressed interest in the potential effectiveness of using “a hijacked oil tanker truck” to attack the specified targets.
Glad to see what Rhonda said above (re: Jerry Hauer of ABC News claiming that truck
bombings have never been seen stateside …
he should have said “not often seen”),
perhaps the most common terrorist operations
in the USA are done covertly … also,
it’s harder for the operatives to hide
after an operation here since they are
usually not as densely sheltered.
Very recently, a bombed SUV at the
Gaylord Opryland center in Nashville
took out just one person. But we should
not lull ourselves into believing that
vehicle-based bombs are necessarily
novel for the USA. Note that the 1995
Oaklahoma City bombing (here in the USA)
was vehicle-based and that the perpetrators
had preparatory dealings with the
Abu Sayyaf organization. Thanks; Larry.
Ooooo k then, just have to reply to Non Arabs paranoid hysterics over concentration camps, from what I read an attempt to reason with that statement or the mentality that produced it would be utterly futile, but here goes The United States defeated Nazism over 50 years ago…I’m going to say this very slowly for the pinheads out there w-e a-r-e n-ot N-a-z-is to some we are much worse=Free thinking, liberty living Country loving AMERICANS. We seem to pose a threat to some people’s world view. Too Damn Bad. Fear-Mongering people like Non arab think we are the problem, not the solution. I’ll bet if we could take a look at their hidden souls(ooo did I say a dirty word?)they would be more akin to Al Qaeda than the Allies.
Having said that…we are human beings nonetheless and when other major attacks happen it is a negative part of our nature to want to blame or lash out in anger and fear. I fear for Arab and Middle Easterners living here in a bad attack aftermath, they might need to be PROTECTED from harm, has anyone thought of that? I can guarantee you our government has. There were numerous statements after 9-11 to calm folks down and focus on our true enemy. That will almost certainly not work a second time if people really think their families are truly under imminent danger or if they wish to take revenge. Understand, I am NOT condoning or agreeing with this but I am sadly confident that prediction may come true thereby forcing our government to step in to protect innocent citizens and visitors from harm. As for our future in this war, it’s gonna be long, long looooong before we come out the other side and not all of us will make it(sorry if I’m offending anyone’s sensibilties but when someone says they’re going to kill 3-5 million of us I tend to take that seriously, preparing for the worst while working for the best outcome
Michelle writes – “I’ve been off the computer and out of the house most of the afternoon.”
Me too. On my front, I finally (after 34 months) rid my house of my ex-wife’s household items today.
There are some interesting philosophical wonderings that I have concerning how some people thrive on:
1) Not taking time to understand someone else’s perspective
2) Being hypocritcal – Being [whatever mean description] yet describing others as [whatever mean description].
3) Not cooperating
By the way, THANK YOU to:
RWSoccerMom48 – - – - -
Americankitty – - – - –
Sky King – - – - – - –
….. for the kind words of encouragement. They meant alot.
By the way #2, I agree with ONECENT concerning LA.
To the issue at hand, Nobody is saying that we should ONLY profile (Athena). At this point in time profiling is outlawed and to many of us it makes sense to put that tool back into the toolbelt so that we can use it. It only makes sense to recognize what muslims themselves have said and recognize that there is couple decade long PATTERN.
Bixby,
I have written a little about how Bush is to the left of center but Kerry is even farther to the left of center.
So what are we to do as “centrists” or people “to the right of center”?
It’s an easy choice for me. The fact that Republican controlled legislatures have increased spending at a rate .4% more per year than Democrats does not translate to me that we should vote for Kerry OR withold our vote for Bush.
I’ll tell you why…
I watch C-SPan. Let’s look at 2 issues:
1) Illegal Immigrants – While Bush’s plan gives some kind of “worker’s status” to illegal immigrants TEMPORARILY for 3 years and while many of us disagree with it, it is a far cry from what many Democrats want. On C-SPAN, many of the Democrats are openly calling Republicans and/or anyone who want to control our borders “fearful of other races” or other key phrases that they can get away with during a Congressional session. The slurs against Tom Tancredo are horrible. Yet Tom’s the man on this issue. Democrat leaders have called Republican’s extremists for so long on so many of these issues that there are many rank-and-file liberals who believe that Republicans are extreme, mean-spirited and racist when it just isn’t true.
