The American Spectator : Stopping the Next Shazad

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Stopping the Next Shazad

By Jed Babbin on 5.10.10 @ 6:09AM

Why do we need a smoking SUV to tell us that a terrorist attack is under way?

Though Attorney General Eric Holder said he "was never in any fear that we were in danger of losing him" Faisal Shazad -- the would-be Times Square bomber -- slipped his tail and boarded an Emirates Air flight bound for the United Arab Emirates despite the fact that he was on the "no-fly list."

Shazad was taken off the aircraft late Monday after it had been pushed back from the gate and was about to leave.

It wasn't just good police work that led to his identification and arrest. It was, from what we can glean from open sources, good intelligence work that traced his disposable cell phone calls, identified him as the purchaser of the Nissan Pathfinder used in the attempted bombing, and enabled federal agents to put him under surveillance and on the much-touted "no-fly list" on the day of his arrest.

But the "no-fly list" is checked only daily by the airlines. When Shazad made his flight reservation by cell phone on the way to the airport, Emirates Air apparently was unaware that the "no-fly list" had been updated, and had no obligation to check it against the passenger list for that flight.

How -- in an age when every animal that can walk upright and has opposable thumbs uses them to "tweet" on "Twitter" and blog on "Facebook" and whateverthehellelse from their cell phones and BlackBerries -- could there not instantly be an e-mailed urgent notice to all airlines about Shazad?

Perhaps, amidst their self-congratulatory celebrations, Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano and AG Holder could figure that out.

There are Federal Air Marshals in every major airport, especially those such as JFK from whence Shazad nearly escaped. I know a bit about the FAMs: they are well-trained not only to shoot but to share and act on intel information among themselves and with other law enforcement agencies. They could easily have been put on alert for Shazad by Blackberry e-mail and prevented his getting on the plane. Why, when he was added to the no-fly list, wasn't a FAM alert sent? And why, when the Feds tailing him lost their man, wasn't a "bolo" -- be on the lookout -- alert blasted to them for immediate action?

All of that can be fixed so easily that even a caveman -- or Janet Napolitano -- could do it. But the second level of concern arising from the Shazad case is a much more difficult. It would require a willingness to act against terrorism uncharacteristic of the Obama team.

Our attention has -- yet again -- been diverted to the question of what to do with Shazad and his ilk when we catch them in the act, or after. Much more important is the issue of interdicting these attackers before they can do harm.

Shazad was a classic sleeper terrorist. A native Pakistani naturalized by marriage to a U.S. citizen, he visited his homeland last summer and we now know met with at least one of the terrorist varsity -- a Jaish-e-Muhammed commander -- and an unidentified "foreign diplomat" going by the name of Williams.

Shazad has apparently told his interrogators that he received bomb-making training (thankfully, not enough to make him competent) in a Taliban camp in the Waziristan region of Pakistan. He returned to the U.S. on or about February 3, having spent months in Pakistan.

There is no evidence that his itinerary triggered any investigation or that he was questioned at all on his return.

Shazad has two things in common with Adam Gadahn, the California-born al-Qaeda spokesman and imam to the terrorist stars Anwar al-Awlaki: all three are U.S. citizens and all three are Islamic terrorists. How do we deal with those such as him?

The Obama administration has placed al-Awlaki on the "kill or capture" list, entitling him to his very own Hellfire missile if he's spotted. Gadahn is the first American charged with treason since 9-11, and has evaded capture.

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About the Author

Jed Babbin served as a Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. He is the author of several bestselling books including Inside the Asylum and In the Words of Our Enemies.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (92) | Leave a comment

kylie.estwick| 5.10.10 @ 6:30AM

Well written article that raises a lot of valid points, but define "involved with terrorist group".
We already have far too many instances of innocents being detained for years w/o due process because their names are "similar" to those of terrorists. While others who post columns on this site decry the dangers of trusting the government to issue health care legislation, you would turn around and trust them to differentiate between who might have notions to BECOME terrorists and who wouldnt?
No, FAR FAR to much power to give the government.
Once again, we need to enforce and follow the laws already in place, not create more.
Lol, and this will be the first time Ive said this in commenting on any of the A.S. columns - we need LESS government in our lives, not more. Dont count on your white skin and non-middle eastern last name to keep you from being identified as "involved with a terrorist group."
All it will take is one potential Columbine type kid to decide to get bomb making training instead of police assisted suicide before the government starts rounding up high school kids and depriving them of their rights as citizens. Lets not go down that path.

