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1. #1
   On July 21st, 2004 at 1:48 pm, brian said:

   It never ceases to amaze me, that when Democrats think some “crime” has been perpetrated by Republicans they call for investigations, special councils, or a grand inquisitor, but when one of their own does something shady, well he just made a mistake. I don’t buy that, nor would i even rent it. For crying out loud, Mr. Burglar is a lawyer and an ex pol who knows better. Just what was he trying to hide? What did he do with the papers that fell into his pants that he failed to notice on his way out the door? Hmmm?

2. #2
   On July 21st, 2004 at 1:55 pm, SM said:

   It was skill, not luck, that allowed Diana Dean to make her essential collar, but it was pure luck as far as the Clinton administration is concerned that someone like Diana Dean was on the job that day.

3. #3
   On July 21st, 2004 at 2:37 pm, Jimmie said:

   I still attribute it to luck.

   Now don’t cut my head off quite yet! Agent Dean did excellent work - the kind of work we want out of our law enforcement people all the time. It doesn’t quite get past that she wasn’t looking for explosives and wasn’t even thinking “terrorist bomber” when she made her serendipitous find.

   Since then, we still don’t have any sort of comprehensive program we can get down to local law enforcement officers that would teach them what to look for and how to handle potential terrorists. We’re still relying on serendipity.

4. #4
   On July 21st, 2004 at 2:38 pm, Rob said:

   i dont appreciate what u said about tupac and about his poetry….i guess u know nothing about him or his work….so before u junp to conclusions about anybody else or there work make sure u do your research ….tupac is a very inspirational poet..”thug life” was an image of his rapping career…it had nothing to do with his poems or his real life….like i said if u would please try to do some research on people the next time you want to talk about somebodies work or somebodies choice of how they live you may learn things that you wouldnt expect.

5. #5
   On July 21st, 2004 at 2:38 pm, Marshall said:

   brian - not only was Burglar a lawyer and ex-pol, he was the freakin’ National Security Advisor!!

   Can you imagine if this was Condeleezza Rice that had been caught stuffing her drawers with secret documents prior to the 9/11 Commission??

6. #6
   On July 21st, 2004 at 2:42 pm, Kurt Duncan said:

   Sorry, OT. Your pen is broken.

7. #7
   On July 21st, 2004 at 3:03 pm, Stephen said:

   I have never met Diana Dean, but from my previous work as a Customs Inspector (1981-1987), I know that it was her skill, not luck that caused her to catch the would be terrorist. During the time she caught the guy, the Customs Service was emphasising the “Service” aspect of the job. Inspectors were “encouraged” to process travelers within a minute or two. Inspectors were also instructed to give out “Customer Service Comment Cards” so the traveler could easily complain about being searched or delayed.

   It would have been so much easier for Diana Dean to let the guy go (if you let a traveler go, no one complains), but she took a risk (as CBP Officers do every day) and did her job. She is a great asset to the organization!

   Also to correct some misconceptions, Customs Inspectors are no more. They are now called Customs and Border Protection (CBP) OFFICERS.

   Nor are they “agents.” Nor are they considered “law enforcement officers” for retirement purposes. Yes, they carry firearms and arrest criminals. They testify in court and most put their lives on the line almost daily, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not classify them as law enforcement officers under 5 USC 8336(c).
   The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has left it up to the head of the agency. Giving CBP Officers real law enforcement status could easily be done. But it won’t be anytime soon, because of the cost.

8. #8
   On July 21st, 2004 at 3:41 pm, ademantis said:

   I would say it was just dumb luck that an agent as good as Dean happened upon this particular vehicle. It could easily have been some other agent who wasn’t as thorough.

   And your pen graphic is broken, Michelle.

9. #9
   On July 21st, 2004 at 4:00 pm, Martin aka Blogbat said:

   I hear now there’s news of a three pound cat. Why are we discussing such trivial things as the safety of the world, when we can talk about all manner of creatures which happen to taste just like chicken all weighing in at 3-4 pounds?

