Democrats in Denial, Republicans Deal With Reality
Based on the following press releases, it’s obvious that Democrats are in denial about the role the CIA played in preventing the terrorists’ latest flight of destruction.
Here’s Jean Francois Kerry’s statement:
“We are all incredibly grateful and fortunate that British authorities were able to prevent these attacks before more innocent people could be killed by these ruthless murderers. This is a stark reminder that the war on terrorism is global, and extends far beyond Iraq to our very shores.
Terrorism is the biggest threat to Americans’ security, and this event exposes the misleading myth that we are fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here. In fact, the war in Iraq has become a dangerous distraction, and a profound drain on our financial and military resources.
“Nearly five years after the attacks of 9/11, we are not as safe as we can and must be. Osama bin Laden is still on the loose. The 9/11 Commission’s recommendations to secure our most vulnerable infrastructure remain virtually ignored. And, homeland security funding has been cut for cities like Boston and New York.
Jean Francois, we’re foiling plots. As a U.S. citizen, that’s my only benchmark. You talk about 9/11 Commission’s recommendations, some of which make sense, some that don’t. You rail that bin Laden hasn’t been caught. How would capturing bin Laden and al-Zawahiri have prevented this terrorist attack?
And what’s with this “we’re thankful that British authorities were able to prevent these attacks before more innocent people could be killed by these ruthless murderers”? Don’t you want to acknowledge the FBI’s and CIA’s role in all this? They were part of this too. So was Pakistani intelligence.
Here’s Howard Dean’s statement:
“Today’s events are a troubling reminder that we are living in dangerous and trying times. These are times that call for real leadership. Not posturing, or name calling. As Americans we must be unwavering in our commitment to fighting and winning the war on terror. We need a new direction in our national defense policies that’s tough and smart. That means tracking down terrorists and providing our troops and agencies with the tools they need to stop future attacks, implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations to close the gaps in our security, securing our ports and borders, chemical and nuclear power plants and properly equipping our first responders and our national guard.”
This would be too funny if it weren’t so important. Dean says that “We need a new direction in our national defense policies that’s tough and smart. That means tracking down terrorists…” Mr. Dean, Why do you diminish the CIA’s and FBI’s roles in this bust?
- I don’t recall you chastising Harry Reid when he bragged about killing the Patriot Act.
- I don’t recall you coming out as being for the TSP.
Those were tools that our government are using to prevent attacks. In fact, the word is that a key part of putting this puzzle together was the TSP detecting part of the plot.
Are you that anxious to score cheap political points? Are you that willing to ignore their great efforts so that you might win one more election? Shame on you for that.
Here’s Harry Reid’s statement:
“I commend British authorities for defusing this terror plot and apprehending the suspects. Their actions protected the lives of innocent civilians, including many American citizens. Today’s events are an important reminder that we need to renew our focus on the war on terror and to continue to work with our allies to protect Americans from terrorism.”
Notice the pattern? I don’t have a problem applauding the Brit’s part in this but I’ve got a serious problem with Democrats not thanking the CIA, FBI and the Pakistani intelligence that were part of this operation.
The Iraq war has diverted our focus and more than $300 billion in resources from the war on terrorism and has created a rallying cry for international terrorists.
This statement is so stupid that I’d normally ignore it. It’s too serious an issue though, to ignore it. Mr. Reid, If our focus was so diverted, how did we spoil their plot? The obvious answer is that we’re able to do both simultaneously. Then again, that probably isn’t nuanced enough for a liberal to understand.
To their credit, RNC Chairman Mehlman and Speaker Hastert didn’t let those statements stand. Here’s Mehlman’s statement:
The following release was issued today by the Republican National Committee:
Earlier today, Senator Harry Reid and Senator John Kerry attacked the administration’s efforts in the War on Terror. Below is a response from RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman.
“On a day when American authorities are working with our allies to stop a global terror plot, instead of focusing on political attacks, we should focus on the fact that we are at war and need every tool to win the War on Terror. If Harry Reid had his way and killed the Patriot Act and ended the Terrorist Surveillance Program, authorities would be less able to uncover terror plots.
If John Kerry had his way and we surrendered Iraq to the terrorists, Islamic jihadists would be strengthened and even more dangerous in the future. The main lesson of today is America needs to continue working with our allies and stay on the offense in the Global War on Terror.”