Alan Brooks| 5.10.10 @ 7:50AM

Being in an American prison is probably better than living in Pakistan. So Weasel Shazad has done well for himself: 3 hots 'n' a cot; medical & dental care.

Doorgunner| 5.10.10 @ 3:59PM

I doubt that the majority of posters here are "...count[ing] on (y)our white skin and non-middle eastern last name to keep you [us] from being identified as "involved with a terrorist group" under the current administration.

Yep, that Tea Party, that's a radical bunch.

Eric Cartman| 5.10.10 @ 4:46PM

Aren't they? Did you see those gray-haired ladies with the teapot hats and the guys dressed up in 1776 era clothes? They were protesting the spending, taxing and growing of government? What radical, radical people! Probably friends with Bill Ayers or something! They deserve closer scrutiny.

Average infidel| 5.10.10 @ 7:20AM

Good article, also brings up some un-mentioned points to the conversation. 1) a supposed American treasonist citizen, who gained the system and recieved his citizenship by, hold on now for it, marring a gullible american woman. Proving the long held belief and truth of middle eastern jihadist easy route to gain a foothold into our country to reak kavoc upon us "stupid Americans". thier words not mine. This needs to be stopped and right now. I could almost take the words of holder as serious (if not for the fact he himself let a bunch of them convicted terrorist free during the last days of the klinton admin), that his boss seems to get his grubby muslim nose and hands onto anything that finances these types of percausionary laws and defunds them, hello maynard, this is the real life, not your utopian dreams at work here.
What to do you ask, it's real simple, never ever let a muslim, male or female, between the ages of 18-45 enter this country for any reason. Problem solved. Oh did that sound racist to you, too bad, I don't give a rat's behind.

Paul Kotik| 5.10.10 @ 7:21AM

Kylie Estwick says that "We already have far too many instances of innocents being detained for years w/o due process because their names are "similar" to those of terrorists. "

Can anybody thing of a single specific case in which an innocent was detained for years without due process because his name was similar to that of a terrorist"? Kylie? Can you identify even one case like that? Let alone " far too many" ?

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 9:29AM

Did you forget the Huigars? All of them have been released after having been in Gitmo for years. And, Bush and Obama released them. There were over a 1000 people held at Gitmo, and now we're down to 200 or so. All the rest have been released as having been innocent, but they were held for years. I couldn't possibly give you the names, let alone spell 'em, but you can go look 'em up yourself.

Dai Alanye| 5.10.10 @ 10:13AM

They weren't found innocent but presumed (however unwisely) to have been rehabilitated. Purpleperson has quite a stretch in front of him to find those elusive imprisoned innocents.

Eric Cartman| 5.10.10 @ 10:50AM

Purplehead thinks all of the terrorists in GITMO are innocent waifs and Bush was the terrorists. That's how screwed up he is. But that's what happens when your coworkers persistently make fun of you because of your teeny weeny. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a.....1tsa1.html

Poor guy - he's permanently deranged.

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 11:43PM

They were released for lack of evidence. In this country, that means innocent. (Innocent until proven guilty - remember that little tidbit?)

Alan Brooks| 5.11.10 @ 3:59AM

No,
not exactly innocent until proven guilty; you are going by a too-strict interpretation.
It's more like "considered innocent until proven guilty."

Not the same as being innocent.

JmsA| 5.10.10 @ 8:34PM

Do you mean, the Huighars, purpleturd? They were not released earlier because if twas feared the Chinese government would have abused them, if not executed them out of hand. Therefore, neither they nor the others released from Guantanamo-save for a very limited number, were found innocent, as you put it. They were released because trying them in our courts would have compromised intelligence sources, and thus the lack of sufficient evidence to meet the legal standard for criminal conviction in our civilian courts. Also, others were released to the custody of other countries for rehabilitation, only to return to terrorist activities.

If you want to see truly draconian and inhumane prison conditions all you have to do is jump over the fence in Guantanamo to the Cuban side, and visit El Boniato prison near Santiago de Cuba. There you'll see the tyrannical Cuban government doing to peaceful Cuban prisoners of conscience, what you and others like you have been falsely accusing Bush and others in the U.S. Government of doing to unrepentant Islamic terrorists. And if you don't believe it, then check this link from Amnesty International, hardly a right wing bastion: http://www.amnesty.org/en/libr.....004en.html

As always, have a nice day. 11/02/2010

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 11:48PM

Wow - what a tortured route to actually just saying they were released for lack of evidence = innocent, since they can't be proven guilty. Sounds like our justice system, doesn't it?

