The CIA Witch Hunt

Everyone has themselves in a tizzy over the secret CIA program that Cheney allegedly hid from Congress. This is much ado about nothing and is turning into a Democrat witchhunt.
First of all let's look at some important points:
Point 1: This program never went operational.
Point 2: The reason why VP Cheney decided to keep it from Congress was most likely to KEEP IT SECRET.
Point 3: This is nothing different than what the Obama Administration is doing RIGHT NOW!
Now let's look at them more carefully.
Point 1: As reported today in the WSJ:
One former senior intelligence official said the program was an attempt "to achieve a capacity to carry out something that was directed in the finding," meaning it was looking for ways to capture or kill al Qaeda chieftains.The official noted that Congress had long been briefed on the finding, and that the CIA effort wasn't so much a program as "many ideas suggested over the course of years." It hadn't come close to fruition, he added.
Senior CIA leaders were briefed two or three times on the most recent iteration of the initiative, the last time in the spring of 2008. At that time, CIA brass said that the effort should be narrowed and that Congress should be briefed if the preparations reached a critical stage, a former senior intelligence official said.
It never did, no need to brief Congress. If the intelligence agencies of the government were required to brief Congress every time they got an idea they would NEVER get anything accomplished.
Point 2: Less than TWO WEEKS after this program was "discovered" and briefed to Congress it hits the FRONT PAGES. Is there any wonder Cheney thought it best to keep it quiet until it became operational?
Obviously Congress is full of leaks and cannot be trusted and certainly NOT the hostile congressional environment that existed in Bush's second term. Cheney most likely believed, as I do now, that the Dems so hated Bush that they would have "outed" this program just to spite him. Nevermind the fact that he only had our safety in mind, that means little when power is at stake.
Point 3: This is the most ridiculous part of all of this. The righteous indignation that some in Congress are trying to portray when it comes to the mission of this program: assassinations of top Al Qaeda leaders. Not the "A" word!
Nevermind the fact that the world would be much better served if a few less bin Laden's were walking around but there is no difference between what the Bush Administration wanted to do with this program and what the Obama Administration is doing now in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In Newsweek 7/8/09:
The Obama administration's much-heralded new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan (AfPak, as the portfolio has been called) is to pour in piles of cash to develop the countries being rent by militias like the Taliban. But the plan is much more equivocal about the tactics for combating those groups. Under Gen. David McKiernan, the previous U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Predator drones were a primary tool for engagment, but since the man who replaced him, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has announced a mandate to limit civilian deaths, experts thought drone attacks would abate. Not so far, according to this week's news.
So as you can see, nothing's changed. Instead of CIA agents on the ground taking out high-value terrorist operatives, we are now doing it from the sky with predator drones. It's still assassination no?
So what is this REALLY about? Cover. Political cover to be exact.
What you are witnessing is the Dems rallying around the flag. They are closing ranks to protect thier leader, Speaker Pelosi.
She got caught. She knows she got caught. WE know she got caught. And yet, she persists. The Dems can't allow her to fall. No matter what, they must keep her there.
If she falls they will be crushed. The political ramifications of something that big would send shockwaves through Washington and beyond. This would turn the American People against them and quickly. The just got their power back and they by no means intend to give it away.
So they have decided they are going to dig in and fight. They are going to fight the most powerful, secretive and skilled intelligence agency in the world. (The Israeli Mossad is a very close second)
The people WE call on to bring down countries from within. The ones we call on to know everything about everything BEFORE anybody else knows it.
Well all I can say is good luck. Your going to need it. This is going to get ugly...soon.
Oh and for those of you with wet dreams about Cheney doing the "perp walk" for this, think again. You don't serve in the government for as long as Cheney has without knowing how to protect yourself.
Remember in Washington it's not WHO or WHAT you know that keeps you out of trouble. It's WHAT you know about where the "bodies" are buried. Cheney knows not only that but he also knows who put them there and they know it.
This is nothing more than politics, pure and simple. As usual, when it comes to choosing between thier power and the good of the People, The Dems choose their power. Typical.

