Janet Napolitano’s “Man-Made Disasters” And The ACTUAL War On Terror She Refuses To Acknowledge
Dec 28, 2009 16 Comments ›› Erik Wong
Showing sensitivity to the people who want you dead is a good way to help them succeed.
Homeland Security: Al-Qaida’s botched Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253 raises a series of concerns about U.S. vulnerability. Chief among them: a Homeland Security chief in denial that we are at war.
The nearly 300 trans-Atlantic passengers targeted for death by alleged would-be suicide bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab were saved not by any policy of the Homeland Security Department, but by the good luck of a detonator malfunctioning.
So how could Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have kept a straight face when she claimed in the immediate aftermath that “the traveling public is safe” and “the system worked”? Soon after, she was forced to agree during an NBC “Today” interview that the system of protecting the homeland from terrorists actually “failed miserably.”
Abdulmutallab’s father walked into the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria earlier this year to warn America about this fanatic. The U.S. apparently ignored the message. Can a system that looks such gift intelligence in the mouth be said by anyone to be working?
And how believable is the credibility-challenged Napolitano when she assures the nation the Christmas operation was not part of a larger terror plot when Abdulmutallab himself has told FBI agents other Yemen-based jihadists will strike soon?
The odds may remain pretty good for air travelers that they won’t be sent to kingdom come by a shoe bomber like Richard Reid or an undergarment guerilla like Abdulmutallab, but does anyone really believe after this incident that “the traveling public is safe”?
A big part of the problem is that Secretary Napolitano and her boss, the president, do not want to believe we are at war — a long, hard war — against barbarians like the Christmas bomber, his friends in Yemen, the masterminds who run al-Qaida and terrorist states like Iran and Syria.
She and the president have employed a policy of not using the terms “war on terror” and “terrorism” because they might foster an atmosphere of fear. Well, when fanatics are determined to kill Americans by the planeload, it would be irrational not to be afraid — and not to convert our fears into effective action.
“Overseas contingency operations” and “man-made disasters,” the favored substitute terms, are bureaucratese jargon designed to muddle the minds of the public and get people focused on this administration’s domestic agenda of expanding the government.
Pretending away the global war on terror only invites attacks like the one we just saw, and this administration is shirking its duties to the American people in embracing such a mind-set.
When Napolitano claimed “the system worked,” she was admittedly focusing on our reaction after the fact, alerting jets in the air that there was an attempted attack, etc. But to save American lives our policy must concentrate on pre-emption :
VClearly, Napolitano’s head must roll and a heavyweight be tapped to replace her — preferably a battle-hardened figure from the military or law enforcement.
• The government’s philosophical “nonwar” footing must be reversed; the psychology of a wartime posture sends a message to friend and foe alike that we are vigorously defending ourselves.
• Unapologetic “profiling” must be employed by security personnel at all airports, border crossings and wherever else travelers from abroad can be screened. A separate passport line, for instance, to scrutinize passengers from suspect countries is perfectly reasonable.
• The most technologically advanced full-body scan devices must be deployed at airports where any flight to the U.S. takes on passengers.
• Diplomatic and extra-diplomatic pressure must be applied to U.S. allies and friends who refuse to act against groups and facilities that harbor terrorists — like the notorious East London Mosque with which Abdulmutallab has been linked.
• The spectacularly successful Israeli methods regarding transportation and security should be emulated; as a nation surrounded by enemies, the Jewish state has never allowed “civil libertarians” to put their liberties at risk the way the U.S. has. El Al operates as the world’s safest airline in the most dangerous part of the world — thanks to uncompromising security protections.
• Napolitano’s politically motivated plans to unionize the employees of the Transportation Safety Administration must be scrapped. The safety of the homeland cannot be jeopardized by union bosses making collective bargaining demands.
• President Obama’s amendment last week to President Reagan’s 1983 Interpol executive order, in which Obama gave the international police force immunity from U.S. laws when it operates here, is an insult to our own law enforcement agencies at a time when we need them more than ever. The Christmas Day attempted bombing should spur the president to reconsider.
What happened on Christmas should serve as a wake-up call to Americans at a time when too many of us have allowed the memory of 9/11 to grow foggy and abstract.
The details of Abdulmutallab’s failed terror attack demonstrate the creativity of Islamic fanatics. The next time around, luck may be with them rather than the innocents.
Abdulmutallab reportedly had more than 80 grams of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), one of the most powerful explosives in existence, discreetly sewn into his underwear. PETN was used in August in the attempted assassination of Saudi Arabian Deputy Minister of Interior Muhammad bin Nayef.
Like nitroglycerin, PETN is also used to treat heart conditions. And while medical supplies can be policed, we know from all the illegal prescription drugs available on the streets of any U.S. city that criminals know how to get around such barriers. Chances are this won’t be the last terrorist use of PETN against Americans.
Also, new methods of attacking the U.S. and other free countries will unveil themselves in the years to come. Eternal vigilance and flexibility are absolute imperatives in this challenge facing all free people.
“War Is Over” may make for a catchy Christmas hit, but this war is far from over, whether we want it to be or not.
