Posts Tagged ‘terrorism’
Terrorism Threat Remains Real
McConnell
There are those who argue that the United States will be less secure if Barack Obama is elected president of the United States because our enemies will view him as weak and vulnerable and exploit that.
Others argue that the possibility of renewed terrorist attacks on U.S. soil is minimized with an Obama presidency because he understands diplomacy and will take steps to lower the anger level against the United States around the world. They say that John McCain is more likely to provoke a terrorist attack.
Then there are those who believe that, despite his other failings and his low approval ratings, one thing Pres. Bush has done for us is keep the fight “over there.” There have been no additional terrorist attacks (though some plots have been thwarted) they argue since September 11, 2001. Whoever is the next president, they say, needs to continue that policy of taking the fight to the terrorists.
But the nation’s intel chief says, it doesn’t really matter who the next president of the United States is. He is going to be tested by terrorists. Tested, very likely, on home soil.
In a Nashville speech, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell projects the next president, whether he be Barack Obama or John McCain, faces a volatile future. Sounding a bit like Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, McConnell, noted that the attacks on New York and Washington D.C. came early in the George W. Bush administration. He predicts whoever is elected on Tuesday will face an early surprise. During what he calls a “period of most vulnerability.”
Wall Street Not The Only Crisis Spot
Gen. McKiernan
While the nation is concentrated on the proposed bailout of Wall Street its attention is diverted from another crisis that has been brewing for some time. This one, on the battlegrounds of Afghanistan.
There has been a renewed insurgency in Afghanistan. The safe haven the Taliban and al Qaeda has found in northern Pakistan has proven problematic as well.
Many of us feel that the war in Iraq diverted the military’s attention from the real enemy, concentrated in Afghanistan. Now the top U.S. military commander there is, in essence, echoing those concerns.
Gen. David McKiernan is making an urgent public plea for more troops and resources in Afghanistan. His comments came during a briefing with Pentagon reporters.
How sad it is that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, responsible for the prosecution of the war against the true terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, responsible for the safety and well being of U.S. and, by extension, NATO troops in country, has to resort to a public plea for help.
His commander-in-chief, President Bush, has, obviously, been asleep at the switch here. It’s increasingly clear that Bush has no vision of his own. That there are others in the administration, most likely led by the elusive Vice-President Dick Cheney, who are telling him what to do and what to say.
Apparently, Cheney and his cronies are far more concerned with Iraq than they are with the true battle ground – Afghanistan.
No Movement On 9/11 Health Bill
Congress is doing a fine job quickly getting a bill through the process to bailout the ailing financial system in the United States. It’s too bad it can’t put a little bit of that effort toward helping those who were sickened as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
After all, it’s “only” been seven years since the terrorists hit New York, Shanksville and Washington.
Today, four members of Congress from New York, two Republicans and two Democrats, are expressing “regret” that HR 7174, the revised bipartisan 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, will not be able to move to passage in these, the waning days of the current House session.
Democrats Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, and Republicans Vito Fossella and Peter King, have issued a joint statement pledging to renew their efforts to get legislation passed during the next session.
The $11 billion bill would assure treatment of firefighters, medics, police officers, construction workers, clean-up crews, residents, people who work near Ground Zero and school children who are now sick as a result of exposure to toxins from the World Trade Center site. Although most live in the New York/New Jersey area, some 10,000 people from all 50 states responded to Ground Zero to assist in the search and rescue, recovery and clean up of the site. Many are sick. Others are concerned they will still fall ill.
In addition, more than 400,000 people are believed to have been exposed to toxins from the World Trade Center site. The Congress members say nearly 16,000 responders and at least 2,700 residents or people working in lower Manhattan are sick and receiving treatment. More than 40,000 responders are currently in medical monitoring; 71,000 more are enrolled in the WTC Health Registry.
The bill would have assured compensation for those who suffered economic losses as a result of their WTC-related illnesses.
Can We Protect Our Borders And Our Rights At The Same Time?
Sometimes I feel like I’m speaking a different language than some of my fellow Americans.
Today was one such day.
The discussion on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com was about a government policy, kept hidden until it was revealed through a Freedom Of Information Act request, authorizing Customs agents to peruse the personal and business documents of any person entering the United States. And to make copies as well. In the name, of course, of national security.
Even my own online producer and show screener, Boaz Frankel, didn’t seem to get it when I suggested this is an invasive policy. One that takes away rights under the guise of protecting us from those who would, if they could, well, take away our rights.
The fear mongering over terrorism is becoming a bit frightening in and of itself.
Not that we shouldn’t be vigilant. Of course we should. Not that the threat isn’t real. Of course it is. But let’s just not willingly and voluntarily give up our rights in the name of protecting them.
One caller, Malik from Indianapolis, an attorney, points out that all persons in the United States are afforded Constitutional rights. That includes foreign nationals suspected of being terrorists.
No Border Crossing Privacy
Privacy concerns
Now, in addition to being able to scan your laptops when you enter the United States, Customs agents are being permitted to read and even copy your personal documents.
Details of the relaxed regulations are contained in documents procured in a Freedom Of Information Act request filed by the Asian Law Caucus and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The rules, according to the obtained documents, were actually relaxed last summer without public debate.
“For more than 20 years, the government implicitly recognized that reading and copying the letters, diaries, and personal papers of travelers without reason would chill Americans’ rights to free speech and free expression,” Shirin Sinnar, ALC staff attorney, said in a press release. “But now customs officials can probe into the thoughts and lives of ordinary travelers without any suspicion at all.”
