He's Still At It
Shrubya was at the Army War College today, recapping the greatest moments of the War on Terra, since leading that war is the Big Achievement of his presidency. He claimed successes in that war which at this point come across as delusional, not inspiring.
The plot to blow up jets bound for the East Coast? Well, it was much more of a plot at least. On the other hand, it was busted up by the Brits, not us. And, in fact, there was a report that suggested that the Brits were forced to act sooner than they would have preferred, because we were going to tip their hand by capturing someone in Pakistan.
In the end, none of the men charge in the plot were convicted of targeting aircraft, and there remains dispute about the viability of the plotters' alleged plan to mix up liquid explosives on board the planes. (Planes, by the way, to which they had not yet bought tickets at the time the British, who had them under surveillance, acted.)
The mall attack? A single 22-year old guy, unconnected from any terrorist group, was planning on putting some hand grenades into garbage cans at a mall during December. He was sentenced to 35 years, after pleading guilty. This one's a valid success, but does it deserve to be in the list of top successes, after all the time, money and effort we've put in? One guy?
Bush spoke of there having been no attacks on the US since 9/11, which again ignores the anthrax attacks of October, 2001, still unsolved. If W. is taking credit for busting that one guy with hand grenades, I think he owes us an explanation of what happened with the anthrax. People actually died in that one.
And speaking of things not mentioned, if one is summing up the record of Bush's leadership in the War on Terror, isn't it important to mention what hasn't happened to Osama Bin Laden? Why he isn't dead, or in custody?
Of course it is. But only if you're interested in honesty, or reality. Why should W. start doing that now?
January 20th can't come fast enough, particularly if W. continues spending his final days in office spouting nonsense about the accomplishments of his maladministration.
At least, these day, bloggers aren't the only ones noticing such things. On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow had a great segment on this speech.
He also reminded the nation of the plots he said have been disrupted since Sept. 11. He named an attempt to bomb fuel tanks at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, a plot to blow up jets bound for the East Coast and a plan to attack a shopping mall in the Chicago area.The "plot" to bomb fuel tanks at JFK has been shown to have been more of a fantasy in the minds of those arrested, who neither had the capability to do such a thing, nor the intelligence to understand why what they were fantasizing was physically impossible. Arresting a bunch of guys who were just talking about how cool it would be to blow up JFK by exploding the fuel tanks does not constitute a "plot" that should be considered a major success in the war on terror.
The plot to blow up jets bound for the East Coast? Well, it was much more of a plot at least. On the other hand, it was busted up by the Brits, not us. And, in fact, there was a report that suggested that the Brits were forced to act sooner than they would have preferred, because we were going to tip their hand by capturing someone in Pakistan.
In the end, none of the men charge in the plot were convicted of targeting aircraft, and there remains dispute about the viability of the plotters' alleged plan to mix up liquid explosives on board the planes. (Planes, by the way, to which they had not yet bought tickets at the time the British, who had them under surveillance, acted.)
The mall attack? A single 22-year old guy, unconnected from any terrorist group, was planning on putting some hand grenades into garbage cans at a mall during December. He was sentenced to 35 years, after pleading guilty. This one's a valid success, but does it deserve to be in the list of top successes, after all the time, money and effort we've put in? One guy?
Bush spoke of there having been no attacks on the US since 9/11, which again ignores the anthrax attacks of October, 2001, still unsolved. If W. is taking credit for busting that one guy with hand grenades, I think he owes us an explanation of what happened with the anthrax. People actually died in that one.
And speaking of things not mentioned, if one is summing up the record of Bush's leadership in the War on Terror, isn't it important to mention what hasn't happened to Osama Bin Laden? Why he isn't dead, or in custody?
Of course it is. But only if you're interested in honesty, or reality. Why should W. start doing that now?
January 20th can't come fast enough, particularly if W. continues spending his final days in office spouting nonsense about the accomplishments of his maladministration.
At least, these day, bloggers aren't the only ones noticing such things. On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow had a great segment on this speech.
posted by Paul at 6:06 PM |
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