War on Terror

al Qaeda, War on Terror

Al-Qaeda training western looking terrorists in Pakistan

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The AFP reports:

CIA director Michael Hayden warned Sunday that Al-Qaeda was training operatives who “look western” and could enter the United States undetected to conduct terrorist attacks.
…
“They are bringing operatives into that region for training — operatives that, a phrase I would use, wouldn’t attract your attention if they were going through the customs line at Dulles (airport near Washington DC) with you,” Hayden told NBC television.

The new recruits “look western” and “would be able to come into this country … without attracting the kind of attention that others might,” he said.

Perhaps the strangest assertion that I have ever heard is those who say “the Bush administration is only trying to scare people” whenever a report similar to this comes out. Most of them also screamed that the administration did not do enough to prevent 9/11. The not funny thing is none of them seem to be demanding that House Speaker Pelosi bring the Senate’s version of the update to the FISA law to the floor for a vote.

Political wind, War on Terror

Abusing America’s War Dead by Ralph Peters

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The following excerpt about the treatment of our troops by politicians is by retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters in this morning’s New York Post:

I’m just damned angry. The right won’t admit any mistakes in Iraq, while the left seeks to undercut progress there. Honorable, valiant and tenacious, our troops deserve better leaders. Never in our history have we seen so profound a contrast between those who serve and those who decide how they should be employed. We also face, for the first time, national-level leaders who would rather lose a war than lose an election.

Wars are fought ‘come as you are’ and these are the times we live in.

Our troops and this President are now the ones in the arena; both have demonstrated moral and physical courage far beyond the expectations of the critics of America’s youth and the man America elected to lead them. I strongly suspect that President Bush has had few restful nights since 9/11 and is a better man than LTC Peters believes him to be.