January 29, 2006

Liberal Loathing of America Puts All Americans in Danger

It's criminal for the U.S. to have had legislation in place that prevents law-enforcement personnel and intelligence agents from working together to save American lives. From Delroy Murdock, senior fellow with the Atlas Economic Research Foundation:

Seemingly fueled by theoretical fears of Big Brother more than the actual dangers of terrorism, President Clinton's attorney general, Janet Reno, issued restrictions in 1995 that hindered communications between spies and gumshoes. As City Journal contributing editor Heather Mac Donald found, frustrated New York FBI agents placed signs on their desks that read, "You may not talk to me."

Indeed, in August 2001, FBI headquarters barred a New York intelligence agent, who sought hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar, from consulting colleagues on the Bureau's criminal side. "If al-Midhar is located, the interview must be conducted by an intel agent," FBI brass explained by e-mail. "A criminal agent CAN NOT be present at the interview." As former National Security Agency general counsel Stewart Baker noted in a December 31, 2003, Slate column, the New York agent replied that August 29: "Some day someone will die - and wall or not - the public will not understand why we were not more effective" against terrorists.

These restrictions embodied Liberal loathing of America at its most dangerous.

Liberals believe that America is the enemy of a never-defined notion of right behavior. So for example, you have Cindy Sheehan saying that all Presidents, both Democrat and Republican, are "monsters." You have Hillary Clinton saying -- while she was First Lady -- "I loathe the military."

The restrictions against communication between the institutions that protect our lives, show a distrust of America, its people and institutions. Clinton and Reno did not have the faith that the Americans who made up the people of these institutions could be trusted to protect American lives. Clinton and Reno took the position that they had to hobble the very institutions designed to protect Americans --- weakening those institutions and putting American lives in grave danger. This distrust led to a criminal (ethically and perhaps even legally criminal) restriction on free speech between government agencies, that put the lives of all Americans in danger, as in the case of 9-11.

"I think if the Patriot Act were in place in the summer of 2001 . . . connecting the dots would have been so basic and easy and fundamental," says Debra Burlingame, co-founder of 9-11 Families for a Safe and Strong America. "With basic detective work, the plot could have been cracked in a matter of days." Her brother, Capt. Charles Burlingame, piloted American Airlines Flight 77 until al Qaeda hijackers presumably murdered him, grabbed the controls, and smashed his Boeing 757 into the Pentagon, killing all 58 passengers and six crew members aboard and another 120 individuals on the ground.

How might the Patriot Act have snared Mohamed Atta and his band of mass murderers?

First, Patriot Act Section 218 would have eliminated "The Wall" that prevented intelligence agents and law-enforcement officials from sharing information.

...Were the Patriot Act in place, "The Wall" would not have prevented Minneapolis FBI agents from getting permission to examine the laptop and possessions of "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui. Had they done so, they might have discovered leads to 9/11 conspirator Ramzi Binalshibh and Atta's Hamburg cell, which hatched this atrocity. 

..Third, Patriot Act Section 806 might have allowed federal officials to seize the financial assets of Atta and fellow pilot Marwan al-Shehhi if they suspected terrorist intent. According to The 9/11 Commission Report, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, a nephew of al Qaeda bigwig Khalid Sheik Mohammed, sent Atta and al-Shehhi five wire transfers from Dubai totaling $114,500. The Patriot Act might have de-funded the hijackers before they were airborne.

"The Patriot Act would have saved 3,000 lives, and what's scary about that is once they start tinkering with it, it could cost not just 3,000, but tens of thousands of lives," says Debra Burlingame. "September 11 whetted the terrorists' appetites. Now they know the possibilities. There's nothing like success to motivate people."

Murdock reports that the Patriot Act has already made it possible for 401 suspected terrorists to be charged -- 212 of whom have already plead guilty or been convicted.

The Liberal loathing of America is a self-loathing, since the Libs are Americans. It is dangerous to the Liberals themselves, as well as to all their countrymen. 

The restrictions against inter-agency communication present a clear and present danger to American lives. The Patriot Act must be renewed.

Update 7-7-07: I've just noticed that there appear to be thousands of people coming in to see this post - over another thousand in just the past 24 hours. Welcome to the site! I'm curious to find out how people are hearing about this article. It would be great if some readers could leave a comment and tell me how you found out about this post.