I never said anything falsely accusing Bush of anything regarding Gitmo or anything about Cuba and its dictatorship, so don't ascribe your prejudices to me.

JmsA| 5.11.10 @ 2:12AM

Purpleturd,
I guess you didn't get the part about there having been enough evidence because the government did not bring it forth, so as not to compromise its valuable intelligence sources, methodologies, and unnecessarily risk the lives of our assets. Geez, I thought you'd at least understand that, after all, you ceaselessly remind us of your military service.

As to the subject at hand, there was no absolution or exculpation of those illegal enemby combatant/terrorist thugs; they were just gotten rid of and dumped on someone else. And some, actually quite a few of them resumed terrorist activities. Oh, yeah, they were innocent alright. How about those still in Gitmo? Why hasn't the One freed them? Ever wonder about that? How convenient. I suspect they're not as innocent as you so emphatically claim them to be. So once again, you've proved your inability to grasp the truth. Next time, before commenting about something, read it and understand it first--lest, of course, you prove yourself again, as you often do, ignorant or intellectually dishonest.

As to Bush, you blame him for everything. Didn't you accuse him of conducting illegal searches, which everyone knows were approved by FISA. You know what that is, right? Just in case you wonder, it came from legislation sponsored by Ted Kennedy in 1977. As to the Patriot Act, it was bipartisan legislation, signed into law, with sunset provisions and all, by Bush in 12/2001.

The only reason Cuba and the dictatorial regimen was brought to topic was as juxtaposition between that regime's treatment of its political prisoners and your claimed innocence and the actual treatment by the U.S. of those murdering illegal combatants held at Gitmo. I guess that was above your pay grade to grasp. That brings me to "prejudices," as you put it, regarding the dictatorship in Cuba. That's an interesting way to refer to the plight of truly innocent people whose only sin is to wish to live free and be able to freely express themselves in a perverse socialist tyranny of more than 50 years. Prejudice, what a novel and noble way to refer to some one's disdain for something so terrible. But then again, I guess you don't see it that way given that such is a socialist regime, the predilection for which you have amply professed on so many occasions. So, thank you. You just simply continue to expose yourself for what you truly are: a leftist of the first order, who irrespective of his attempts at times to meander to the center, so as to try to impress other readers how objective he is--miserably fails every time. I see it very differently, though. A lot of readers have been calling you out, and you have instinctively tacked to the center. It's not working. As I've said before, and say again, you're easy. I, on the other hand, don't find the truth, irrespective of how ugly it might be, prejudicial. I just call it as I see it, which is apparently something you cannot bring yourself to do. By the way, did you hear? Attorney General, Holder along with the White House are shopping around the idea of withholding Miranda rights to the terrorists? My, my, it appears to me that if anyone is vindicating Bush, it is this White House. But again, who'd know, given that our media, or should say the democratic party propaganda service, continues to sugar coat, if not ignore anything it finds objectionable regarding this cadre of leftist operatives presently in charge. What's next? Are they going to send the newly arrested terrorists to Gitmo? I believe that someone, if you catch my meaning, is waking up from his hyperidealist utopian dream and seeing reality for what it is. Either that, or someone is finally realizing that all of the BS, including that mendacity-laced speech in Cairo, is not going to dissuade those who hate this country, its customs, history, traditions, freedom, openness, and greatness--from attacking it. I suggest you do the same; after all, in case you haven't heard, there's thunder in the mountain. 11/02/2010

Melvin| 5.10.10 @ 7:46AM

There shouldn't even be a conversation in how we should treat Americans that have been accused, tried by a jury of their peers and convicted of a terrorist act.
As an American it is called, "treason." A traitor is shot or hanged. And it should be done in a public forum for all those to see that Americans are held up to a higher standard.

Alan Brooks| 5.10.10 @ 7:49AM

Being in an American prison is probably better than living in Pakistan. So Weasel Shazad has done well for himself: 3 hots 'n' a cot; medical & dental care.

Christopher Holland| 5.11.10 @ 12:33AM

Doesn't this story often involve a 200 lb gorilla with AIDS who wants to sodomise you?

Alan Brooks| 5.11.10 @ 3:45AM

What?? these jihadists are protected in the slammer, for different reasons-- attorneys for one.
You don't know that?

Or are you being sly?

saltine| 5.10.10 @ 8:47AM

religion of peace strikes again . . . Islam is all about tolerance . . . "Jihad" is not about murdering infidels, it's about internal spiritual struggle . . . 99.99% of Muslims are peace-loving, and would never bomb, stab or shoot anyone . . . Islam is not the enemy . . . Did I leave anything out?

