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Ann Coulter - Thank you for choosing United, Mr. bin Laden
townhall.com ^ | 4/15/04 | Ann Coulter

Posted on 04/14/2004 10:50:27 PM PDT by kattracks

Last week, 9-11 commissioner John Lehman revealed that "it was the policy (before 9-11) and I believe remains the policy today to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that's discriminatory." Hmmm ... Is 19 more than two? Why, yes, I believe it is. So if two Jordanian cab drivers are searched before boarding a flight out of Newark, Osama bin Laden could then board that plane without being questioned. I'm no security expert, but I'm pretty sure this gives terrorists an opening for an attack.

In a sane world, Lehman's statement would have made headlines across the country the next day. But not one newspaper, magazine or TV show has mentioned that it is official government policy to prohibit searching more than two Arabs per flight.

Meanwhile, another 9-11 commissioner, the greasy Richard Ben-Veniste, claimed to be outraged that the CIA did not immediately give intelligence on 9-11 hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar to the FBI. As we now know – or rather, I alone know because I'm the only person in America watching the 9-11 hearings – Ben-Veniste should have asked his fellow commissioner Jamie Gorelick about that.

In his testimony this week, John Ashcroft explained that the FBI wasn't even told Almihdhar and Alhazmi were in the country until weeks before the 9-11 attack – because of Justice Department guidelines put into place in 1995. The FBI wasn't allowed to put al-Qaida specialists on the hunt for Almihdhar and Alhazmi – because of Justice Department guidelines put into place in 1995. Indeed, the FBI couldn't get a warrant to search Zacarias Moussaoui's computer – because of Justice Department guidelines put into place in 1995.

The famed 1995 guidelines were set forth in a classified memorandum written by the then-deputy attorney general titled "Instructions for Separation of Certain Foreign Counterintelligence and Criminal Investigations," which imposed a "draconian" wall between counterintelligence and criminal investigations.

What Ashcroft said next was breathtaking. Prohibited from mounting a serious search for Almihdhar and Alhazmi, an irritated FBI investigator wrote to FBI headquarters, warning that someone would die because of these policies – "since the biggest threat to us, OBL (Osama bin Laden), is getting the most protection."

FBI headquarters responded: "We're all frustrated with this issue. These are the rules. NSLU (National Security Law Unit) does not make them up. But somebody did make these rules. Somebody built this wall."

The person who built that wall described in the infamous 1995 memo, Ashcroft said, "is a member of the commission." If this were an episode of "Matlock," the camera would slowly pan away from Ashcroft's face at this point and then quickly jump to an extreme close-up of Jamie Gorelick's horrified expression. Armed marshals would then escort the kicking, screaming Gorelick away in leg irons as the closing credits rolled. Gorelick was the deputy attorney general in 1995.

The 9-11 commission has finally uncovered the proverbial "smoking gun"! But it was fired by one of the 9-11 commissioners. Maybe between happy reminiscences about the good old days of Ruby Ridge, Waco and the Elian Gonzales raid, Ben-Veniste could ask Gorelick about those guidelines. Democrats think it's a conflict of interest for Justice Scalia to have his name in the same phonebook as Dick Cheney. But there is no conflict of interest having Gorelick sit on a commission that should be investigating her.

Bill O'Reilly's entire summary of Ashcroft's testimony was to accuse Ashcroft of throwing sheets over naked statues rather than fighting terrorism. No mention of the damning Gorelick memo. No one knows about the FAA's No-Searching-Arabs counterterrorism policy. Predictions that conservatives have finally broken through the wall of sound coming from the mainstream media may have been premature.

When Democrats make an accusation against Republicans, newspaper headlines repeat the accusation as a fact: "U.S. Law Chief 'Failed to Heed Terror Warnings,'" "Bush Was Told of Qaida Steps Pre-9-11; Secret Memo Released," "Bush White House Said to Have Failed to Make al-Qaida an Early Priority."

But when Republicans make accusations against Democrats – even accusations backed up by the hard fact of a declassified Jamie Gorelick memo – the headlines note only that Republicans are making accusations: "Ashcroft Lays Blame at Clinton's Feet," "Ashcroft: Blame Bubba for 9-11," "Ashcroft Faults Clinton in 9-11 Failures."

It's amazing how consistent it is. A classic of the genre was the Chicago Tribune headline, which managed to use both constructs in a single headline: "Ashcroft Ignored Terrorism, Panel Told; Attorney General Denies Charges, Blames Clinton." Why not: "Reno Ignored Terrorism, Panel Told; Former Deputy Attorney General Denies Charges, Blames Bush"?

Democrats actively created policies that were designed to hamstring terrorism investigations. The only rap against the Bush administration is that it failed to unravel the entire 9-11 terrorism plot based on a memo titled: "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States."

I have news for liberals: Bin Laden is still determined to attack inside the United States! Could they please tell us when and where the next attack will be? Because unless we know that, it's going to be difficult to stop it if we can't search Arabs.

Ann Coulter is host of AnnCoulter.org, a Townhall.com member group.

