Clinton, Schumer Call Bombings "Wakeup Call"

(1010 WINS) NEW YORK Calling the London attacks ``a wake up call,'' Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer on Thursday said the federal government has to do more to protect subways, rails, and buses from terrorists.

Schumer said that when a homeland security spending bill moves through the Senate next week, he would seek to quadruple the $100 million now slated to be spent on mass transit and rail security.

Schumer had already proposed an amendment to double the funding, but after the London rush hour bombings that killed dozens and injured many more, he said the funds should be doubled again.

``It seems clear mass transit is the terrorists' target of choice,'' he said. ``The bottom line is, we are not doing enough to protect mass transit.''

Clinton called for a comprehensive plan to protect all transportation systems and accused President Bush of addressing homeland security issues ``piecemeal.''

``It's been a little bit here, a little bit there, cut back there, don't go forward here,'' she said. ``We need to do more than we have been doing.''

Schumer said the government had done a good job of securing the country's airways but said other potential targets have been neglected.

``They don't understand that these terrorists are evil, but they're also smart and they're going to know exactly where we're strong and exactly where we're weak. You can't leave one place weak,'' he said.

Schumer said $50 million from the homeland security funds should go toward developing devices that can be installed on the ceilings of subway cars and at subway entrances to detect explosives, biological and chemical weapons.

The two Democrats spoke at an evening news conference at Schumer's Manhattan office.

You need to go back further. The former Soviet Union as well as most of the Warsaw Pact countries, were the primary instigators of modern Islamic Terrorism (as well as the Anarchist types such as Red Army Faction, etc...) They funded and trained these early groups and helped countries such as Lybia, Sudan, Yemen in organizing thier terrorist training camps. This all occured dirng the 60's and 70's.

There is no doubt that the Soviet Union used the Middle East as part of the battleground in the Cold War in the 60s and 70s. The Arab terrorists trained together primarily against Israel. However, the IRA was also training in Libya. There was no theological underpining to these terrorist movemements. They were based on nationalism.

When Khomeini returned to Iran in 1979, he began the Islamofascist movement, which used Islam as the theological basis to combat the modernity and mores of Western civilization. Khomeini proved it was possible to humiliate and defeat the United States, demonstrating that America, the Great Satan, was a paper tiger. I was in Iran at the time when Khomeini took charge. Many Iranians I spoke to thought the US would do something to prevent Khomeini's hijacking of the Iranian Revolution. They couldn't believe we would allow it. Desert I was the pitiful response to Iranian terrorism.

The success in Iran led to the defeat (with our help) of another Western superpower, Russia, in Afghanistan and the installation of another Islamic theocracy, the Taliban. It also created Islamic fighters like UBL who were attracted to the fight in Afghanistan.

The destruction of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon in 1983 and the subsequent US pullout increased the perception that the US was a paper tiger. Somalia was another example of US timidity and unwillingness to accept casualties. Throughout the 1980's and 90's the US was the victim of repeated terrorist attacks. Our Embassy in Islamabad was burned down by Pakistani mobs after hearing rumours that the Kaba had been attacked by the US.

UBL's fatwahs spell out his perceptions of the US and how it will be defeated. I wish more people would read them. 1996 "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places." and 1998 Fatwah Urging Jihad Against Americans. They are as revealing as Mein Kampf. They clearly show a sympathy and support for Iraq and a contempt for the US and our supposed unwillingness to take casualties.

During the 80's RR had the resolve to fight back against several of these countries (most notably Lybia) and the overt "state sponsorship" of terrorism subsided.

I disagree. It may have affected Libya for awhile until Lockerbie, but Iran continued to support terrorism around the globe. Syria was also a major player in terrorist activity operating out of Lebanon. State sponsorship of terrorism was alive and well and in the 1980s as were Islamic terrorists.