Alan Brooks| 5.10.10 @ 12:31PM

Let's not hurt the jihadists' sensitive little feelings.
Think of how Terry Nichols feels-- the poor thing. He was on a hunger protest in prison because his meals weren't good enough. Maybe he wants wine chilled to exactly 36 degrees fahrenheit?
"Mr. Nichols, would you like Italian, bleu cheese, or French dressing on your organic salad?"

French, please.

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 5.10.10 @ 8:55AM

You left another citizen terrorist off your list who was successful, Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood terrrorist. I think part of the problem is that the Obama administration hasn't publicised their word strategy against terrorism enough. When these citizen terrorists realize that words like radicalism and terrorism are banned from public nomenclature, surely they will cease and desist their terrorist radical activities. Just give peace a chance!

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.10.10 @ 9:00AM

Mr. Babbin,
Thank you.
"Two birds with one stone?"

It occurs to me over and over, that a rash of Islamist attacks over the next months could very well be used to declare a "national emergency" which could "delay", ( preclude), our elections in November.
Two:
By "broadening the brush strokes" of what defines "terrorism" to include us Americans who abhor the present regime into the mix.....said regime has already laid the groundwork to intimidate the sheeple.

Well, I suppose the real question that we truly need to ask is whether or not this regime will actually use or try to use these Islamofacists to further its own ends......and if so.....how?

We need more "lerts" in this country, folks. Be alert.

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 9:26AM

That's just a paranoid approach to the whole problem. Scare-mongering doesn't help.

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.10.10 @ 10:41AM

So purpleguy,
You refuse to be alert?

I'm sure glad you don't live in my neighborhood.

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 2:36PM

As if you didn't know, this is what's paranoid right-wing bs : "Well, I suppose the real question that we truly need to ask is whether or not this regime will actually use or try to use these Islamofacists to further its own ends......and if so.....how?"

Tim| 5.10.10 @ 4:03PM

You're a smart and reasonable man Purple, but I'd sleep better with Ken as a neighbor.

Nick| 5.10.10 @ 4:07PM

"You're a smart and reasonable man Purple [...]."

What drugs are you on, Tim?
You need rehab, stat!

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 11:41PM

Yep, no one pays attention to me... I have no impact, huh? I am a smart and reasonable man, but then it takes one to no one. Obviously you don't know, being neither smart or reasonable. Zing!

Nick| 5.11.10 @ 12:36AM

Hey, PurpleJackass, have you learned what a "homophone" is yet?

Hint: It is not Barney Fwank's cell! Ha-ha!

I'm sorry that your TSA co-workers taunted you so badly that you had to retaliate, and were subsequently arrested.
In the future, stay away from those scanners!

Purpleguy| 5.11.10 @ 6:51PM

Retarded people repeat themselves over and over again. The insane do too, expecting a different result. Which are you, "Mr. Repeat myself incessantly"?

Nick| 5.12.10 @ 12:19AM

I know it must be painful to be exposed as a moron on the world wide web, for all to see, PurpleJackass.

Tough!
Next time, try being more cordial and you might be treated in kind.

Purpleguy| 5.12.10 @ 10:30PM

Nah, you haven't earned it ... that's all you do is disrespect what you don't agree with. lesson has not been learned yet.

Nick| 5.12.10 @ 11:43PM

PurpleJackass,

I show respect to those who do the same.

You have always been a nasty, name calling, profane laden troll. You are the one who has not earned it.

average infidel| 5.11.10 @ 6:56AM

Hey Ken, purpleturd would last about 10 seconds around my friends. Even pigs need to be fed.

hardcard| 5.10.10 @ 9:07AM

These terrorists are preparing another big one. They are laughing at the antics of obumbo, holder,napolitano, brennan and their ilk, In 1993 the WTC was attacked by jihadists it didn't do the job so they planned a better was to kill us.Wake up!!!!!

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 9:22AM

Regarding this statement - "How -- in an age when every animal that can walk upright and has opposable thumbs uses them to "tweet" on "Twitter" and blog on "Facebook" and whateverthehellelse from their cell phones and BlackBerries -- could there not instantly be an e-mailed urgent notice to all airlines about Shazad?"

Who put that policy in place? Who could it possibly be? While I completely agree that in the computer age, 24 hours or even 2 hours is too long to wait, this was the Bush-Cheney legacy, so some fire should be sent their way as well. As terrorists adapt, we need to adapt as well. Sleeper cells are not new, however. Soviet sleeper cells were prevalent during the Cold War, and between the Intelligence Services and Federal/Local Police, they were tracked and uncovered. So, the methods to fight them are not new either.