2) Medicare Bill – On C-SPAN there was leftist organization after leftist organization holding press conferences (not protests) talking at length abot how the Medicare Bill shafts the elderly in this country. Many of those press conferences had Democrat legislatures in them talking as well. Why? Why was the Medicare Bill so bad to them? Because…. the bill had a couple key points that Democrats hate. Medical Savings Accounts was in the bill. And an increase of services provided to the elderly through the insurance companies and private means. Democrats hate that. Democrats want the prescription drug program or Medicare anything to be completely delivered through the government. So even though people will benefit Democrats hate it.
I could go on with a few other issues. Sure it’s an INCREASE in spending. The AMOUNT of increase was due to the fact that it HAD to be that high for a few legislatures to sign the bill. But even though the amount was higher it brought about some key reforms to the marketplace that make long term sense to me.
eh. I’ll bring up one more..
The NCLB act. It was sweeping change that CONSOLIDATED a bunch of education programs, brought some “measuring” ability to the plate and even though the federal increase in spending on education has gone up more than Clinton’s 8 years, Democrats are upset with the NCLB act. They rail against it saying that Bush hasn’t fully funded it when it’s a voluntary program and some states haven’t spent their full dollar amount up to 2.5 billion. So because those states haven’t spent what they were allotted, Democrats turn on the extreme rhetoric and call it “not fully funded by Bush”.
Again, Bixby. I’m with you in principle. I want a smaller government. Libertarians call for a cut in government to the tune of 80%. Personally I’d be ECSTATIC to see a freeze in the amount spent for 10 years so that during those 10 years a re-prioritization of expenditures could happen. This kind of reform would be less likely to cause a depression or recession than an outright cut in government spending.
But guess what Bixby, I don’t think we’ll see it happen in our lifetime. The federal government has increased spending every year for over 60 years and there hasn’t actually been a cut even though the Democrat leadership accuses Republicans of doing so.
Seems to me the Democrats rank-and-file should catch on to that game and demand better of their leadership…………
………just like we try to do with Republican leadership (those of us to the right of center are pretty critical of our own leaders)
To those of you who despise “profiling”….
We have a situation where muslim extremists (not talking about all muslims) are openly talking about killing as many Americans as they can and bringing down our system by attacking key infrastructure aspects.
Yes. There are the McVeighs of the world. As far as I know he didn’t OPENLY talk about what he wants to do to as many innocent civilians before he did it. Key word is “OPENLY”.
Given the past precedent of the last couple decades of actually carrying out attacks successfully, culminating in one of the worst attacks ever on September 11th, 2001 and continuing on through the last 3 years, what do you NON-PROFILERS think we should do given our LIMITED SECURITY PERSONNEL RESOURCES?
We need to recognize patters. If in a 25 square mile area, there are crimes committed every other day against book stores between the hours of 2AM and 4AM by someone wearing a hat…. it would make sense to recognize the pattern.
It would do HARM to spread the security personnel thin across a 100,000 square mile area and question everybody who approaches a book store during the entire day.
And there are some (LA) who talk to us as if we were racist, who want to lynch mob and what not.
All we are talking about is recognizing patterns exist and trying to figure out some way to have security people be effective against future plans to attack us.
The Times story: Among the questions the plotters sought to answer, senior American intelligence officials said, were how best to gain access to the targeted buildings; how many people might be at the sites at different hours and on different days of the week; whether a hijacked oil tanker truck could serve as an effective weapon; and how large an explosive device might be required to bring the buildings down.
So, ahem, THEY HAVE THE TANKER.
And if “they” don’t, I’m sure “they” can have some plot to secure a truck stop and take a couple tankers just like “they” took some of our airplanes.