In 1981, Sadat was assassinated by Islamic terrorists. In 1982 In 1982 Israel invaded to Lebanon to attack the PLO. In 1983 the Marine Barracks were blown up in Lebanon. In 1985 we had a TWA plane hijacked to Beiruit by Shi'ite gunmen; PLO terrorists hijack Achille Lauro; and terrorists seize Egyptian Boeing 737 airliner after takeoff from Athens (Nov. 23)with 59 dead as Egyptian forces storm plane on Malta. In 1986 the US attacked Libya after the Berlin disco bombing. Hostages were being taken in Lebanon. In 1987 William Buckley was assassintated in Beiruit. Iraqi missiles also struck the USS Stark "accidentally killing 37 US sailors; In 1988 Pan-Am 747 explodes from terrorist bomb and crashes in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on ground. In 1989 U.S. planes shoot down two Libyan fighters over international waters in Mediterranean. This list is by no means comprehensive.

Terrorism has been with us for a long time. The Communists used it in Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Central America, etc. The Israelis also used it agianst the British, e.g., the blowing up of the King David hotel. The Islamofascists may have used the techniques developed by the Communists, but their theological and ideological roots stem from Khomeini and Iran.

Thanks for the further insight and especially your service in Iran!! That incident, more than anything cause me to join the service in 1981.

I would only disagree with one point.

I did not mean to claim that RR stopped the state sponsering of terrorism. Merely the "overt" sponsering we saw into the 80's.

Iran and Syria (until recently Iraq) and many other nations still provide a lot of financial and other "incentives" to the terrorist organisations. However, it was the actions of RR which began the decline of "overt" sponsering as these nations saw, by way of Lybia, that such attacks would be met with reprisals. In other words, they still do it, just no longer as an official part of state actions.

This is what allows weasels like Chiraq to obstruct us as we "can not" hold a state responsible for the actions of unaffiliated terrorists (in his view).

As a side note - the Soviet influence in international terrorism had nothing to do with ideology - they supported any group willing to subvert "democracy". It is the islamic terrorists however, which have come back to haunt them.

However, it was the actions of RR which began the decline of "overt" sponsering as these nations saw, by way of Lybia, that such attacks would be met with reprisals. In other words, they still do it, just no longer as an official part of state actions.

I guess it depends on what the meaning of overt means. The State Department publishes an annual list of state sponsors of terrorism and has done so for decades. Iran, Syria, and Iraq were perennial names on the list along with Cuba, North Korea, and Sudan. Iraq has been taken off the list since liberation. Afghanistan was never on it. Being on the list meant the imposition of sanctions: No arms-related exports; Controls over dual-use exports; Restrictions on economic assistance; and Financial restrictions. So overt or not, these states were held accountable by us.

I wish Bush would stress this more often in describing the linkage between our invasion of Iraq, 9/11, and the war on terrorism. How could we allow Saddam to stay in power post 9/11 after he was a known state sponsor of terrorism (harboring terrorists including one who had been involved in WTC I and Abu Nidal and paying off the families of Palestinian suicide bombers), had used WMD against Iran and the Kurds; tried to assassinate Bush 41, had known contacts with AQ, had invaded two of his neighbors, was not complying with 16 UN resolutions including playing games with the inspectors, and was shooting at our pilots on almost a daily basis for ten years while we were enforcing the Southern and Northern no-fly zones at the cost of billions of dollars a year?

The fact that Saddam was enriching his coffers with billions and billions of dollars through the Oil for Food Program, which could have allowed him to fund and arm surrogates such as AQ, should be validation enough that the invasion was an unmitigated success. Saddam didn't have to develop WMD, he could have bought them through North Korea or Pakistan. The liberal crap about Sadam and UBL could not possibly cooperate with one another against the US because Saddam was secular and UBL an Islamist, should read UBL's fatwahs and the praise he gave Iraq for fighting the West.

This is what allows weasels like Chiraq to obstruct us as we "can not" hold a state responsible for the actions of unaffiliated terrorists (in his view).

I agree, which is why the Bush Doctrine was a brilliant response to terrorism with a global reach. We must go after the terrorists (non-state actors) and the states that harbor them.

As a side note - the Soviet influence in international terrorism had nothing to do with ideology - they supported any group willing to subvert "democracy". It is the islamic terrorists however, which have come back to haunt them.

Agree. I think we have some regrets as well in supporting some who were in the Afghan resistance against the Soviets, like UBL. We convinced the Saudis to do a lot of the funding for them and act as a conduit for us. We are now reaping what we sowed. Ultimately, I blame Carter's response to the Iranian Revolution and Khomeini.

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