I believe there is a fundamental conflict between Western (a.k.a. liberal) Civilization and fascistic Islamic governments and violent organizations. It's an even more immediate problem for moderate Muslim folks. Despite the GOP talking points about Liberal bloggers, I do take the threat seriously. In fact, I'm concerned about my mother, who is scheduled to return with a tour party from Russia this upcoming Sunday.
What I don't believe is that this Administration is as serious about fighting the war on terror as they are about cynically and rapaciously reaping political points off of it:
"It is a mistake to believe there is no threat to the United States of America," (Bush) said. "We've taken a lot of measures to protect the American people. But obviously we still aren't completely safe."
His remarks came a day after the White House orchestrated an exceptionally aggressive campaign to tar opposition Democrats as weak on terrorism, knowing what Democrats didn't: News of the plot could soon break.
Yep, they coordinated to the best of their ability. Cheney knew:
...a senior White House official said that the British government had not launched its raid until well after Cheney held a highly unusual conference call with reporters to attack the Democrats as weak against terrorism.
Lieberman knew (one suspects earlier than his operative suggests):
An aide to Lieberman, who would have been one of the first Democrats to hear of the plot because he is the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said the lawmaker first heard of it late Wednesday.
Isn't a government that manipulates national security for political gain the very definition of radical, dangerous, out of control?
Bush's Republicans hoped the raid would yield political gains.
"I'd rather be talking about this than all of the other things that Congress hasn't done well," one Republican congressional aide told AFP on condition of anonymity because of possible reprisals.
"Weeks before September 11th, this is going to play big," said another White House official, who also spoke on condition of not being named, adding that some Democratic candidates won't "look as appealing" under the circumstances.
It's scoundrel time again.
Juan Cole points out just how un-serious the GOP Administration is about their supposed "War on Terror":
The failure of the Bush administration to take the threat of Bin Laden and Zawahiri seriously and to capture them continues to leave Americans and others at risk...
...Even if this cell is not directly connected to Zawahiri, that he and Bin Laden can come on television and the internet and continue to encourage copycat al-Qaeda-style attacks is a huge security problem that needs to be solved much more urgently than the problem of which clans rule the small city of Ramadi in Iraq.
He goes on to write about how the Iraq War is radicalizing young Muslims in Britain.
Most frightening is how Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld (and let's add Joe Lieberman, The Enabler for The Decider) have played perfectly into the Islamofascists hands. From Political Animal (and I urge you to read the whole brief post):
"Now, Israel is surrounded by a sea of green," he said, referring to the color of Islam. "I call it the 'Green Bloc.' It is far, far more radical than it was ten years ago, even five years ago. With the exception of Syria, negotiation is no longer possible. We've never faced this kind of enemy before....We're seeing the domino theory of the Fertile Crescent" --— a chain reaction where every event in the sequence becomes more inevitable, and builds in intensity on the one before. It's the "new Middle East" the administration has been promising — but it's almost as perilous for the U.S. as for Israel and Lebanon.
Let's get serious about this potentially world-engulfing conflict.
Flip both Houses of Congress in November.
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