Posted on 08/15/2006 2:40:42 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that the foiled plot in Britain to blow up jetliners over the Atlantic is evidence the U.S. could be fighting terrorists for years to come.
"America is safer than it has been, yet it is not yet safe," Bush told reporters at the National Counterterrorism Center just outside Washington. "The enemy has got an advantage when it comes to attacking our homeland: they got to be right one time and we got to be right 100 percent of the time to protect the American people."
The counterterrorism center is located at an undisclosed site in Northern Virginia known as Liberty Crossing. It merges hundreds of government experts and more than two dozen computer networks from various federal agencies focusing on potential threats.
Its high-tech, 24-hour operations center is among the most sophisticated in the U.S. government.
The nation's safety looms as a major issue in the midterm elections Nov. 7. Both Republicans and Democrats are maneuvering for the political advantage in an election where control of Congress is at stake.
Democrats have been accusing the Bush administration of trying to ignite fear among Americans and gain political points by claiming they alone can keep them safe. Republicans argue that Democrats are weak on national security.
Bush credited American counterterrorism workers with helping to bring about last week's arrests of more than two dozen people in England and Pakistan in what officials say was a plot to blow up as many as 10 passenger planes between Britain and the United States.
He said their work takes "an incredible amount of time, energy and effort."
"That plot and this building and the work going on here is really indicative of the challenge we face — not only this week, but this year and the years to come."
He said the United States was engaged "in a war against a extremist group of folks, bound together by an ideology, willing to use terrorism to achieve their objectives," He spoke as police in London announced another arrest in the alleged London airliner bomb plot.
"I will assure the American people that we are doing everything in our power to protect you," he said.
Bush was spending the better part of his day at the center where employees watched large screen monitors and surveyed electronic maps of various parts of the world. He received a briefing from his National Security Council and Homeland Security Council and had separate sessions with each team, attending lunch with all the officials in between.
On his handling of foreign policy and terrorism, Bush was at 40 percent approval in an early August AP-Ipsos poll. That's near his all-time low of 39 percent on those issues in AP-Ipsos polling.
in a war against a extremist group of folks...
I believe that is a reference to the same folks he referred to as Islam(o) Fascists recently..
Hey, did anyone watch CNN's "Target USA" yesterday? What did they say?
We'll never be 100% safe, but then again we have a long way before we're even close to comfort status.
More islamokoranimals are here on visas than before 9/11. That alone tell you if our government has our best interests in mind.
I have heard one talk show host excoriating him for his softening of the terms he used today to describe who we are fighting.
from 'Islamo Fascists' to a group of extremist folks
Now, they're just a "group of extremist folks" ??
Yes, it's very disappointing. But sadly, not unexpected.
Didn't take long for the back down, huh?
Can you imagine the amount of heat he took from all the Muslim and Islam orgs in this country since he made that comment, not to mention the dems who represent said same here and abroad?
If you will, that he even said it was a step forward in the GWOT.
I wish he'd call them "islamofascists" every chance he gets. Unfortunately, he got a lot of heat from the usual idiots about using that word. We as citizens and anonymous forum posters can call them that, and worse. He, as President, is called to a higher standard, sadly.
ap article, same author , was just retitled to
Bush sees no end to war on terrorism
actually, after reviewing newly titled article a few new paragraphs and some rewrite was done, more towards end of article, here is the update , same author and link.
---
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that the foiled plot to blow up flights between Britain and the United States is evidence the U.S. could be fighting terrorists for years to come.
"America is safer than it has been, yet it is not yet safe," Bush told reporters at the National Counterterrorism Center just outside Washington. "The enemy has got an advantage when it comes to attacking our homeland: They got to be right one time and we've got to be right 100 percent of the time to protect the American people."
The counterterrorism center is located at an undisclosed site in Northern Virginia known as Liberty Crossing. It merges hundreds of government experts and more than two dozen computer networks from various federal agencies focusing on potential threats.
Its high-tech, 24-hour operations center is among the most sophisticated in the U.S. government.
Bush received a briefing from his National Security Council and Homeland Security Council and had separate sessions with each team, attending lunch with all the officials in between.
Bush spokesman Tony Snow said the meetings focused on improving and streamlining efforts to more effectively fight terrorists. He declined to be more specific, saying that would just give notice to al-Qaida.
Bush credited the workers at the center with helping to bring about last week's arrests of more than two dozen people in England and Pakistan in what officials say was a plot to blow up as many as 10 passenger planes between Britain and the United States.
"That plot and this building and the work going on here is really indicative of the challenge we face — not only this week, but this year and the years to come," he said.
Snow said it is still not clear whether al-Qaida was involved with the plot.
"The characterizations in the past has been it has the looks of al-Qaida," Snow said. "And I'm aware of reports from other governments that it's al-Qaida. But our intelligence, at this point, does not permit us to say with confidence that that was the case."
The nation's safety looms as a major issue in the midterm elections Nov. 7. Both Republicans and Democrats are maneuvering for the political advantage in an election where control of Congress is at stake.
Democrats blamed Bush administration policies for making the country more vulnerable to outside threats.
"Five years after 9/11, al-Qaida has morphed into a global franchise operation, terror attacks have increased sharply across the world and the president has shut down the program designed to catch Osama bin Laden," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement following Bush's remarks.
Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., in a teleconference with reporters Tuesday, accused the Bush administration of "stubbornness" and of holding an "oversimplistic" view of how to resolve Middle East tensions.
"One of the great failures of this administration has been a refusal to consider new approaches to problems," he said.
In order to not offend anyone, we must start calling islamic fascists "meanies" or "dooder butt". The Executive branch, and the State department, have cratered to Saudi and Pakistani demands. Pathetic.
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/08/ed7042f0-ccbd-4548-afce-173057211c6a.html?napage=2
Just want him to tell the truth.
Me, too! He should just ignore the idiots and tell it like it is.
One way or amother it will end.
Whether we wipe them out or they wipe us out is the question.
At this time, the odds are in their favor because they are ready and willing to wipe all of us out and we do not have the stomache to do the same to them.
Unless this changes, our future is not all that bright.
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.