Unfortunately, the people who wish we didn’t recognize patterns wish we’d stop referring to the “they”.
It’s a free country so we will continue to recognize the patterns that “they” want to attack us and have.
Kerry no-show in intelligence committee
Missed 38 of 49 public hearings in 8 years
Posted: August 2, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry missed most of the public hearings of the Senate Intelligence Committee during his eight years on the panel, according to his colleagues.
During his tenure on the committee, which provides oversight of national intelligence agencies, Kerry was absent for 38 of 49 public hearings
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Just thought everyone would like to know.
Bixby:
I didn’t address Bush’s non-amnesty amnesty because I agree with you on that issue. I don’t know why you think a Cato study on the spending habits of state legislatures has anything to do with George W. Bush, but if you say so. Your NEA number is neat, but it doesn’t address the issue I raised before – how is that compared to 10-15 years ago, after adjusting for inflation? In a vacuum, a number like $18 million means almost nothing as the federal budget goes.
To say there is no defense for Grutter is silly. Of course there’s a defense for it. I don’t happen to agree with it myself, but that’s not the same thing as it being indefensible.
If that’s the best you can do in defending your positions, then you are full of crap indeed. Holding Bush accountable for his failure to be 100% pure is fine. Handing John Kerry the reins is not.
Zell Miller’s latest piece in the Wall Street Journal
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005426
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Here’s an excerpt:
“Today, it’s the Democratic Party that has mastered the art of division and diversion.”
http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=36689
Arab Racism, The Muslim double standard
Okay here we go…
LA you went from being a slightly amusing liberal to a pain in the seat. You seem to be losing the ability to debate like a human being and you have most assurdley lost what little wit you ever had…Take a nap, a pill or something and RELAX!
Now on the subject of profiling ( racial or otherwise)
Fact 1 is we are all profiled everyday. Go look at a car you are profiled, go look at a house you are profiled, go get the gas, electric or phone connected you are profiled.
Fact 2 Profiling is a wise tool for law enforcement or intelligence agencies to use. Think about it people. Here is a little quiz.
Q: You are a police officer. You get a report that a 6″ tall hispanic looking male just robbed a bank. Do you
A: pull over all tall hispanic males
B: pull over all 80 year old Grandmas
C: Take a doughnut break
My bet is you do A
Q: 19 Middle Eastern males between the ages of 18 and 40 highjack 4 planes and use three of them as cruise missiles, killing almost 3,000 people. Do you
A: single out 80 year old grannies
B: single out former congressman
C: search and question everybody
D: single out Middle Eastern men between the ages of 18 and 40
Well if your liberal you single out the grannies. If you are logical you single out the Middled Eastern men
Jihadaeon – Bush is the greatest president since Regan? I like some of the stuff he has done but he hardly qualifies as Regan’s successor to this point.
And all this talk about racism is a deversion. I think liberal racism is more harmful to the minority community. Quotas and diversity programs enforce the concept that as a minority you need special help to compete on an equal level. What is more damaging to a persons or racial self-esteem…a few ignorant people or society telling you you are not equal? I think the latter.
And now my final thoughts…
Illegal Immigration should not be rewarded in any way… illegal entry into this country is a Felony. And before you all give me the seeking more opportunity line think about this. Amost every Convicted Felon in this country can give you a logical reason why they committed their crime. So do we let poor Bank Robbers or Drug Dealers off just because they are seeking a better life? I think not…If you do the crime pay the consquences!
Two years ago, several hundred pounds of ammonium nitrate was stolen from an ag supply yard in the San Diego area. At about the same time, several hundred pounds of same were stolen in Colorado. To my knowledge, none of it was ever found. As I recall, the total was 800 pounds.
Posted by: JB at August 1, 2004 07:15 PM
****************************************
OH I have NEVER laughed so hard as when I read the above.
You MUST be from a big City?
)
Ammonium Nitrate is FERTILIZER!
Used to side dress corn, other plants.
You can buy it in 50 lb bags in most garden centers and farm stores and co-ops.
