“The state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.”
This is the ultimate politics of panic: Senator Joe Lieberman insists America will face a terrorist attack early in 2009 as world-wide terrorists “test” the new president. Our elected leaders should focus their efforts on protecting the United States of America and her citizens; we should be told the truth (without divulging secrets of national security). We should not be placed in a “state of fear and submission” from the ramblings of a Senator.
This juicy media story comes right on the heels of Senator McCain’s “Senior Adviser” Charlie Black’s musings that a terrorist attack would help McCain and the Republicans in the November elections.
But why?
The last eight years of Republican leadership, including six with a Republican president and a Republican Congress, led to little success of truly defending America. President Bush is still leading a wild goose chase after bin Laden. In fact, the New York Times reported last week, “Amid U.S. Policy Disputes, Qaeda Grows in Pakistan.” We’ve been blessed with safety since the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001, but this article, among other concerns, raises the important question of “What exactly are we doing?”
According to the Times, while President Bush’s set the “destruction of Mr. bin Laden’s network” as the top priority of his presidency, he will hand over the keys to the Oval Office while a rebuilt and relocated Al Qaeda builds strength in Pakistan. To blame: inter-agency fighting and the refocus on the Iraq War:
“American intelligence officials say that the Qaeda hunt in Pakistan, code-named Operation Cannonball by the C.I.A. in 2006, was often undermined by bitter disagreements within the Bush administration and within the C.I.A., including about whether American commandos should launch ground raids inside the tribal areas.
Inside the C.I.A., the fights included clashes between the agency’s outposts in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Islamabad. There were also battles between field officers and the Counterterrorist Center at C.I.A. headquarters, whose preference for carrying out raids remotely, via Predator missile strikes, was derided by officers in the Islamabad station as the work of “boys with toys.””
“Current and former military and intelligence officials said that the war in Iraq consistently diverted resources and high-level attention from the tribal areas.”
So bin Laden lives, Al Qaeda regroups, and a lot of time, energy, resources were wasted by the Bush Administration. Time, energy, and resources that could have made us safer.
Moving forward, why would a terrorist attack help John McCain when Republican leadership on the issue is a failure?
One of the most important elements of terrorist attacks is the long-term damage as the fear permeates society. From September 11, 2001, we got Bush bullying the Constitution like a big bully grabbing at the little kid’s lunch money. The Bush machine–with Cheney, Rove, and the Republicans in general–shove fear down our throats every chance they get, especially around elections. And they use this fear to justify their capture, detainment, and torture of suspects, all without legal rights, lawyers, or trials.
It’s painfully obvious that the Bush Constitutional circumvention did not and does not work. The Republicans in power, insisting on the sacrifice of personal liberties, tried to protect America with absolute and relentless brute force. They were, pardon my extreme stereotype, the huge and dumb linebacker for the country, attacking, pushing, and grunting without the aid of intelligence or the use of their brain.
Well, we’re not facing the little leagues. And like the powerful defensive tackles playing on Sunday, the true enemies of America will go right around the big bad lineman to take down the quarterback. Except the linebackers who love to watch themselves pulverize the opposition, nothing good comes of this: the defensive player–who barely had a shot in the first place–is hurt on the ground with the linebacker grinning over, while the defensive tackle scoops up on the ball from the quarterback mashed into the turf, and jogs in for a touchdown.
Tags: 9/11, Al Qaeda, Bush Failures, Civil Liberties, Constitutionk, Election 2008, Freedom, Intelligence, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, National Security, Politics of Fear, Republican Failures, Smear Politics, Terrorism
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