Katherine Harris Says Many Potential Terrorist Attacks In U.S. Thwarted By Bush Administration

VENICE -- U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris said Monday that the United States has "literally defeated 100 (potential) terrorist attacks on this country" in the past three years, some of which could have been as deadly as the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center.

Speaking Monday night in Venice at a rally in support of President Bush, Harris said the United States is winning the war against terrorism.

"His remarkable leadership … has made our country safe," Harris told an overflow crowd of more than 600 at the Holiday Inn. The event was sponsored by the Republican Club of South Sarasota County.

In an interview after the speech, Harris said she learned from classified information about the 100 potential attacks that have been thwarted since 9/11.

"Actually, it's been more than 100," she said. "It's classified … obviously not classified to me … but things I can't go into detail about."

Harris, a first-term Republican congresswoman from Longboat Key, said terrorism remains the No. 1 challenge facing the nation.

Harris told the audience that while she was in the Midwest recently, the mayor of Carmel, Ind., recounted how a man of Middle Eastern heritage had been arrested. She said hundreds of pounds of explosives were found in his home.

Pressed after the speech for details about the arrest, Harris said it had not been made public and she asked a reporter not to name the city she mentioned to the audience.

Contacted Monday night, Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said a man was arrested two years ago and was sent to the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Carmel Police Chief Michael Fogarty said he had "no knowledge" of an arrest. "I don't know where that information came from," he said. "I certainly haven't heard anything about it."

Harris also told the audience that the war in Iraq has been a success. Since the United States toppled Saddam Hussein, 1,700 schools have opened where "students learn the truth, not lies," she said.

She blamed television reporters for presenting a slanted view of the war, saying they have been ordered by their networks not "to report good news … just stories about deaths and injuries."

Harris said she did not know how long U.S. troops would be stationed in Iraq, but that the more important issue was keeping terrorists out of this country.

"I don't want to have to live like our very good friends in Israel," she said. "Parents and grandparents who have to worry every day when they put their children on the school bus whether that bus will be blown up."

Harris was returning to Washington, D.C., today for hearings on the 9/11 Commission's report. She said she has read the report and found it "very balanced."

But the lawmaker said she is reluctant to fully endorse the commission's recommendations until she is satisfied that some of the changes, notably creating an intelligence czar who would report directly to the president, will not lead to a "bureaucratic morass."

In her speech, Harris also praised Bush's handling of the economy, saying the "recession inherited from the Clinton administration," the decline of technology stocks and other problems each in themselves "would have been enough to decimate the economy."

Harris was clearly the star attraction at the event Monday night. While local candidates such as Venice Mayor Dean Calamaras and Sarasota County Sheriff Bill Balkwill mingled with the audience, shaking hands, Harris, wearing a pink suit and a pearl necklace, attracted a long line of autograph seekers before the speech.

"It's always like this," said Sydney Spence, a campaign aide. "It's like being with a rock star."

"She's an attraction," said Hussman, a retiree who has lived in Venice 21 years. "I like her integrity, her honesty. She's classy, but she doesn't make you feel she's looking down on you." [And she hardly ever says "Shove it!"]

Harris is unopposed in this month's primary. Four Democrats are vying to oppose her in the November election.

Here's the expected follow-up story from today's Herald Tribune:

VENICE -- Officials in Indiana and Washington, D.C., said they are dumbfounded by a statement U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris made about a terrorist plot to blow up a power grid in Indiana.

In making the statement during a speech to 600 people Monday night in Venice, Harris either shared a closely held secret or passed along second-hand information as fact.

A staff member of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which oversees the nation's intelligence operations, said he had heard of no such plot.

And Indiana officials in the county where the power grid is located were at a loss to explain where the information originated.

"As the sheriff of this county, I would certainly be aware of such a threat," Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Carter said. "I have no information to corroborate any of that."

In an interview Tuesday, Harris would not reveal the name of the mayor who told her about the threat or provide further details.

She said in the speech that a man of Middle Eastern heritage had been arrested in the plot and that explosives were found in his home in Carmel, a suburb north of Indianapolis.

Harris, a Republican from Longboat Key who is running for re-election, said the case was an example of the nation's success in fighting terrorism.

Carmel Mayor James Brainard and a spokesman for Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan said they had no knowledge of such a plot. Brainard said he had never spoken to Harris.

President Bush's fight against terrorism was a key part of the speech Harris gave Monday at a Republican rally in support of Bush at the Holiday Inn in Venice.

During the speech, she also said 100 terrorist threats against the United States had been thwarted since Sept. 11, 2001.

Applause greeted many of her comments.

On Tuesday, Harris disputed a statement in a Herald-Tribune article that said she learned of the 100 threats from classified information.

She said the information originated with Attorney General John Ashcroft and was not classified.

In testimony before Congress on April 1, 2003, Ashcroft said: "The FBI indicates that since Sept. 11, 2001, over 100 terrorist plots have been disrupted."

Similar statements have also been made by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., in defense of the Patriot Act.

But the staff member of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said potential attacks are hard to define.

"It's impossible to say how many attacks have been stopped," the staff member said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "If you're talking about terrorists strapped with explosives ready to blow themselves up in a shopping mall, we certainly haven't had that."

Ed Turzanski, a terrorism expert at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, said that "by using a broad brush" you could say that 100 potential terrorists have been stopped since Sept. 11.

"That would include home-grown fanatics, money launderers and others related to terrorism," Turzanski said. "In that case, 100 is a conservative figure. But if you're talking about 100 potential attacks like Sept. 11, no way."

Turzanski said he was unaware of a plot in Indiana.

He said that making such statements without providing specific details to back them up "only serves to erode public confidence" in the credibility of government.

A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security would not comment Tuesday on Harris' statements.

Harris' comments were seized upon Tuesday by one of her Democratic opponents.

Floyd Jay Winters, one of four Democrats running for the nomination to oppose Harris in this fall's election, called it irresponsible to bring up allegations at a rally but provide no details.

In the case of the alleged plot in Indiana, "it will only incite fear if it's not true and if it is true, she shouldn't be talking about it because it is classified," Winters said.

But Don O'Nesky, head of the Republican Club of South Sarasota County, which sponsored Monday's event, said Harris' comments rang true.

O'Nesky said there are terrorists in communities throughout America and he praised Harris for speaking out on the subject.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.