Verbosities

I'm not calling BG naive. Let's start with that. However, the idea that the frontline in the War on Terror are the guys from Reno 911 is an idea with a foudation of naitivity not seen since some argued Hitler only wanted Poland. It's the kind of naitivity that already cost us 3000 American lives on September 11th.

How can I say that, you ask? It's simple. From the day these terrorists first attacked us in 1993, to the day President Bush invaded Afghanistan, the United States treated terrorism as a law enforcement problem. We waited until we were attacked and then sought out the men responsible so they could be punished. Let's review...

On February 26th, 1993, al Qaida carried out its first attack on U.S. soil. Six people were killed and more than 1000 were injured. In the end, 10 Islamic militants were convicted. Some of those indicted remain at large today. The man who financed it, Khaled Shaikh Mohammed, was eventually captured, but it wasn't the police who caught him, it was the U.S. military.

On June 25th, 1996, terrorists, who may have been part of al Qaida, bombed the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen U.S. servicemen were killed. The four primary people responsible remain at large today. You can rest easier in knowing they've been indicted. The 9/11 Commission reports Osama bin Laden received congratulations the day of the attack.

On August 7th, 1998, al Qaida simultaneously attacked two U.S. embassies in Africa. Eleven Americans were among the 225 people killed. More than 4000 people were injured. Twenty-one people were indicted, nine remain at large, including Osama bin Laden, 4 others were killed or captured, but again, not by police. After this attack, there was a military response. A cruise missle destroyed a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan. The President believed there were WMDs there. The intelligence was later proved to be less than reliable. I know what you're thinking... no WMDs... bad intelligence... yeah, same song and dance, different President. Other cruise missles were launched at suspected al Qaida training camps, with questionable results.

On October 12th, 2000, al Qaida attacked the USS Cole at a port in Yemen. Seventeen American sailors were killed. President Clinton promised to find those responsible and hold them accountable. Some of the men being held "accountable" escaped from a Yemeni prison a little more than a year ago. They are still on the loose. One of the planners of attack was killed in 2002 when the vehicle he was in was destroyed by a hellfire missle fired by a U.S. military drone. I don't think law enforcement was involved in that one.

On September 11th, 2001, well, you know what al Qaida did that day.

For almost a decade, our government treated terrorism like a law enforcement problem. Plenty of people were indicted. Some were even actually captured and thrown into jail. And yet the attacks continued and continued, growing in magnitude. When 3000 people were killed, our President finally learned that waiting for the next attack and trying to arrest the perpetrators was only asking for more death and destruction.

There is a time and a place for investigations and intelligence. A lucky break helped a video clerk tip off the FBI. Law enforcement worked that time. And every now and then, it will work. But to pretend as though we're not at war... not at war with people whose sole purpose in life is to kill as many innocent Americans as possible, well, you're living in the same fantasy world our leaders were living in for a decade as terrorists murdered thousands and thousands. But as long as we track them down later and arrest them, everything's okay, right?