10. #10
    On July 21st, 2004 at 4:04 pm, JF said:

    Diana Dean DOES deserve all the credit, however, as I listened to the NPR reports on the Berglar case, they were claiming it was Clinton, and Berger and Clarke that deserved the credit for busting up the Millennium plot. That, I wholeheartedly reject. Dean may have recieved the proper training, but the afore-mentioned French anti-terror magistrate STILL had to testify for several hours in order to convince the prosecutors WHO they had in custody, and WHY he was important. Dean recieved no extra help, and saw no emergency bulletins on this guy.

11. #11
    On July 21st, 2004 at 4:18 pm, onecent said:

    “It doesn’t quite get past that she wasn’t looking for explosives and wasn’t even thinking “terrorist bomber” when she made her serendipitous find.”

    Phrased another way she was vigilant in looking for inappropriately nervous individuals, found one, and found explosives. That’s not random luck.

12. #12
    On July 21st, 2004 at 4:26 pm, Bob Anderson said:

    I read your article in US Today on the Security Moms and how they will or should vote. You couldn’d have said it better. People had better wake up and see Kerry for what he is. God help this country if he is elected. We are at war with people who will kill you and your family and then bragg about it. The UN won’t protect you or me , WE must protect our country and our families. I guess it will take another Sept. 11th to wake up the stupid people in this country and sometimes i’m not sure that would work.
    Keep up the good work,
    Bob

13. #13
    On July 21st, 2004 at 4:36 pm, Seattle boy said:

    My boss happens to be Mrs. Dean’s brother in law. She no longer lives in Washington State and has recently left the boarder patrol (a couple months ago). She had planned on doing so earlier, but wanted to be in uniform in the case she was asked to testify in front of the “9/11″ commission. Does not seem they were interested. Wonder why?

14. #14
    On July 21st, 2004 at 5:23 pm, Shelby said:

    Luck. The country, the Clinton administration, and everyone who wasn’t killed got very lucky. Stopping the bomber was not the result of any deliberate activity undertaken by the government.

    Diana Dean, along with all of us, was lucky that the bomber was so inept.

    “every (military) strategic plan always comes down to a single soldier walking point”

    What we had here was a skilled soldier whose route happened to cross paths with a suspicious target, a target that fortuitously was even more significant than it first appeared.

15. #15
    On July 21st, 2004 at 5:56 pm, Erik said:

    I agree with some of the others - at least vis a vis the Clinton administration, it was most definitely luck. Diana Dean deserves all the credit - on her part, it wasn’t luck at all, but rather her own vigilance. But Diana Dean would have been vigilant no matter who was in office, and that includes the Clintonistas, who we know were anything *but* vigilant against terror (which is why we now have the first Clinton-related scandal that involves someone actually putting something *into* their pants instead of taking it out … ).

16. #16
    On July 21st, 2004 at 7:23 pm, JEF said:

    I’ll bet Clinton and his pals were pissed! If the bomber had succeeded think of it. He could have had his legacy. Why all of the dramatic speeches he could have made! Monica would have become a minor footnote to be quickly written out of the history books…

17. #17
    On July 21st, 2004 at 7:56 pm, Irishman said:

    Rob,
    Your post was a joke, right?
    Try shift and spell checker. Please tell me this is a joke. Also check your headings for the thread.
    My bad, you’re just messin’with us anyway, so accept my apologies.

18. #18
    On July 21st, 2004 at 9:34 pm, Jim said:

    She did great! Is it wise to put her name and picture on the internet?

19. #19
    On July 21st, 2004 at 11:51 pm, ms heather said:

    I wondered the same thing, Jim.

20. #20
    On July 22nd, 2004 at 12:05 am, mb said:

    irony, isn’t it? all this stuff about how it’s so wrong to photograph places like major tourist attactions, and now a photo of a border guard at a customs post!

21. #21
    On July 22nd, 2004 at 5:24 am, Martin aka Blogbat said:

    Irishman, Rob must have been joking, he seems far too literate to truly have such sentiments

22. #22
    On July 22nd, 2004 at 9:37 am, William Meisheid said:

    My take is that the significance is not in the drafts of the report itself. I am convinced it was because of the handwritten comments on the drafts, which sometimes reveal more about various peoples thinking than the drafts themselves. There had to be something pretty significant in those coments, something worth stealing the papers for.