Unfortunately, we the public bear the brunt of the actions mandated by these authorities.

The British police break up a plot to bomb planes from London to the U.S., the threat level is raised to Red for the first time, liquids are banned on domestic flights and the National Guard is deployed to meet all flights from Great Britain. These, of course, are the flights that wouldn’t arrive is they were bombed.

Later, we learn that the cell had been infiltrated and that there was in fact never any chance that this cell’s plot would have been successful. This doesn’t stop every high level official in our government from hinting at the imminence of the threat and al-Qaeda links.

At least this time, the source of terror is not the bombers but our government.

The reality is that we have largely dismembered al-Qaeda over the past five years (see Declaring Victory) and following 9/11 the focus of al-Qaeda has shifted from the United States to Saudi Arabia to Iraq (see The Osama bin Laden I Know).

We are as safe as we’ve ever been since the emergence of Islamic Militancy on the international scene yet hardly a day goes by that our government doesn’t assert the danger that we face.

Of course, from the Democratic side of the aisle, statement after statement debunks the threat of Islamic terrorism for domestic political advantage and the administration asserts presidential authority where no such authority is necessary for Wiretaps and Data Mining.

The Fake War is all political and a dangerous distraction from The Real War.

]]> http://CentristRants.org/2006/08/18/the-fake-war/feed/ http://CentristRants.org/2006/08/18/the-osama-bin-laden-i-know/ http://CentristRants.org/2006/08/18/the-osama-bin-laden-i-know/#comments Fri, 18 Aug 2006 23:32:32 +0000 Vern Bibliography http://CentristRants.org/2006/08/18/the-osama-bin-laden-i-know/ An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader

by Peter L. Bergen

by James Fallows

The Atlantic - September 2006

Next up? Body cavity searches. There are no dangerous objects (or rather far too many objects can be benign or dangerous), there are only dangerous people.

Our current security screening process fails horribly.

Here are some ways we could improve security.

1. Recognize that the terrorist is under severe mental and emotional strain. He fears being caught during the screening process and he is planning to kill himself and many others within a few hours.
2. Profiling – get over it. We need to face up to the fact that the vast majority of the people who fit the profile are innocent and should be treated with respect but also that the vast majority of terrorists (although not all) do fit the profile. We should look harder at young Muslim men than we do at 80-year-old grandmothers.
3. Variability. It is a well known fact that predictability is a security vulnerability for two reasons. First, the terrorists can learn the system, become comfortable with it and develop ways to defeat it. Second, since every passenger goes through the same mill, the screeners become conditioned to see things that aren’t really problems. We would have greater security if we minimally screened 80% of the passengers, thoroughly screened 20% selected at random as well as anybody who looks suspicious.
4. A large part of any security process is knowing who to trust, not just who not to trust. We could, with a reasonable effort, be able to certify most of the traveling American public and redirect them through a minimal and efficient screening process.
5. Make the public part of the solution, not the problem. We’ve spent five years, billions of dollars and millions of hours keeping sharp and pointy objects off planes. This is definitely a case of closing the barn door after the horse has gone. Hijacking a passenger plane with box cutters became an ineffective strategy early in the morning of 9/11. The passengers and surviving crew of United 93 recognized the threat and fought back causing the terrorist strike against the Capitol Building to fail. Since 9/11, all passengers that have gotten out of line have been quickly subdued by the other passengers, crew and air-marshals. It’s a felony to bring tear-gas or pepper-spray on board an aircraft. Would we perhaps be safer of they handed it out to the passengers at the gate?

In short, our model for getting into the airport should be based on our model for getting into the country (customs and immigration) rather than an impossible attempt to screen for any potentially dangerous weapons.

by Ron Suskind

1. Defend its borders.

2. Control what goes on within its borders.

3. Protect its citizens from harm whether that harm comes from within or without its borders.

Lebanon has failed in all three of these critical responsibilities.

What is Israel to do?

Despite the assurances of the international community to protect Israel in return for leaving Lebanon the last time, the current U.N. presence in southern Lebanon is safely to the east of the border to Israel and out of danger – of either getting killed or of finding themselves in a position to have to kill someone else.

Perhaps the next multi-national force will be “robust” – i.e. willing and able to do what is necessary to stop the killing. I doubt it.

The reality is that Hezbollah and Hamas have no interest in peace. They claim specific grievances but in a part of the world where mayhem and violence goes back everybody can find some past “tat” to justify their next “tit.”

The most common grievance is Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. But if the Palestinians really wanted their own state, wouldn’t it have made since to continue the struggle in the West Bank while rewarding Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza with peace on their southern border?

Instead, they’ve launched over 800 rockets in the last seven months. The Israelis have responded with artillery and air strikes. Too many people have been killed on both sides. The reality is that for too many people in the Middle East, the existence of Israel is their primary grievance.