Here’s a portion of Hastert’s statement:
“Every day is not an election day, but it seems for the Democrats it is. Today our British allies and U.S. intelligence services were able to identify, intercept, and impede a terrorist plot because we have given them the tools to fight this intelligence-driven Global War on Terror. Instead of humble gratitude, the Democratic Leadership suggested that increasing democracy in the Middle East is distracting us from homeland defense.
“This misses the point: the war on terror is a global war. The terrorists arrested today were aiming for our cities and innocent civilians, and we only know that because we had visibility into their planning and plotting. With the PATRIOT Act, FISA courts, and other intelligence programs, we can learn what the terrorists know and where they go, and then we have a chance to disrupt them. But it is those same tools that saved the day today that the Democratic Leadership have repeatedly tried to vote down, thereby weakening America’s intelligence efforts and lowering our guard against terrorism.
“America cannot stop terrorists with blinders on. America cannot stop terrorists by simply hoping they won’t take transatlantic flights to bring terror, once again, to our cities. We stop terrorists by watching them, following them, listening in on their plans, and then arresting them before they can strike.
Democrats want us to ignore the fact that we spoiled another terrorist plot. They want us to ignore Reid’s bragging that he’d “killed the Patriot Act. They want us to ignore the fact that they’re opposed to the TSP because they want to impose the highest burden on law enforcement possible. They’ve demanded that we have probable cause before getting a warrant instead of using the British standard of reasonable suspicion.
Technorati Tags: Harry Reid, Howard Dean, John Kerry, Dennis Hastert, Ken Mehlman, Terrorism
Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog
August 11th, 2006 at 1:00 am
[...] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: Intel, Terrorism, President Bush, DNC, Harry Reid | [...]
August 11th, 2006 at 5:51 am
War on Terror/2
Su Hot Air, gli ultimi dettagli che stanno emergendo sul piano terroristico sventato dai servizi segreti britannici. Mentre la sinistra americana (e i francesi) non sono terrorizzati dalla Jihad, ma dal fatto che Bush (e i repubblicani) potrebbero cr…
August 11th, 2006 at 7:10 am
Your “logic” and “proof” is disturbing. How difficult is it to understand that spending hundreds of billions of dollars fighting an unnecessary war in Iraq is draining money away from efforts LIKE the one used to catch these terrorists. Yes, in this case, we were able to simultaneously fight the war AND catch the terrorists. But the argument Kerry, Dean and the others are making is that the war in Iraq had NOTHING to do with catching these terrorists. And in the future, it the war MAY impeded our efforts to do so.
And by the way, NO ONE wants to get rid of the TSP. No one. This is absolute garbage, trotted out to give people a false choice. The ONLY thing critics of the TSP are asking for is that Bush actually FOLLOW THE LAW when implementing the program. That people like you and Mehlman continue to try and disseminate nonsense like this is shameful.
August 11th, 2006 at 7:21 am
The days of this type of logic working are over. Change is in the wind. Bush and company have had their chance and the American public is restless and unhappy with the results. Yelp all you want, those poll numbers are staying in the low 30’s.
August 11th, 2006 at 8:12 am
BT is right, your use of multiple strawmen here is shameful. I find it incredibly intellectually dishonest for you to completely ignore the issues at hand while completely misrepresnting what the left is actually arguaing here.
August 11th, 2006 at 8:33 am
“…we’re foiling plots. As a U.S. citizen, that’s my only benchmark.”
Typical simplistic simple-minded Shrub-type thinking. We can protect ourselves whithout letting that little piece of filth wipe his a$$ with our Constitution. Remember, the one he lied about swearing to uphold?
August 11th, 2006 at 9:05 am
WE’RE foiling plots? Uh, no. We caught some guys saying, “wouldn’t it be cool if…”
The BRITISH caught some actual plotters.
August 11th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Historical amnesia much?
August 11th, 2006 at 10:11 am
You might try being honest about what the Democrats are saying about our spying programs.
Unless, of course, its more important to you to confuse your readership than it is to be honest.
August 11th, 2006 at 10:17 am
Finally the FISA courts were used. Was it really so hard to get a warrant and make the spying legal?
“It’s so scawi out there”
-Average Chicken Hawk
Bush boy down to 33%!!! Thank God the republicowards want to make the congressional elections a national referendum! Keep it up! We like it.
Care for a second-hand Connecticut Democrat? We’ll let him go cheap. You’ll need someone with ‘credibility’ for the next GOP convention.
