[tw]

Originally Posted by wolf

I have several times asked the question why we (the US) have not become subject to a suicide-boming-a-day like in Israel, or faced multiple other terrorist incidents out of the Al-Quaeda playbook?

Like it or not, my personal belief is that the answer is Bush.

That conclusion flies contrary to basic facts. Yes it will be detailed because when I say that is SO incorrect as to be a lie, then the reasons come with details. Details one better damn well know before saying this president makes America safer. George Jr made America so unsafe from terrorist attacks that some could even conclude it was done so intentionally. Reality says otherwise. But first we examine how real anti-terrorism works.

Under Clinton, when a terrrorist act was suspected, then the entire government went on the alert and therefore stopped terrorist actions. Back then, the Counterterrorism Security Group was considered so important as to have 'principals' access.

from Richard Clarke's book Against All Enemies
When Black called that day in 1999, we quickly convened a CSG meeting and sent out warnings to US embassies, military bases, and the 18,000 police agencies in the United States. The message: Be advised, al Qaeda terrorists may be planning attacks around the time of the Millennium. Be on heightened alert for suspicious activity. And then we waited.

That message went overseas, but also to all federal law enforcement agents, as well as many county sheriffs, state troopers, highway patrol officers, and city cops. The break came in an unlikely location. A pleasant boat ride from British Columbia to Washington State ended with a routine screening by US Customs officers. One passenger in line fidgeted, would not make eye contact. When the Customs officer, Diana Dean, went to pull him out of line, he bolted and ran off the boat, leaving his car on the ferry. Dean gave chase and called for backup. A few minutes later, Ahmed Ressam was in custody. His car held explosives, and a map of Los Angles International Airport.

If that were not enough to send us spinning, CIA had learned further details about the al Qaeda plot in Jordan. The head of the cell who had helped assemble the bombs, had recently quite his job - as a cab driver in Boston.

The Jordanian Crown Prince, visiting the bomb factory hidden in an upper middle class home, had been amazed at the size of the haul. "They weren't planning terrorism, they were planning a revolution." The King immediately declared a state of emergency and flooded the streets with soldiers and armored vehicles. More than the usual suspects were swept up and interrogated. The investigation led to an al Qaeda operative in Pakistan, and to another American who had lived not far from Los Angles International Airport.

In fifteen months, since the embassy bombings, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger had held dozens of Principles meetings on al Qaeda. He knew their names, their modus operandi, and he feared they would strike again before we could cripple their organization. ...

Following the first of these [resulting] Principals meetings, we prepared, at Berger's request, a Pol-Mil Plan for the Millennium Alert, alerting units, increasing security, rounding up suspects around the world. ...

This time, however, FBI did respond well. It did one of the things it is very good at: it threw bodies at the problem. Thousands of agents fanned out, pulling at strings. The strings from Ressam, then man on the ferry, led to a sleeper cell of Algerian mujahedeen in Montreal. ... The leads the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provided went to what look like cells in Boston and New York. By the time I called John O'Neill to ask what he was doing, he was on the back street in Brooklyn where his agents had just arrested an al Qaeda operative connected to Ressam.

The Justice Department normally reviewed FBI requests for national security wiretaps with a skeptical eye. Justice correctly wanted to insure there were no abusues, lest Congress restrict their ability .... In the weeks before the Millennium, however, Fran Townsend and her staff at Justice brought dozens of FISA requests to the special intelligence court judges. More happened in a week than normally took place in a year. ...

In Yemen, a US Navy destroyer was planning a port call in Aden harbor ... USS The Sullivans. As we later learned, al Qaeda had it in the crosshairs. A small boat was loaded with high explosives in order to be driven right into the destroyer. Al Qaeda planned that attack to be simultaneous with others: Los Angles Airport exploding in blood and glass, the Amman Radisson collapsing in flames and dust, Christian tourists gunned down in Mount Nebo. ... As they pushed the boat down the landing and into the water, however, it moved off a little into the harbor and sank. The explosive weighed too much.

How many terrorist attacks must one prevent before they are said to do their job. Numerous Millennium terrorist attacks averted because top administration people took the threat so serious as to empower the little people. So serious as to make the CSG a principles office directly part of the National Security Council. It worked only because top administration officials took terrorism seriously. Viewed anti-terrorism as an operational organization - not a 'foreign policy' or ideological organization.

IOW what is more important - a political agenda or getting hand dirty empowering the workers? There is a fundamental difference between Clinton and George Jr. The former recognized danger. He empowered the people when danger was detected. He therefore stifled numerous terrorist attacks planned for the Millennium by empowering the workers. Terrorism became more difficult under Clinton who even eliminated embassies that could not be protected. Terrorist attacks against at least two American embassies (Albania and Uganda) were averted which included arrests in Azerbaijan, Italy, and Britain. Also discovered was the al Qaeda forgery operation in Albania. This is what happens when a problem is taken seriously by top management - especially the president.