|
|
President George W Bush made the news: Terrorists were plotting to hit downtown Los Angeles, but he saved the day. He earns the teacher's golden star for a job well done.
The mayor of Los Angeles however had a different point of view. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa requested twice to meet with President Bush in 2005 to discuss terrorist threats, and he was twice refused. Mayor Villaraigosa appeared 'upset' learning of the news secondhand from the press rather than official government channels.
Had President Bush made that headline in 2002 (when he alleges the plot was foiled) his information would have been timely and forthright. Had he explained the statement in detail upon first mention (while running for re-election in 2004,) the comment would have come from left field -- if only due to two years passage of time.
Waiting four years to provide the news...is suspect, unless President Bush's headline was meant to distract the media away from something even more, say interesting:
All three headlines hit the day after the foiled terrorist plot news.
Why didn't President Bush use his State of the Union address two weeks earlier to remind the voting public how aggressive the White House is on handling terrorist threats?
When President Bush ran for re-election, he claimed his administration had foiled 10 terrorist plots after 11 September 2001. Details of one such plot would be forthcoming...16 months later.
President Bush said one operative was involved, his press secretary said four men were involved.
"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." Presumably one of the nations is Thailand, however the White House would not confirm.
Taking into account the extensive involvement of the 9/11 Commission hearings in 2004, how did the foiled terrorist plot miss their roving eyes? It may not have. The commission did say Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, had originally planned a broader assault on 11 September 2001, which would have included Los Angeles and Chicago had planes not all been grounded in late morning hours Eastern Time. Additionally, the commission concluded that Riduan Isamuddin planned a new attack with the target of Los Angeles. This information came to life in 2004.
President Bush said that one month had passed after 11 September 2001, and terrorists were planning to hijack another airplane by using shoe bombs to breach the cockpit door. No matter that cockpit doors were not yet retrofitted...airline rules were changed tout de suite after 11 September to prohibit passengers from approaching the cockpit door. Airlines spent months retrofitting cockpit doors from 2002 through 2003. Airplane security measures were focused on the ground.
"Their plot was derailed in early 2002, when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al Qaeda operative," he said. "Subsequent debriefings and other intelligence operations made clear the intended target and how al Qaeda hoped to execute it."
Why didn't the president go all the way and avoid speculation on what he said is true? Name the countries involved, name the detainees, case closed, you are a bright and believable leader Mr. President sir.
"This critical intelligence helped other allies capture the ringleaders and other known operatives who had been recruited for this plot," President Bush said.
Who? And how many? No response.
Frances Townsend, one of President Bush's spokespersons for national security, explained that Los Angeles was on the 11 September 'to-do' list. Al Qaeda however was unable to convince the four operatives to board airplanes that day.
"We use all available sources and methods in the intelligence community, but we have to protect them, and so I'm not going to talk about what we did or did not use in this particular case," Townsend said.
The four, unidentified men, she contends were caught in Afghanistan, but did not say when.
President Bush switched gears to discuss strategy and nationalist ties. "Our aggressive strategy of bringing the war to the terrorists" built international support, and the president used Pakistan as "a shining example."
"A little over four years ago, Pakistan was only one of three countries in the world that recognized the Taliban regime in Afghanistan," President Bush said. "Today, Pakistan forces are risking their lives in the hunt for Al Qaeda."
The Taliban, and al Qaeda are complete and opposite sects. Does Pakistan still embrace the Taliban? Maybe the answer lies in the next round of headlines.
President Bush's own staff does not agree that the next terrorist hit on the United States would be from an airplane bomb. Military, Central Intelligence Agency operatives, and Homeland Security are preparing for bio-terrorism, and perhaps nuclear terrorism on the ground.
Nonetheless, it is the government's duty and responsibility to protect its people from terrorism...it is their job. No one gets stars for doing their daily job, few earn stars for doing a job well.
Who among you earn a star (or a bonus) for simply doing their job each day, without having established a track record of wins, lack the trust of your teammates, and turn a profit into record annual losses five years and counting? If you fit that description -- consider running for the White House in 2008.
Reader's comments were edited for brevity.
Derek Klien
Chris Miller
S. Alexander
Selma Wainwright
Donald T.
Dan
P.J. Sims
---Reader's Comments---
[Editor's note: Think & Ask normally does not add reader comments to 'opinion' stories; however, we made an exception since the response to this article set a new record. (Of 305 e-mails in the first 48 hours: 10 were neutral, 3 were in support, 292 did not support the premise.)]
Wisconsin
"...Its simple: Bush is trying to prove to us that his spying measures are working. He wasn't spying on us when this LALA land plot came out though."
Tennessee
"If there was ever a good case for censorship your news magazine is a perfect candidate. All lies."
Oklahoma City
"...Terrorism begins in the media and I feel sorry for our president because you all keep attacking him. If it wasn't for this great man in the oval office we might all be killed by these American haters..."
Melbourne, Australia
"Australia is probably one of the countries on the list, but GW Bush doesn't know where our country is located."
Texas
"Why do media people dislike President Bush so much? I'll tell you why because he's right and you are wrong and can't accept that he is indeed our hero. He's the best president we've ever had and deserves five gold stars."
New York
"...You probably never made it past the headlines 'Libby Says Leaks Authorized, Papers Show.' To you and all your 'Blame-Bush-First' moon bat friends, this was red meat - the leak Libby is most associated with was leaking Plame's name - so that must be what this story was about, why bother reading the article? You sandwich that claim in between the possibilities that he's telling us to distract from a deficit or Michael Brown's wild claims. That's sleep-inducing stuff. The real story was the middle one.
Too bad you were wrong. Sadly you're just indicative of the media in general these days, and it's pathetic."
Mesquite, Texas
"...Someone should be thinking and asking why Muslim lovers like you exist. I bet you'd miss your liberty if our hero shipped you to muslimland to live, which is too good for you."
---This content is copyrighted by Think & Ask, reproduction of any kind is not permitted without written consent.---