August 11th, 2006 at 10:19 am
BT is right, your use of multiple strawmen here is shameful. I find it incredibly intellectually dishonest for you to completely ignore the issues at hand while completely misrepresnting what the left is actually arguaing here.
Comment by Aghast — August 11, 2006 @ 8:12 am
A real debate is a loser for them. They can’t and won’t be honest. Honesty will put them back in the minority for another 40 years.
August 11th, 2006 at 10:53 am
Q: How many Republicans does it take to avoid joining a war that they at the same time advocate?
A: All of them
August 11th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
“Bush boy down to 33%!!! ” Wow Guber Dufus? ;)
That is a larger percentage than supported the American Revolution. Must look on the bright side their fraud.
August 11th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
Gars Luber, can you make sense of what you say – I can’t. Most in the army are repubs. Can someone translate this garbage? The more pertinent question remains ‘ how may grades of kindergarten have you accomplished?’ Seems to me you are still in year one.
August 11th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Gars Luber, can you make sense of what you say – I can’t. Most in the army are repubs. Can someone translate this garbage? The more pertinent question remains ‘ how may grades of kindergarten have you accomplished?’ Seems to me you are still in year one.
August 11th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
So you don’t capture Bin Laden because that won’t stop future attacks? You squash Sadam Hussien because it will stop future attacks?
You idiots need to get your story straight.
August 11th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
Nice to see this sort of lying distortion get called out.
Repugs insist so much that they are the only people able to fight terror simply because of power. Allowing that the left would fight it as well removes their power - they could care less about American lives in danger, as long as the power is theirs.
Your type are beyond reproach and belong in Hell.
August 11th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
The commenters seem to have it. The thing I noticed is CC attacked 3 Democrats for not giving the US intelligence agencies credit, but then only one of the two Repugs he quites even mentiones “US Intelligence Agencies,” yet he doesn’t cream Mehlman for his oversight. What the two Repug commenters did have in common is they, unlike the 3 Dems, tried score “cheep political points” (exactly what CC accuses Kerry and Dean of doing) by attacking Dems with straw men and outright falsehoods.
We will repeat this over and over until you get it into your 3 brain cells: Dems don’t oppose wiretapping or catching terrorists. They oppose incompetence and lawbreaking.
August 11th, 2006 at 3:47 pm
[...] Democrats Assail GOP Fundraising Effort…and that’s news?
August 14th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
“We” are foiling plots? Has the U.S. annexed the U.K. or did I miss something?
The Brits foiled the plot, because the Brits used good old intelligence and law enforcement practices.
The Department of Homeland Stupidity and assorted incompetent Bush crackpots could not foil a plot if it were handed to them, maps and all.
“We” foiled the plot, indeed! I can hear the agents of MI5 laughing all the way across the Atlantic.
August 14th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
The British solved this, according to all the info we have, with legal warranted wiretaps and good old fashioned police work. It doesn’t look like ‘we’ had much to do with it all.
As for what capturing Bin Laden 5 freakin’ years ago would have done, how about: chopped off Al Qaeda at the head, hurt their morale, shown the world we were not to be messed with. Then, not invading an oil-rich nation that was no threat to us - Iraq, ahem - would have a) preserved our relations with our allies, b) preserved our prestige and good will among the world, c) shown the Arab world that Al Qaeda’s description of the US as hypocritical oil-hungry marauders was wrong.
Instead we invaded Iraq, so we’re now fighting a two-front war - and the Taliban has now resurged in Afghanistan as well. Oh, and Afghanistan’s heroin production has resumed again. Oh, thousands of soldiers dead, 15,000 wounded, tens of thousands of dead INNOCENT Iraqi civilians…hundreds of billions of dollars in debt for our children to pay rather than have invested in our future…yadda yadda yadda. I’m almost as tired of saying it as you probably are of hearing it.
I thought that conservatives and Republicans were supposed to be about accountability and personal responsibility.
Why are you continuing to support the Bush manchild’s failures? What is it going to take for you to face the real incompetence, rising to the level of criminal negligence, of his administration?
August 14th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Don’t hold your breath, Jim. These people will never admit to the failures of the Bush administration. That would mean admitting that they were wrong themselves. And worse, that they were fooled and used as pawns by the Bushies.
Fortunately, they are a 33% minority. The rest of Americans are able to behave and think like mature adults.
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:13 pm
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October 10th, 2006 at 7:41 am
Your post is on target. Keep it up.
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