We will never have peace in the region until the governments of Arab countries stop excusing and supporting attacks against the Jews. The early criticism of Hezbollah by Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt was the correct response. Unfortunately, as the war drags on, the feelings of the Arab street and their governments draft back to their historic hatred and intolerance.

Israel must fight for two reasons:

1. If Israel did not fight, they would be derelict in their duties as a sovereign state.

2. Unfortunately, continuing the pain of the war is the only way that Israel can motivate the international community to take any action. Even now, the U.N. dithers for days and weeks as the dying continues.

The only way to assure a lasting peace is to defang Hezbollah. That means taking their weapons away, killing their leaders, imprisoning their soldiers and deterring their supporters (Iran and Syria). Unfortunately, because Hezbollah is embedded so tightly within the civilian population, whoever does this will take casualties and kill civilians.

I doubt that the international community has the stomach for this awful prospect.

On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.

At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half-century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical — and then there came a day of fire.

We have seen our vulnerability, and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny — prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder — violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders and raise a mortal threat.

There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment and expose the pretensions of tyrants and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant. And that is the force of human freedom.

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

America\’s vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this Earth has rights, and dignity and matchless value because they bear the image of the maker of heaven and Earth.

Across the generations, we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation\’s security and the calling of our time.

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen and defended by citizens and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own.

America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom and make their own way.

The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America\’s influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America\’s influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom\’s cause.

My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people from further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test America\’s resolve and have found it firm.

We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation — the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.

We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. America\’s belief in human dignity will guide our policies. Yet, rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty.

Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty — though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery. Liberty will come to those who love it.

Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:

All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.

Democratic reformers facing repression, prison or exile can know: America sees you for who you are — the future leaders of your free country.

The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: \”Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.\”

The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.

And all the allies of the United States can know: We honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help. Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom\’s enemies. The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies\’ defeat.

Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:

From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom.

And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well — a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.

A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause — in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy … the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments … the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives, and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.

All Americans have witnessed this idealism and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself, and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country but to its character.

America has need of idealism and courage because we have essential work at home — the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.

In America\’s ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act and the GI Bill of Rights. And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time.

To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance — preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society.

By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.

In America\’s ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character — on integrity and tolerance toward others and the rule of conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self.

That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards,and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before — ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today and forever.

In America\’s ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service and mercy and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love.

Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.

From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?

These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes — and I will strive in good faith to heal them.

Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart. And we can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free.

We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as he wills.

We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages, when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty, when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner \”Freedom Now\” — they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled.

History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction set by liberty and the author of liberty.

When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, \”It rang as if it meant something.\” In our time it means something still.

America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength — tested, but not weary — we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.

May God bless you, and may he watch over the United States of America.

According to USA Today’s analysis of Gallup Poll data taken in April and May indicates that Americans are evenly split four ways on illegal immigration. These groups are the Welcoming who prefer a process that will lead to permanent resident status or citizenship for illegal aliens, the Hardliners who want to close the border and deport all illegal aliens, the Ambivalent who don’t know what they want and the Unconcerned who do not see illegal immigration as a threat to our society. These groups cross party, class and racial lines.

A welcoming approach, like the amnesty provision of Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 which started 2.7 million illegal aliens on a path toward citizenship, will only encourage more illegal immigration as demonstrated by the 12 to 20 million illegal aliens we have today.

The hardliner approach is an impossible task. The Nazis took years, from 1938 to 1945 to round up between 5 and 7 million Jews under a military dictatorship without any regard to due process. What makes us think we can round up 2 to 3 times as many people without becoming monsters?

The boundary between the United States and Mexico is one of the longest undefended borders in the world. The wage differential across this border is also among the highest in the world at 5 to 1. The economic pressure is sufficient to force people leave their families behind and risk death in the desert for a chance to feed their children. No mere law will stem this tide. In addition to our four domestic constituencies, any lasting solution must inspire the voluntary cooperation of the Mexican people and the Mexican government.

Such a solution seems like an impossible challenge – but it’s not.

A workable solution must provide enough carrot to each of the six affected groups to encourage a high level of voluntary cooperation and a sufficiently large stick to punish those who do not play by the rules.

