Ever-Vigilant

Former (Vice) President The Dick would like everyone to believe that he held back the al Qaeda hordes by leading us into a diversionary war in Iraq and by pushing torture methods. The evidence remains that no actionable intelligence was obtained through torture, as stated by the CIA Inspector General and FBI interrogation specialists -- and the practices actually helped al Qaeda in their recruitment and propaganda efforts. Nice work, The Dick.

It now appears that The Dick almost sabotaged Britain's efforts to round up the terrorists that were plotting to blow up airliners over the Atlantic. The Dick ordered the arrest of Rashid Rauf, a key operative in the plot, before British law enforcement had a chance to collect necessary evidence against his co-conspirators. "It hampered our evidence gathering and placed us in Britain under intolerable pressure," according to Andy Hayman, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police for Special Operations. Again, nice work, The Dick.

(photo: The Dick in deep thought during an anti-terrorist briefing)

Don't Look Now. . . .

We've long believed that the Pakistan border tribal region of Waziristan was the home base of al Qaeda, and that their numbers were growing largely due to the acquiescence of the Pakistani government. Now, the NY Times reports that yesterday Pakistani troops fired warning shots at U.S. helicopters patrolling the border. The helicopters returned warning shots and turned back into Afghanistan.

Not a reassuring picture, given the $1 billion in aid we provide to Pakistan each year. And unlike Iran and Iraq, Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state, which makes it even more attractive for al Qaeda subversion. But don't tell Sen. McBombbombbomb or Preznit Dumbya. Victory in Iraq! Bomb Iran! High five! Booyah!

The Central Front

For years, the Bush Assministration and St. John McBombbombbomb have declared Iraq to be the central front of the war on terror, despite the fact that al Qaeda in Iraq never represented more than 10 percent of the insurgency, according to the U.S. military. While we were distracted by Dumbya's Iraqi misadventure, al Qaeda and its allies have been building up their forces in the northwestern frontier of Pakistan and in Afghanistan, where today the Taliban allies of al Qaeda control much of the country and threaten the Karzai government. Here's a link to one of our posts in February 2007 about the rise of al Qaeda.

Today's bombing of the Islamabad Marriott hotel is a stark reminder that the "central front" was always where al Qaeda's command structure lived - - in those same mountains straddling the Afghan/Pakistan frontier. The years wasted in Dumbya's settling of Bush family scores with Saddam Hussein, and his Assministration's deceptions leading up to the Iraq war, represent a huge betrayal in the fight against the 9/11 attackers. We've lost precious time and resources, and we're getting to the point of no return in that fight.

(photo: Agence France Presse)

Heckuva Job

Read this post on Hullabaloo to understand why, on the 9/11 anniversary, we should be deeply angry at the Bushies for their incompetence.

An Infamous Anniversary

As Think Progress notes, it was seven years ago today that Preznit Dumbya received the "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." briefing memorandum while on vacation at his fake Crawford, TX ranch. A little more than a month later, al Qaeda struck the U.S.

Since then, it's been revealed (Richard Clarke, Scot McClellan, Bob Woodward, etc.) that Dumbya and Dead Eye Dick had Iraq on their minds - - and in their sights - - since shortly after Dumbya's inauguration in January 2001. Little wonder that this threat was ignored, when they were so busy focusing on bringing down Saddam Hussein, the guy that "tried to kill my dad" as Dumbya put it in 2002.

(photo: Dumbya showing his respect for the flag and 9-11 victims)

The Bungled War on Terrorism

Ever since the attacks on 9/11, the conventional wisdom has been that the Rethuglicans have the political advantage when discussing national security. Dems, it is thought, should stick to health care, education, and the economy. Luckily, Sen. Obama hasn't bought into the conventional wisdom and - - along with Sen. Joe Biden - - is going on offense when it comes to the war on terrorism. Obama's point is that when the Bush Assministration decided to attack Iraq, it took its eye off of the battle with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the northwest frontier of Pakistan. Bin Laden and his high command are still at large after seven years.

The lengths to which the Bush Assministration went to in falsifying, manipulating or disregarding intelligence concerning WMDs in Iraq is a sign that 9/11 provided needed cover for them to take care of unfinished business from Bush 41's administration: the toppling of Saddam Hussein. The unfinished business of 9/11 remains, and that's nothing that the Rethugs should be proud of.