As the attacks from Al Qaeda and other terrorists continue to get smaller, with fewer numbers of terrorists involved, especially using American citizens, it is obviously more and more difficult to predict and interdict a plot.

Watch next for a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman terrorist next, since we are all alerted to young muslim men as possible terrorist.

Dai Alanye| 5.10.10 @ 10:18AM

Yeah, I'm sure Afghanistan contains a big hidden reservoir of blond, blue-eyed potential terrorists left over from the descendants of Alexander's army that passed through circa 300BC. Wait till Taliban starts recruiting, training, and teaching them Danish. The US will lie prostrate before the pseudo-Nordic horde.

Tim*| 5.10.10 @ 12:07PM

Obama is The President , Not Bush & The Fort Hood Shooter ,The Underwear Bomber & The Times Square Bomber are embarrassing examples of The Inept Obama Administration & it's Serial SNAFU's regarding Terrorists.

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 1:53PM

Really? If that is what you said after 9/11 about Bush, that's great ... I'll agree with you. I don't believe anyone is inept, it's just new tactics that are being tested by the other side. Bush had his shoe bomber, Richard Reeves, and the Anthrax in the mail tragedy to deal with too.

I for one, hope you are wrong regarding the Obama Administration, but we don't hear of most of the foiled plots - of that I am sure - in either Adminstration.

Nick| 5.10.10 @ 2:43PM

And if President Dither had his way, we wouldn't have heard about the FOUR successful terrorist attacks that have occured, since he took the oath of office.

Tim*| 5.10.10 @ 4:23PM

What New Tactics ?

Shoe Bomber , Underwear Bomber

Timothy McVeigh , Faisal Shazad

Sgt. Asan Akbar , Major Nidal Hasan

There's Nothing New About These Tactics.

JmsA| 5.11.10 @ 9:36AM

Purpleturd,

I guess you didn't hear about the foiled plots during the Bush administration either, yet you still bash the man. I guess the Obama administration strategy: Let's keep our fingers crossed, focus on the Tea Party, and I hope they fail, is working out just fine, that is if you don't take into account the failed. Not withstanding, of course, the not prevented X-mas bombing attempt over Detroit or the subject attempted Times Square bombing, other than for a vendor noticing the truck, a cop acting on it, following the moron wannabe bomber's ineptitude. There was also the Fort Hood shooter and the shooting of two soldiers Arkansas. I guess those were foiled, too, huh? Keep on hoping, for that seems to be the only thing this administration is doing.

This is bit off topic, but I'd thought I'd share with you nonetheless:

"And today, I'm happy to report that we received some very encouraging news... I should also note that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly from 9.7 to 9.9 [percent]." Care to guess who said this. Why of course, President Obama, on May 7, 2010." And here are the factual statistics highlighting the man's demagoguery, from from Hoven's Index/St. Louis Fed/FRED:

Median length of unemployment:

January 2009: 10.6 weeks

April 2010: 21.6 weeks (16 months into the O's presidency, not to mention the highly touted stimulus). What to do, what to do?

Go ahead and blame Bush/Cheney. I dare you, no, I double dare you.

11/02/2010

Nick| 5.10.10 @ 1:11PM

Pay no attention to PurpleJackass folks.

He doesn't even know that Virginia governors don't run for re-election because they can only serve one term, then have to wait 4 years to run again.

He also likes to berate others for spelling "hypocrisy" wrong, and in the same post he wrote "hypocrit", like a moron.

He is not worthy of debate with grown-ups.

Siegfried X| 5.10.10 @ 11:44AM

"anyone who travels to any of those nations should be the subject of intense electronic surveillance, especially if they are Muslims"

The Muslim profiling is stupid and could end up getting Americans killed. Babbin proposes it out of raw bigotry, because he personally hates Muslims.

It is dangerous to let bigotry blind us to our enemies. For example, al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn, who was mentioned in this article was a Christian and the grandson of Jewish parents. So Babbin would ignore Gadahn's terrorist activities because he was a Christian.

John Navratil| 5.10.10 @ 12:27PM

Flip your argument. Assume we have a means of determining if someone boarding a plane is a terrorist or not, but one person will be boarded without that determination being made. You get to choose that one person (no it's not the pilot). Do you pick one at random or do you select one - perhaps the toddler or grandmother - for the free pass. The former is the PC answer and the latter is profiling.

Can you honestly say you would not profile?

It pretty compelling to observe that not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists appear to be Muslim. Perhaps if more Muslims were standing up decrying these terrorists your statement that "Muslim profiling is stupid" would make sense.