In February, ALC and EFF sued the Department of Homeland Security for failing to disclose its policies on searching and questioning travelers at U.S. borders. ALC, a San Francisco-based civil rights organization, received more than two dozen complaints since last year from U.S. travelers, mostly of Muslim, South Asian, or Middle Eastern origin, who said they were grilled about their families, religious practices, volunteer activities, political beliefs, or associations when returning to the United States from travels abroad.
The travelers said that CBP agents examined their books, handwritten notes, personal photos, laptop computer files, and cell phone directories, and sometimes made copies of this information.
While it is, of course, important, for Homeland Security to fight terrorism in the United States, the personal and business documents of U.S. citizens ought not become the domain of law enforcement without sufficient reason. And there should be public checks and balances to ensure that abuses don’t take place.
The fact that Homeland Security relaxed these rules under the radar, with no announcement nor opportunity for public comment or congressional review makes the decision suspicious.
Pakistani Troops Fire On U.S. Helicopters
For the second time in a week, Pakistani troops have fired on U.S. military helicopters that have flown into that nation’s airspace, forcing the choppers to make hasty retreats to Afghanistan.
Relationships have been strained between the United States and Pakistan over U.S. military incursions into the country in pursuit of al Qaeda and Taliban operatives without the permission of the government.
The Pakistani government is particularly upset over “collateral” deaths of civilians particularly during bombing raids.
The United States has promised to seek permission of the government before violating Pakistan’s borders. But if this claim by the Pakistani government is correct, that promise is, obviously hallow.
Media reports have indicated that the U.S. is concerned that any military action planned will be telegraphed to the terrorists by intelligence or military elements of Pakistan who are sympathetic to their cause.
Pakistan Explosion Kills 40
An explosion outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad has killed some 40 people. The blast was felt several miles away.
Authorities say a massive truck bomb bomb was to blame.
This is not the first time that the Marriott has been attacked. But this time, the six-story building was destroyed.
Witnesses say the fire was at first confined to a room or two but that it quickly spread consuming the entire structure.
The Marriott is an American based company. It is suspected that it was targeted as an American interest.
The attack comes just days after the Pakistani government complained about U.S. military incursions into the north of the nation in search of Taliban and al Qaeda operatives. Those missions had been conducted without the prior approval of the Pakistani government.
The United States has since agreed to seek Islamabad’s permission before sending troops into Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan.
Changing UK Demographics
Munshi
I was listening to the conversation in a Muslim room on Paltalk last night and heard a guy in the UK predict that Sharia law was on the way. He advised non-Muslims in Britain that, pretty soon, they’ll either have to convert to his religion or pay Muslims for the privilege of living in “their” country.
While this may be a bit overly optimistic from a pan-Islamist’s point of view, he was correct that the demographics of the UK are changing. And that there is a growing Muslim influence. Unfortunately, in some cases, there’s also an increase in Islamic militancy.
We’ve already seen homegrown terrorist attacks in Britain. And reports of open defiance of the police by young, militant, Muslims. Something that our Paltalk friend also, proudly, commented on.
“The police are afraid to make arrests in some neighborhoods now,” he boasted.
This undoubtedly is distressing to people whose British ancestry stretches back centuries and who have strong nationalistic feelings. Perhaps this is part of the problem. Here, in the United States, Muslims seem to assimilate more naturally than in the UK. We, of course, have a tradition of pluralism and acceptance, though sometimes reluctantly, of new waves of immigrants. As we like to say, we are, mostly, a nation of immigrants.
Iran A Continuing Threat To The World
Mazahery
Three experts on Iran briefed reporters today at a conference sponsored by The Israel Project. Called as a precursor to Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit next week to the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly.
All three expressed concerns about Iran’s human rights violations, its exportation of terror and its development of nuclear weapons.
Michael Ledeen, a former White House national security adviser, says Iran has been, for years, engaged in proxy wars against the United States and Israel. And is directly involved in destabilizing neighboring Iraq.
He advocates supporting the Iranian people in the overthrow of their government. He notes that 70-80 percent of Iranians strongly disfavor their government.
Lily Mazahery, founder and president of the Legal Rights Institute represents some of the most high profile political dissidents, human rights activists and victims of human rights violations around the world. Something, she say, at which Iran excels.
Former Pakistani Ambassador To UN To Talk About US Military Raids Into His Country On News Talk Online On Paltalk
Akram
The United States military has been going after al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in northern Pakistan without the prior approval of the Pakistani government, straining relationships between the two allies.
Joining us on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com to discuss this new policy and its affect on U.S. Pakistani relations tomorrow will be former Pakistani UN Ambassador Munir Akram, who warns that dangerous consequences could be result.
Akram says because it must, of course, defend its nation’s sovereignty, the U.S. military could be pushing the Pakistani army into an alliance with the Afghan Taliban.
“The dangers associated with this move by the U.S. Army are both real and immanent,” Akram says.
“The unilateral incursions by the U.S. into Pakistan seem to have broken the consensus within the Pakistan military to support the U.S. anti terror campaign. Unless reversed, it could lead to an openly hostile relationship between Pakistani and U.S. forces along the border and even result in overt hostilities between them.”
To talk to Akram at 5 PM tomorrow September 18, CLICK HERE. There is no charge.
