The political left’s utter hatred of Ms. Harris is undiminished after the elections of 2000. But let’s face it – if this is the best the dems and their leftmedia cheerleaders can come up with, they’re grasping at straws.
Posted on 08/04/2004 6:59:09 AM PDT by Joe Brower
Terror-plot statement a surprise in Indiana
By DAVID HACKETT
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
August 4, 2004
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.
Staff writers Cory Reiss and Jeremy Wallace contributed to this report.
The political left’s utter hatred of Ms. Harris is undiminished after the elections of 2000. But let’s face it – if this is the best the dems and their leftmedia cheerleaders can come up with, they’re grasping at straws.
Katherine Harris Says Many Potential Terrorist Attacks In U.S. Thwarted By Bush Administration
Reminder of Orin Hatch speeding to the first open mic he could find after 9-11 to report to the world that the Pentagon was tracking OLB via his cell phone.
Elected officials need to learn to keep their mouths shut.
The press knows what the limits are, and they know what they are doing in demanding information that they fully realize cannot be given.
I am from Indianapolis, and we haven't heard about this at all. Carmel is a rich suburb of Indianapolis, but I don't think it would be a really strategic target here. Now Newport, which houses the VX stockpiles, well, that would be one I would assume we were guarding closely.
They can say what they want about her, but it looks like she's ridin' high in the saddle to me! Whee-hah!
That's how I see it, too. Also, the officials in Indiana must deny it all at this point -- whether it is true or not -- because their constituencies are upset about not having been told.
Its too late then moron.
Things like this are not reported, even to local officials, in order to alleviate widespread panic. Due to human nature, it's SOP to take care of things like this in secret, and it's been that way for many, many years. Local authorities are not equipped or trained to deal with this sort of thing in the highly determined manner that federal agencies are, despite what they might like to think.
No, I don't like it either, being as wary of overbearing federal government as much as I am, but that is the way this particular game must be played, if one wants to win at minimum cost, both in lives and material.
This particular brand of secrecy is only getting attention now because it can be used as a means of attack against a politician for whom the democRATs will always harbor an undying hatred. Plus the fact that Islamic terrorism is very much a present-day affair.
But she needs to shorten her stirrups a bit. :)
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