©2004 Universal Press Syndicate

Contact Ann Coulter | Read Coulter's biography



TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 229; 911; 911commission; alhazmi; almihdhar; clintonfailure; clintonfailures; coulter; gorelick; gorelickgate; gorelickmemo; sept11
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To: nopardons
I made up UBC... but there is an MBC on cable... Minority Broadcasting Company...
41 posted on 04/15/2004 12:21:35 AM PDT by GeronL (Dr. Pepper Fiend)
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To: Graymatter
"...I alone know because I'm the only person in America watching the 9-11 hearings..."

Even Ann feels lonely and frustrated sometimes.

42 posted on 04/15/2004 12:21:57 AM PDT by endthematrix (To enter my lane you must use your turn signal!)
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To: alaskanfan; kattracks
Obligatory photo please!

Me?? I didn't post this thread... =o)

43 posted on 04/15/2004 12:22:29 AM PDT by GeronL (Dr. Pepper Fiend)
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To: GeronL
Really? I've never heard about MBC either.

You have now become my "go to guy",when it comes to T.V. info. :-)

44 posted on 04/15/2004 12:23:03 AM PDT by nopardons (..)
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To: Kozak
Thank you!!!
45 posted on 04/15/2004 12:27:52 AM PDT by alaskanfan
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To: GeronL
<< did you know about that rule?? No more than two arab males per flight can be searched??

HUH??

All they gotta do is send more than 2?? >>

I knew it and wrote obsessively about it from the time arab terrorists walked on the bomb that brought down TWA's Boeing B-747 off Long Island and when, in close concert and cooperation with their hastily-allied beached-whale-corporation major-airline operating cohorts, subsequently brought off the corruptly-cli'ton FBI-mismanaged/NTSB "accident investigation" and follow-on Al-queada Gore-leone "investigation" into "airline security."

[Pardon me a minute here -- HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah HahHahHahHahHah -- that's a bloody joke!]

And they also noticed and sent way more than 2 -- which we all noticed.

And at least two of their major enablers and facilitators, DICK BEN-VENISTE and GORELICKer sit on the so-called "9-11 Commission."

Go figger.
46 posted on 04/15/2004 12:33:12 AM PDT by Brian Allen (Intact - Male - American - Republican - Pro-Bush - PRO-ISRAEL - Pro-War - Pro-Gun - Pro-Life! Next?)
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To: nopardons
I watch very little TV actually.

MBC came up because they had boxing and I wanted to watch Boxing and ESPN2 was showing College Basketball!

Comcast stinks BTW

47 posted on 04/15/2004 12:34:20 AM PDT by GeronL (Dr. Pepper Fiend)
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To: Brian Allen
Why won't the media talk about that?? You'd think the conservative media would!
48 posted on 04/15/2004 12:36:07 AM PDT by GeronL (Dr. Pepper Fiend)
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To: Yaelle
It's behooves us to make our own media outlets in various forms. From local weeklies, to worldwide satellite news programs. The Internet alone is just NOT going to cut it.

Who has the initial money to be put up, in the case of satellite/cable productions? Who can back us? Surely there are some out there.

49 posted on 04/15/2004 12:36:25 AM PDT by Dec31,1999 (Capital punishment saves lives.)
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To: GeronL
I thought everyone watched Matlock =o)

I thought only bluehairs who winter in Florida watched Matlock.

50 posted on 04/15/2004 12:36:27 AM PDT by BigSkyFreeper (Liberalism is Communism one drink at a time. - P.J. O'Rourke)
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To: kattracks
Botta Bing, Botta Boom.
51 posted on 04/15/2004 12:36:31 AM PDT by fella
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To: GeronL
Bob Grant has railed and ranted about how lousy Comcast is,for decades, so that bit of T.V. info I know. :-)
52 posted on 04/15/2004 12:36:44 AM PDT by nopardons (..)
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To: BigSkyFreeper
I watched it. I was bored. It was better than Golden Girls and 21 Jump Street....
53 posted on 04/15/2004 12:39:02 AM PDT by GeronL (Dr. Pepper Fiend)
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To: nopardons

New Tagline Alert!


54 posted on 04/15/2004 12:41:48 AM PDT by GeronL (I wore my chair out. I now use a plastic lawn chair.)
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To: GeronL
21 Jump Street, now there's a show I haven't seen in a long time. Used to watch that in syndication about 10 years ago. I've found myself watching Rockford Files oddly enough when I get bored.
55 posted on 04/15/2004 12:42:00 AM PDT by BigSkyFreeper (Liberalism is Communism one drink at a time. - P.J. O'Rourke)
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To: BigSkyFreeper
What about 'War of the Worlds': the series? and 'My Secret Identity'?

these are pre-UPN programs.

56 posted on 04/15/2004 12:44:40 AM PDT by GeronL (I wore my chair out. I now use a plastic lawn chair.)
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To: GeronL
That's a funny tagline. LOL
57 posted on 04/15/2004 12:44:45 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: nopardons
Its true. Think FR owes me a chair?
58 posted on 04/15/2004 12:46:00 AM PDT by GeronL (I wore my chair out. I now use a plastic lawn chair.)
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To: GeronL
Only if FR owes me a new sofa.I've worn this one out,posting to FR. :-)
59 posted on 04/15/2004 12:47:07 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: BigSkyFreeper
Hey... just remembered... Mr.Belvedere
60 posted on 04/15/2004 12:47:32 AM PDT by GeronL (I wore my chair out. I now use a plastic lawn chair.)
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