You suffer from the same lack of knowledge as a repoter I recall excitingly expounding on the discovery of a receipt in a van for Ammonium Nitrate found in a van after the Oklahoma bombing, when McVeigh was staying at a Farm? DUH
Now it’s true the fetilizer is only about 34% Farmers have been using it for generations to blow out stumps you use deisel fuel to desolve the nitrate and and a number 6 dynamite cap will make a good detonator,
Be comparable to dynamite but I think the price is maybe about $6 for a 50 lb bag.
PS used in the lawn industry too to green up grass
PPS It’s not the only thing you can use to make a nitrate explosive. Now Nitrate of Soda is about 60% Nitrogen.
If you want to regulate and or restrict everything that could possibly used to make an explosion, we best go back to the Stone Age
Actually its best if they DO steal the Ammonium Nitrate, at least that way it shows up,
Now pulling up to a Co-op in an old pickup truck and buying a half of ton to side dress corn is not even going to be remembered by the store.
In a related story, 99.9% of the polls gave Kerry/Edwards a 3-5% bounce in the polls.
Dman:
You said “Bush has not offered amnesty”.
Well, the Mexican illegals sure think he has…
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040802-123612-3171r.htm
Frankly nobody except ZOMBIES think the president’s amnesty isn’t an amnesty.
>>And the biggest hikes in federal spending since LBJ have come in a Washington entirely controlled by Republicans.”
The Senate was not GOP controlled from mid 01-03.
>>For the sake of the nation and conservatism Bush must go.
Conservatism will not be served by electing Kerry.
You know, no President can ever make everyone happy. Even George Washington gets targeted with criticism…
When 9/11 happened, everyone ranted our security was the pits. When the security gets upped a notch, everyone complains. Americans don’t want to be inconvenienced, yet when fanatics attack us, GASP!!! How did that happen?
If President Bush locked down the borders (and I’m sure deep down he’d love to do so), the liberals would be screaming blood hell.
Really folks, as a whole, this country needs to come together and decide what it will put up with from abroad.
I was very cynical when 9/11 occured and everyone rushed out to buy flags for their houses and cars. Unfortunately, I believe it will take another catastrophic attack to drive the point home, particularly for the liberals. I just hope when it happens, Michael Moore is at ground zero.
Madame Butterfly
OK
Let’s not profile A-rabs.
Let’s profile muslims.
Not all muslims are terrorists, but so far all the terrorists have been muslims
For all of the people that are slamming poor ol’ Dubya, that half-bright Cheney-puppet? I would like to point out He inherited a government and nation that just came off of eight years of Bill and Hillary(my two favorite ANCIENT-ROMAN style politicians)Control our borders? It is SOOO easy to say that. I’m a Texan and we would have to(draws breath to begin rant) KILL PEOPLE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN! And who would get shot? Mexican people with relatives on both sides of the border. It would be a human tragedy of epic proportions so it’s high time for a reality check. The borders have been opens for over 2 centuries. Sealing them would have to be violent and if you dont know that that’s why IM here to tell you…are you ready to see machine gunned brown-skinned women and kids floating in the Rio Grande? Our government hasnt even begun to go that way(Thank God) They knew the names and stories of every hijacker within hours of 9-11 and are determined intel and proaction will do the job(win the war, NOT keep more of us from dying in terror attacks) Our government has gone overt in Iraq and Covert over here and around the world to answer the threat BUT because of THE STATE OF THE NATION after 8 years of Intel and military decay we are only NOW getting up to speed. So before you start calling for sealed borders understand we have HUGE difficulties involved and it is not a political reality at this time. And yes, they will almost certainly kill thousands more of us in a cowardly terror attack. They are already here,the WMD’s are already here(unless they are complete morons)”Wait! Lets attack the vile Americans, so that their guard is up THEN try to sneak our Killer-Blow WMD’s into the U.S.”!!