My proposal is:

1. Establish a guest worker program for Mexican (and perhaps other Central and South American) citizens. They can register in their country, or in the United States without fear of being arrested or deported. The families of guest workers my also register and enter the United States as dependants. All participants are subject to deportation if they fail a timely criminal background check. Note that to make guest workers wait while the INS processes a nine year background check queue is a deal breaker. The goal here is to make it better all around for them to be here legally in a manageble way.
2. All participants in the program must be issued state-of-the-art, tamper-resistant photo identification cards. Guest workers can apply for driver’s licenses and other forms of picture ID as needed but all such IDs must clearly indicate that the holder is a guest worker.
3. After guest workers have been in the United States for a period of time (say 2 years?) they must return to Mexico for a period of time (perhaps 1 year?). The guest worker may then return to the United States and repeat this cycle without limit.
4. The guest worker program is neither an amnesty nor a shortcut to citizenship. Guest workers seeking permanent residency or citizenship must go to the end of the line.
5. After a sufficient period (6 months, 1 year?) it is a felony to be in this country illegally punishable by prison time, deportation and a permanent ban on entry into the United States. Commission of a felony while in the United States will also result in deportation and a permanent ban on entry. After this transition period it will also be a criminal offense to harbor or hire unregistered guest workers. With fewer illegal aliens, the “catch and release” process is no longer needed or allowed.
6. While in the United States, guest workers must pay taxes, maintain employment and remain self-sufficient. They are not qualified for long-term public assistance. If they cannot meet this requirement, they must leave the United States without prejudice and may return in the future. No back taxes will be imposed for time spent here illegally. Our goal must be to register almost all of the illegal aliens, not force them to remain underground. Not collecting these taxes is the price we pay for letting this problem fester for decades.
7. U.S. law must be changed to explicitly define the citizenship status of babies born within the United States to illegal aliens or guest workers. Under current law, they are citizens and this is a major loophole in our immigration status. Granting citizenship would lead to expectant mothers using to guest worker program as a way to bestow U.S. citizenship on their children. Since these children could easily be registered as dependants and as guest workers in the future, not granting automatic citizenship seems appropriate. However, if the law is not changed, minor children of quest workers who are born in the United States may remain in the care of a guardian while their families return to their native country or they may go with their parents. In the event that families are separated for a period of time, some provision for visits (not employment) should be incorporated into the reform legislation.
8. Finally, we need to reform and modernize the INS. The current process is both Byzantine and broken. Granting visa extensions to two of the 9/11 hijackers months after the attack is just the tip of the iceberg. The process of complying with the legal requirements as defined by the INS is arduous in the extreme. If we want people to do the right thing, we have to make it possible, beneficial and easier than doing the wrong thing.

This proposal imposes a significant burden on guest workers and their families. In return, they get some important off-setting benefits:

1. They get to live and work openly and legally in the United States and take advantage of the 5 to 1 wage differential between Mexico and the U.S. Under this proposed system, a guest worker could earn $11 for every $3 he could earn in Mexico averaged over a three year period.
2. They get to keep their families intact. There are whole villages in Mexico where there are no young men. All of them have gone north to work and send money back to feed their families.
3. Because they become legal and their presence is not tied to any particular employer, they can no longer be exploited by the threat of a call to the INS. This will raise wages and improve working conditions. They can also avoid exploitation by criminal human trafficking gangs.
4. They are free to come and go across the border to visit their families instead of enduring solitude for years or even decades.

Any of the timeframes proposed above can be changed. It might also be in our best interest to offer relocation assistance. The goal should be to make the deal sweet enough that the vast majority of our illegal population will choose legal status despite the requirement to relocate on a regular basis.

This plan will allow the illegal aliens currently resident in this country to remain for years and it will encourage additional immigration. What’s in it for us?

For the hardliners:

1. We get to know where the legal guest workers live and work.
2. We get to collect taxes from them. In fact, a large population of young, hard-working tax payers will help offset the demographic imbalance as the baby boomers retire.
3. Having “drained the swamp,” we can then turn our limited law enforcement resources against the remaining illegals and criminal gangs.
4. Businesses that do not hire illegal aliens will no longer have to compete against businesses that do.
5. Because this economic activity is no longer under the table, we gain significant leverage with regard to the Mexican government. By raising or lower limits on how much money guest workers can export to Mexico, we can encourage the Mexican government to secure their side of the border. We must resist the temptation to throttle the number of guest workers. Denying access will only recreate our existing problem.

For the welcoming:

1. We remain what we’ve always been, a nation of immigrants.
2. Legal guest workers are harder to exploit than illegal aliens.
3. Legal guest workers will be able to shop around for higher wages so rather than dragging down the bottom of the wage curve, they will push it up.
4. Legal guest workers can also seek out educational opportunities so that they or their children need not settle for the bottom rung of the economic ladder either here or in Mexico.
5. When guest workers return to Mexico, they will take our values and expectations with them. This will put pressure on the Mexican government for reforms on their side of the border. Over time, this will raise the standard of living in Mexico and close the gap between our economies.

A guest worker program along the lines of the one described above will benefit both the United States and Mexico.

Comments and suggestions most welcome.