The Irony of an Insult

The big news in the last few days has been about the Iraqi "journalist" who threw his shoes at a President Bush while he was giving a press conference recently on his trip to Baghdad. The man, who I won't dignify by naming him, stood up, and while yelling at The President, took off one shoe and then the other and hurled them one at a time at The President nearly hitting him. He was then quickly (although not quickly enough as far as I'm concerned) tackled by security and summarily removed from the room. Although it appears The President was not in any danger (other than getting smacked in the face with a size 10 shoe) this is still a major security incident and an outright slap in the face to Mr Bush.

In the Arab world when you REALLY want to insult someone you tell them they are lower than the dirt you are walking on and the way you do that is by throwing your shoes at them. You'll recall the news footage of the Iraqi's hitting the large bronze statue of Saddam with their shoes in the face once it was toppled. This is indeed a very serious insult.

Obviously in the mind of this Iraqi journalist, President Bush is deserving of this kind of public scorn and humiliation for what he perceives has been done to his country. However, it strikes me as ironic that this man felt he had the freedom to commit this act. You see, he was able to perpetrate this very act because he now has the freedom to do so. If he had hurled his shoes, let alone a verbal insult, at Saddam Hussein he would have been executed, his house would have been bulldozed and they would be playing soccer in the streets with his head!!! It's ironic that the very person who is mainly responsible for this man's new found freedom and liberty, President Bush, would also be the target of his scorn. President Bush for his credit acknowledged that "this is what happens in free societies". He is a class act through and through and I believe that history will treat his legacy well.

As for that Iraqi journalist? Well, let's just say that when it comes to your freedom, America says "You're welcome" and leave it at that.

Terrorism STILL a threat!

In the last seven years here in the United States we have been warned from time to time about the possibility of new attacks by al Queda or other terrorist organizations. However, thanks to the commitment from President Bush and the often criticized and ridiculed Department of Homeland Security, we have not been attacked again since 9/11. This is cause for both celebration and for concern.

First we should all celebrate that we have not had to endure another attack on our country and have not had to witness our citizens get murdered in cold blood as we did on 9/11. However, this is also a cause to be concerned because this also means that many of us have forgotten what happened that day and have become complacent.

There should be no mistaking the agenda of our enemies. They mean to kill as many of us as possible and they mean to continue trying to do this unless we wipe them out. We should remember that even though we have not been attacked again that does not mean that they haven't tried! On the contrary, they have tried many times and we have been fortunate, lucky or cautious enough to have uncovered the plot before it was executed.

Take for instance the plot by terrorists to hijack and explode several commercial airline jets flying from England to the United States. If this would have been allowed to proceed they would have killed thousands and would have caused millions in material damage. The psychological effect of this attack would have also been devastating. Imagine if you needed to be concerned any time a commercial airliner flew over your house or city. You would always be wondering if this would be the one that would come crashing down. And if you think we have strict regulations for passenger screening at the airport now just imagine what would happen if they somehow used planes against us AGAIN! We might all be traveling nude for the foreseeable future!!! Thankfully, due to the cooperation between international authorities this plot was foiled before it could be implemented.

However, we should not think that this will be the last attempt. The attacks this last week in Mumbai prove that there are terrorist organizations in the world today that are well equipped, well funded and willing to unleash destruction on a massive scale anywhere in the world. As long as radical Islam is a force in the world this threat will continue.

One other thing that we need to think about is the fact that terrorists are by nature very patient. They will take the time to plan, train and equip their soldiers before they launch their attack and unfortunately that gives them an edge. You see, most people have very short memories. After 9/11 EVERYONE was worried about terrorism. Today there are some that still think about it but for the most part it's not something that most people concern themselves with on a daily basis. This is exactly the kind of behavior that terrorists expect from the general public and they use this to their advantage.

Take for example the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. It was by all accounts a failed operation since they did not achieve their objective of toppling the towers. So what did they do? Did they scrap the entire idea and move on to other targets? Yes and no. Yes, they did go on to attack the USS Cole, the Khobar Towers and the Embassies in Africa but simultaneously they were training for and architecting a long term plan to take down the World Trade Center which they did 8 years later. The lesson to be learned here is that they are patient, persistent and dedicated to their cause and that makes them a threat.

If we are to survive and eventually vanquish this foe we must learn to think like them and start taking this serious. We should continue to live our lives and not live in fear but we must also remain vigilant. We are one mushroom cloud away from a major tragedy in this country. They are already planning their next event and in the words of Osama bin Laden the next attack on the United States will be "spectacular". You can bet on it.