And for all the Machiavellian GENIUSES that are spewing about timing of alerts right now-talk(or keyboard taps)is cheap. They arent setting up to attack the now past Democratic National Convention, why should they? They probably have roomfulls of zombified kids chanting prayers for Kerry’s Election!! No…think like an Anti Terrorist Unit Leader for a second. They have to prep for attacks on New York and the Republican National Convention, they have to move personnel, prep the weapons and delivery systems. Theres a lot of communication and movement involved. So when the enemy begins to form up for attack,ready their weapons and move towards you IF you are alert you can see it coming(take some into custody-it seems we have!! and grill them for intel) So is it any surprise that as an enemy actually prepares to attack us we pick up on it? But no, it all just political timing. thanks Bill and Hillary I guess everything is politics!!
Does this mean I can start randomly sniping in Nogalas?
Cho-Cho-San (Madame Butterfly):
Dubya does not want to shut down the borders in any way, shape or form. He’s going to follow the orders of the cheap-labor lobby no matter what. Bush is an utter disgrace on the issue of immigration and the destruction it is bringing. Even so, Kerry is even worse. Not that anyone in the stupid party will learn a lesson, but: You cannot out-pander the Dhimmicrats.
Jihadaeon:
It would not be necessary to machine-gun the border crossers. Some areas to start would be: 1. Bust all employers of illegal aliens. 2. End all forms of welfare, free medical care, in-state tuition, and free schooling for illegal aliens. 3. All official business to be conducted in English. 4. Proof of citizenship should be required to a)register to vote; b)get a driver’s license (legitimate Green card OK for driver’s license). c) apply for any loan backed by tax dollars (FNMA, GNMA). 4. Force all states, cities, and municipalities who refuse to check for citizenship to do so. Take these steps, and the flow will soon start going the other way. Only machine-guns required would be for AQ cells caught on border (pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop).
Asa Hutchison claims with $100 million he could enforce the laws against hiring illegal aliens. This is nothing compared to the billions we are spending on Iraq and homeland security eleswhere. This would remove the incentive most illegal aliens have to come here.
This would reduce the army of illegal aliens currently swarming across our borders from millions to thousands. Our current Border Patrol forces, which are currently overwhelmed, would then be able to intercept and deport 80 to 90% of attempted illegal crossers, instead of the surrent 25 to 30% interception rate.
So why isn’t this happening? Carolus is correct, agribusiness and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce don’t want it, they are addicted to this cheap, pliable labor. They have bought off Cheney and Bush, and don’t care how many Americans die or how much it costs American taxpayers and workers from their greed. They also are not overly concerned if Kerry is elected, since after all, the Democrats mass amnesty plan and doubling of legal immigration will ensure the continued supply of cheap labor.
These American business owners are no different from the 15 heartless billionares who run Mexico.
What I wonder is, when are the American people going to do something about it?
Liberal Avenger,what do you think about Bixby calling Hillary a witch? Skyking,I am ready for football season,E-A-G-L-E-S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bixby, You say you are a volunteer for republicans? I say,with volunteers like you,we don’t need ENEMIES!!!
Lisa:
There a plenty of Republicans on the Federal Congressional level I’ve campaigned for, in minor roles.
I urge you to vote for Kris Kobach, in Kansas. I’ve called a lot of numbers for him, registered voters.
I’ll bet I’ve done more for Republican candidates that you ever will.
Unfortunately the RINOs control the party above that level. Frankly, they are no different then Democrats. Many like yourself are no doubt caught up in the rhetoric, but not the deeds.
I love how liberals are all for rights except when they choose to infringe them; they are all for parental choice unless it is against a liberal agenda. The story about the Kindergarten PC-Cops, or pacifist Nazis trying to indoctrinate children with hate speech against our heroic pilots is definitely worth a refresher. So is MoveOn.org’s involvement in it all. I covered a bit of this and some of “Moron.org’s” other eyebrow-raising behavior back in April (http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=Blogbat&tab=weblogs&uid=83168817)
but also citing Michelle’s shocking story about these academic abusers.
The only reason I mention this is that I have posted contact e-mails and phone numbers for MoveOn.org, so you can give them a piece of your mind, whatever that be.