JP| 5.10.10 @ 1:29PM

SiegfriedX,

Profiling isn't stupid, but smart. What is missing from all of this is the CIA. Shazad evidently was under no kind of survailance in Warzistan -despite the fact that Warzistan is a hotbed of Al Qaida and other jihadist groups. This means that Americans like Shazad are able to travel to Pakistan, recieve training, and return to the US without raising any flags. We do know Shazad was placed on the watchlist, and FBI agents interviewed a few years ago the man who purchased his condo. But nothing came from the conversations.

It is a felony to receive Al Qaida training. That in and of itself should have landed Shazad a very long prison sentence when he reentered the US. But, we didn't know he received any training until he confessed after his arrest.

Until the CIA can get agents on the ground in places like Warzistan this nation will remain at risk. And if the CIA did know about his training, but refused to share that intel with the FBI some CIA case officer or manager should go to jail, or at the very least be fired. We went through this all before 7 years ago.

Our federal government remains unserious about our security. The next time we may not be as lucky.

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 1:57PM

So are you saying we shouldn't discharge gay Arabic and Farsi speakers from the Armed Services, just because they are gay? We need help in this ID process and we should let them do their job and not give a damn what they do in the bedroom.

JP| 5.10.10 @ 2:42PM

Purpleguy,
Stay focused. BTW, there are few if any gay linguists in the armed forces. Try another strawman. I was speaking about actual CIA agents in country. You know, spies and case officers? The guy kind of people who can actually see what's going on. Taxpayers spend over $60 billion a year on our intelligence services, and this is the best they can do?

We might as well outsource our intelligence gatheirng as well. Uh, wait a minute -we already do that. Never mind.

Purpleguy| 5.11.10 @ 6:48PM

That is incorrect... the number is small, but so much more the reason not to lose the expertise they have.

Tim*| 5.10.10 @ 4:40PM

Less than .04 of Arabic & Farsi translators were discharged for violating "Don't Ask ,Don't Tell " policy.
A number " outed " themselves after they wanted out of the military.

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 11:28PM

Citation please - no one's going to believe a number you pulled out of your ass.

Christopher Holland| 5.11.10 @ 12:39AM

Being gay is a huge no no in Islam - you get stoned to death and go straight to hell. The idea that the military looses Arabic and Farsi translators because they are gay is drop dead stupid.

Purpleguy| 5.11.10 @ 6:47PM

Yeah, and so is not wearing a burka, so? The military has said 9/11 could have been stopped, if they had more Arabic and Farsi linguists.

Not that you really give a shit, but here's the story if you really want to know:

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/F.....12007.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6824206

Nick| 5.12.10 @ 1:07AM

You know what else would have stopped the attacks of September 11th, 2001, PurpleJackass?

Not having the "Gorelick Wall" between the CIA and FBI, stopping them from sharing intelligence.

Also, if Bubba the pervert's FAA hadn't allowed boxcutters to be allowed on airliners.

What a great legacy for you bleeding heart liberals!

Purpleguy| 5.12.10 @ 10:16PM

That's the best you got? Hahahahaha .... the "Wall" and box cutters. You can't be serious.

What has that to do with the issues now? ... to remind you of Bush's dismal failures tho:

Bush was asleep at the switch, was warned and ignored it, for 10 months his Administration was warned and he ignored it. He is solely responsible for 9/11... not a doubt about it. And for Iraq and Afghanistan, Katrina, and TARP. He was an unmitigated disaster for America.

Americans won't forget.

Nick| 5.12.10 @ 11:37PM

PurpleJackass,

You can't even count, moron!

January 20th to September 11th adds up to SEVEN AND A HALF months, Einstein.

You must have to work at being THIS stupid.

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.10.10 @ 12:01PM

Siegheil,

Straw men alert strawmen alert!

Ain't gonna' fly here, Siegfried. Better luck at hufpo.

NavyBrat| 5.10.10 @ 1:04PM

Willfull ignorance of this threat (like that displayed by Purplepuke in his tired term, "fearmongering.") is what the enemy counts on. Yes, I'm sure there are more Jihad Janes & Joes out there. The fact remains that even THESE folks were open about their religion. Its my opinion that any American convert to Islam, especialy since 9-11, deserves some extra scrutiny. There's no zealot like a convert & in THIS case, these zealots actually KILL folks. The enemy doesn't fight fair. Nor should we be "fair" in our attempts to stop the enemy.

