The only thing Bush can say for himself is that, aside from the successful Anthrax attacks and the terrorists who perpetrated it who, like Osama bin Laden, run free, there haven’t been any “major” terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11.
It’s also a fact that the systematic round-up of hundreds and thousands of “suspected terrorists” have yielded not one successful prosecution that I know of. Yassir Hamdi, who was held for three years in solitary confinement, and considered “too dangerous” to even meet with a lawyer, was freed yesterday without charges.
The military interrogator who was supposedly a muslim spy of some sort, had his charges similarly dropped. Systematically, the Bush/Ashcroft Justice Department has been a failure at catching terrorists in this country, and has shit all over the constitution and “due process” in the bargain of achieving that failure.
But it’s not just on that count that they have failed, as the Republican US Congressman from Florida, John Murtha recently pointed out. Murtha, chairman of the House aviation sub-committee, described the screening situation in U.S. Airports as “absolutely horrendous”.
The head of Bush’s own watchdog group for the Department of Homeland Security, Clark Kent Ervin, called said that “it may take some horrific wake-up call to get attention” on the failures of the Bush Administration to properly screen travellers at U.S. airports for the type of explosives that recently took down two Russian airplanes.
“Some horrific wake-up call?” Pardon me, but didn’t we supposedly already get one of those horrific wake-up calls on 9/11? What the hell is still going on here, three years after 9/11?!
And what kind of “horrific wake-up call” are you Bush supporters going to need to figure out how you’ve been played for chumps?
The government watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security, Clark Kent Ervin, delivered the results of the tests in a classified report to members of Congress. “The performance was poor,” said Ervin, the department’s inspector general, in releasing a less detailed version Wednesday.
The tests were done during the second half of 2003. But they highlight ongoing vulnerabilities in the nation’s aviation security system, particularly in detecting explosives such as those that Russian authorities say were used to bring down two airliners last month.
Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of a House aviation subcommittee, confirmed that the longer, classified report showed weapons and explosives got by screeners. He said the results on weapons were “bad enough,” but the results on explosives were “absolutely horrendous.”
An earlier report in 2003 by the Government Accountability Office had found that undercover agents were able to slip guns, knives and box cutters past screeners.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the government installed explosive-detection machines in airports nationwide for checked baggage. But it has not installed equipment to check for explosives on all passengers and their carry-on bags. They are sent through metal detectors and only occasionally checked by explosive trace detection equipment.
“Unfortunately, it may take some horrific wake-up call to get attention,” Mica said.
…
The lack of explosive-detection technology at passenger checkpoints nationwide “absolutely drives me out of my mind,” Mica said. “It’s so frustrating.”
And Mica is a Republican! From Florida! In an Election Year!
How many more Americans need to die before you Republican Bush Worshippers realize how you are being played? The messages above are almost precisely like those that came out, and were subsequently ignored by the Bush Administration, in the weeks and month prior to 9/11!
Hello??? Is this thing on???
12 guys were stopped at the border yesterday.
What guys? Who are you talking about? What were they charged with? HUNDREDS (if not thousands) have been "stopped" and held for days, weeks, months and years without charge or access to an attorney.
How many of them have been convicted of ANYTHING related to Terrorism?
Please name a single "terrorist" that the Ashcroft/Bush Justice Department has successfully prosecuted for Terrorism in these United States in three years? Please name one.
Brad,
fatcs have nothing to dowith this; what matter is what Paul believes.
You don’t give Paul enough credit. He’s not a believer. Nobody could truly believe the nonsense he spews. He’s a kool-aid drinking automoton, willing to repeat whatever he’s told to repeat in the name of a cause that even he knows will bring him irreperable harm.
He doesn’t care. It’s the spite vote.
I don’t meant to stick up for Paul, who frankly, based on his comments I’ve read, is an undeniable idiot. But DOJ has successfully prosecuted a number of people in Portland, OR, namely Mike Hawash and "THe Portland Six":
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%...3944%2C00.html
PR,
Actually your statement is inaccurate. hawash was not prosecuted, he plead guilty, as did his compatriots. But their trial had nothing to do particularly with this issue. This issue concerns terror inside America. Their guilty pleas concerned taking up arms to defend the Taliban in Afghanistan. Precisely where the DOJ has gone to trial it has lost or been overturned (as in the reversal of the Detroit case). Now Hamdi has been released. Of the 5,000 or more detainees, NONE have been convicted of a crime.
johnhp,
I consider this a success for DOJ. If Hamash and the others didn’t want to go to trial, it would seem that DOJ had a strong case against them, based on its poor track record against every other person it has prosecuted.
The fact that they were planning to carry out their exploits in Afghanistan doesn’t change a thing–the charges, if true, still have them commiting terrorist acts against the US government, and much of their conspiracy planning took place in the US, apparently, which in and of itself probably brings it within purview of the US Code. In any event, I doubt these people would’ve gone on to Afghanistan and then quietly returned to live law-abiding lives in the US.
Hawash, an American citizen, was held for five-weeks without charges apparently, eventually plead guilty on the minor charge, was never tried, and the documents from the deal are sealed by the court. The DOJ dropped the major charges of Terrorism.
That’s the only thing we can point to as a successful prosecution of a terrorist in 3 years? 1 Intel employee pleads guilty for minor charges, receives minimum penalty. 3 years now since 9/11? Thousands detained? (More on all that soon, btw.)
For all the "Dirty Bomb plots" and "20th Hijackers" etc., that they claim to have stopped/caught and then were not able to get convictions? etc?
Once again, the enormous disconnect between the Reality/Actions and the P.R./Words of this administration.
In the meantime, just 1% of incoming containers get searched, explosives like those that downed the Russian jets are not screened for at all, first responders are still grossly underfunded, and BushCo is quietly attempting to cut up to 3.2 billion from next years Homeland Security budget.
Apparently it’s not a "War on Terra" — it’s nothing more than a "War of Words".
Good to have ya here, your majesty! Don’t be a stranger!
Prince,
1st change your name. i cant get Prince songs out of my head during the response.
This was not about attacking the government. You attempted to change the subject. The issue conserned "homeland security" the safety of the American people and plots carried out HERE. You said you were defending Paul’s point, his point concerned attacks in America.
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