Overheard this morning during the few seconds between when my wife’s alarm went off and when she hit the snooze button :
"Mr Secretary, do you think this may be related to al Qaeda."
Well, shit. There’s no falling back asleep after hearing that.
Tell me about it.
When I hear stories about us (or the U.K., or Canada) foiling terrorist threats, I always recall the 2004 presidential campaign. Conservatives mocked John Kerry when he suggested that we can ensure our national security through — among other things — good intelligence and law enforcement.
Here, for example, is what Ed Gillespie, Chairman of the Republican Party in 2004, said in response to Kerry’s message:
"Terrorism is not a law enforcement matter, as John Kerry repeatedly says. Terrorist activities are not like gambling. Terrorist activities are not like prostitution. And this demonstrates a disconcerting pre-September 11 mindset that will not make our country safer. And that is what we see relative to winning the war on terror and relative to Iraq."
The Bush people even ran an anti-Kerry ad based on this theme. An Bush himself told a Florida audience:
"Kerry said, and I quote, ‘The war on terror is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering law enforcement operation.’ (Audience boos.) I disagree. I disagree….. After the chaos and carnage of September the 11th, it is not enough to serve our enemies with legal papers. With those attacks, the terrorists and supporters declared war on the United States of America — and war is what they got. (Audience applauds.)
Bush used almost the identical words again and again and again. Cheney used it a few times himself.
Now skip forward to the past 24 hours. Who foiled the terrorist plot…
Was it soldiers?
Nope. Scotland Yard.
An intelligence-gathering law enforcement agency.
Democrats are BETTER on national security because they know how to do it.
UPDATE: Reports are sketchy, but it looks like the terrorist suspects were of Pakistani origin. Bush, is cozy with Pakisan. They are our "ally" in the war on terror.