“You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect.”...Miyamoto Musashi

“Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.”...Miyamoto Musashi

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 2:05PM

You obviously don't understand my position ... if you even read what it was about.

Ken was complaining that these attacks will be used by the Obama Administration to promote what they are interested in promoting. To me, that is paranoia, just to smear the Obama Administration. We don't need that when we Americans are under attack.

Anyone who thinks that any American, left or right or center, white, black, brown, red or blue would sanction any attacks on American property or people is an idiot.

How we want to deal with the terrorism problem may differ some, but at least give all Americans the benefit that they love their country and are just as patriotic as you.

NavyBrat| 5.10.10 @ 2:38PM

"Anyone who thinks that any American, left or right or center, white, black, brown, red or blue would sanction any attacks on American property or people is an idiot."

Really? Mild mannered English professor & Obama buddy, & his bomb throwing haint of a wife, don't OPENLY sanction such things? Rev. Wrong, Louie "I Hate Jews" Farrahkonvict, Rashid Khalidi, Frank Marshall Davis, & Saul Alinsky wouldn't "sanction attacks on American property or people?" Hell Ayers wrote EXTENSIVELY about destroying just such property. Revel in your ignorance, Purplepuke. After all, ignorance is bliss. We revel in your ignornce, but for comic relief.

JP| 5.10.10 @ 2:43PM

You forgot the Unabomber.

Nick| 5.10.10 @ 2:57PM

NavyBrat,

If I may I add to your list, all the members of the Weather Underground. As well as many members of SDS.

And the Winter Soldier fraud, whose members wanted to take-out members of Congress, and to which John Kerry belonged.

Also, the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Black Panther Party, and the Manson Family.

NavyBrat| 5.10.10 @ 3:02PM

JP & Nick. Thank you guys both for adding to the list. I just thought of one more. Jim Jones. Look how well utopia ended for THOSE useful idiots.

JP| 5.10.10 @ 3:25PM

U R welcome. There is one other terrorist organization that gets little if any publicity: The Ecological Terror group, ELF. They've attacked utility companies, auto dealerships, timber companies, and fossil fuel firms. A real nasty group of people -true believers.

RAMIII| 5.10.10 @ 3:34PM

Hey NavyBrat,

On the bright side "PurplePuke" accepted your moniker for him since he replied to you directly.

Besides it might be good for him to puke, since that would help him get a breath. Purple is the color one turns if without oxygen for a long time, or if you've been "beaten and bruised" in the debates here.

NavyBrat| 5.10.10 @ 4:23PM

RAMIII. Ooh-rah, brother! Maybe his lack of oxygen is due to his rectal-cranial inversion. Kinda hard to breathe with your head up your arse.

Nick| 5.10.10 @ 3:43PM

NavyBrat,

No problem. I remember the Jonestown massacre as a 10 year old kid. But, only recently did I find out that it was a socialist group. Back then, liberals had a monopoly on the media and could propagandize at will. Boy, have things changed.

JP,

I can't believe I forgot about ELF! Shame on me.

NavyBrat| 5.10.10 @ 4:28PM

Yeah, I forgot about the ELF eco weenies. Too bad the French don't deal with them. We all know how "Greenpeace" found out the hard way not to mess w/the French. They got their boat blown up & 2 people died. One of the only good contributions the French have made to the world. That, & the Legion.

As far as Jim Jones, he was good buddies with another lefty hero, Harvey Milk. Forgive "The Matrix" reference, but "do you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes?" It's bottomless when talking about these lefty America haters. The one's that Purplepuke says don't espouse the things that made them "(in)famous" to begin with.

Nick| 5.10.10 @ 4:46PM

NavyBrat,

Agreed.
Enjoyed your blog post about Cicero on Townhall, by the way.

NavyBrat| 5.10.10 @ 4:53PM

Brother Nick. Thanks man!

Purpleguy| 5.10.10 @ 11:27PM

Well, I guess you got me, didn't you? But you don't pay attention to me? Hmmm, guess that points moot now, isn't ?

I should add all of you to the list that try to tear down the Obama Administration. Y'all obviously don't love America, if you don't respect the American President. I'm sure you won't care, since y'all are so radical, but that is the truth.

You can vote for whom you want, but when someone wins our elections, it is your civic duty to line up behind them and support them. It's outrageous that everything that the President does y'all want to tear down. You have not supported 1 thing that President Obama has done, and yet you wrongly think you are American? Far from it kids. Y'all are like a bunch of school yard bullies who got your come- uppance and ran home kicking and screaming throwing a tantrum, until you get your way.

Nick| 5.11.10 @ 12:37AM

Hey, PurpleJackass, have you learned what a "homophone" is yet?

Hint: It is not Barney Fwank's cell! Ha-ha!

I'm sorry that your TSA co-workers taunted you so badly that you had to retaliate, and were subsequently arrested.
In the future, stay away from those scanners!

Purpleguy| 5.11.10 @ 6:37PM

Yes, I do, and your point is?

Nick| 5.11.10 @ 6:44PM

Well, you didn't last week, PurpleJackass, when you TRIED to correct someone, yet again. You wrongly concluded they meant "homonym", dope.

Just like when you misspelled "hypocrite" while you berated someone for misspelling "hypocrisy."

What an ignorant fool you are, PurpleJackass!

Purpleguy| 5.11.10 @ 10:54PM

Feel better, pookie? You can't have me, so you attack my words. Classic. How brave you are. Drop the ad hominem attacks - even for someone of your level intelligence it isn't becoming. The troglodyte always has to belittle his opponent like the bully he is.

Nick| 5.12.10 @ 12:08AM

No....just attacking your ignorance, PurpleJackass.

NavyBrat| 5.11.10 @ 9:08AM

"Y'all obviously don't love America, if you don't respect the American President."

So when useful idiots like you wanted Bush frog marched to the Hague, did YOU "not love America." You're an idiot. One's love of country is NOT measured by one's love or "respect" of who's running it. Go learn some civics NOT taught by Marx.

Purpleguy| 5.11.10 @ 6:35PM

That was not me Einstein... but you lump everyone you don't like all in together, don't you? Can't discern the difference, eh, Chuckie?

Tim*| 5.10.10 @ 4:52PM

" The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's south side, has a long history of what even Obama's campaign aides concede is "inflammatory rhetoric," including the assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own ' terrorism.' "

Nick| 5.10.10 @ 5:52PM

Notice that PurpleJackass hasn't tried to refute any of the rebuttals to his asinie assertion.

That is because PurpleJackass is a coward.

JimE| 5.10.10 @ 6:27PM

Purpleasswipe,
Your stupidity is only exceeded by your desire to sexually service obama.

Christopher Holland| 5.11.10 @ 12:44AM

I am an Australian and I don't live in America, but I definitely get the impression that I am more interested in defending the people who live there than you are. Where I come from, you would be called a dingo.

Gr0w1er| 5.10.10 @ 1:30PM

Racial profiling. It's worked for El Al for over 42 years. And counting...

davelnaf| 5.10.10 @ 1:31PM

One simple solution to limiting terrorist attacks is to severely limit the number of people coming here from Muslim countries. Of course, the PC police would oppose this like it was civil rights issue. So, are we prepared to do it anyway? The odds are that it will happen much sooner than anyone thinks.

Tony in Central PA| 5.10.10 @ 3:13PM

While I think Islamic - associated terrorism is certainly a bad thing that needs to be taken seriously, I often wonder what an assessment of the relative risk would look like comparing the odds of getting killed byAl Quaida or MS -13 ?

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 5.10.10 @ 5:48PM

What makes you think they want to stop them?

DaveS| 5.10.10 @ 7:26PM

Excellent, but answers are thin.

"Any American citizen who travels to Pakistan -- especially those who visit the areas such as Waziristan -- should be interrogated upon their return. And the same should be true for those that visit -- legally or otherwise -- any of the nations that sponsor or harbor terrorism."

Barack Hussein Obama traveled to Pakistan in a time period when it was illegal for Americans to travel there. Was the law broken (he was American), or was the law observed (he was NOT American at the time of entry?)

This administration is hopeless regarding terrorism and national security, and the odds of a Detroit Christmas-time bomber or Times Square bomber succeeding in the next several years is more than tangible. And this is what the Obama people fear the most: an attack of the kind the public would readily identify as terrorist - and not because of the casualties but of the political cost (Bush kept us safe!!!) An attack between now and November 2012 would be catastrophic for the President. I think it already happened at Fort Hood, but the press was not sufficiently honest about it.

Long Ben| 5.10.10 @ 8:34PM

Jed Babbin for CIA director in the next Republican Administration !

Nick| 5.10.10 @ 8:35PM

Long Ben,

I second!

Christopher Holland| 5.11.10 @ 12:48AM

What has Jed done to deserve such punishment? And what has America done to deserve an organisation as useless as the CIA?

John C. | 5.10.10 @ 11:55PM

The only way to prevent Islamic terrorism in the West is to prevent Muslim immigration into the West. Conservatism needs to quit playing around on this point.