Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.
Posted on 02/28/2008 9:03:23 PM PST by jazusamo
WASHINGTON -- In 1988, singer and songwriter Bobby McFerrin penned a Grammy-winning tune, "Don't Worry, Be Happy." When it comes to collecting intelligence on America's enemies, McFerrin's pleasant a cappella song is now the theme song for Democrats in the House of Representatives.
On Feb. 14, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to send the members of the House home on vacation instead of having them vote on extending the Protect America Act, a measure that already had passed in the U.S. Senate 68-29. The bill, among other things, provides civil immunity for private companies that assist U.S. intelligence agencies in intercepting terrorist communications to, from or through the United States. With the House adjourned, the PAA expired -- and Americans became instantly more vulnerable.
As might be expected in the midst of a presidential election year, Republicans and administration officials immediately went to the airwaves and print to decry Pelosi's decision. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell took the unusual step of appearing on Fox News Channel to point out that termination of the PAA "introduces a level of uncertainty that is going to be very difficult for us."
Now, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who backed the bill in the Senate, assures us that he's "going to work something out" with his House colleagues, but he refuses to speculate about how long that might take. Meanwhile private-sector telecom executives, wary of legal assaults from shareholders and "public interest" groups, are understandably reluctant to assist U.S. officials in breaking into terrorist communications. Concerns about what we may be missing -- and the immediate risk of a major terrorist attack -- go well beyond Washington politics.
Given the enormous flow of global voice and data communications, any interruption or delay in collecting "signals intelligence" jeopardizes the ability of analysts to determine and disseminate whether, where, how and when a terrorist organization may be planning an attack. That's what happened in the months leading up to 9/11 -- and the kind of vulnerability the PAA was designed to redress. Here's why U.S. and allied defense, security and intelligence officers are so worried about being deaf and blind right now:
On Jan. 28, Libyan terrorist Abu Laith al-Libi, No. 3 in al-Qaida, was killed by a missile strike in Pakistan's Waziristan province. The weapon is widely presumed to have been fired from a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle. On Feb. 27, Ayman al-Zawahri, No. 2 in Osama bin Laden's worldwide organization, vowed vengeance in a 10-minute video placed on radical Islamic Web sites: "No chief of ours had died a natural death, nor has our blood been spilled without a response." What that response might be we may never know until after it has happened. And that's not all.
On Feb. 12, Imad Mughniyah, the man responsible for murdering and kidnapping hundreds of Americans in Lebanon and elsewhere, was killed when his car exploded in Damascus, Syria. Both Israel and the United States have been blamed for the terror chieftain's death. Since then, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has promised to "avenge our martyred brother." Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has vowed "retribution," and Ayatollah Khomeini has pledged "destruction on the illegal Zionist entity and their supporters."
Two days after Mughniyah's fiery demise, the Iranians canceled a previously scheduled "private discussion" with U.S. officials in Baghdad about the situation in Iraq. On Feb. 20, at a rally in Bandar Abbas, Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described Israel as "filthy bacteria" and lashed out at nations that have allowed it to grow. Then Feb. 23, the theocrats running Tehran warned of "firm reprisals" against any country trying to impose new sanctions on Iran for proceeding with their nuclear program. Since then, the Iranian regime has confirmed that the March 2 visit by Ahmadinejad to Baghdad will be "historic for the changes it will bring to the region."
That's just what these "leaders" are saying in public. What they may or may not be saying in private about plans for attacks against American citizens we may not know until it is too late. For that, we can thank Madam Pelosi and her decision to postpone action on the PAA.
Those who claim that this delay won't hurt us should heed the warning proffered this week by Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, the chief of Israeli military intelligence. Testifying before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Feb. 26, the normally tight-lipped general forecast: "Hezbollah will likely time its reprisals for the 40th day of mourning for its commander, Imad Mughniyah. That will be March 22-23."
Terror leaders such as those in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Tehran, who want to know our secrets, need only subscribe to The Washington Post or The New York Times. For the United States, the mission of finding out what our enemies are planning to do to us before they have a chance to do it always has been a challenge. That task has become far more difficult because of the Democrats running our House of Representatives. "Don't worry, be happy," indeed.
Oliver North is the founder and honorary chairman of Freedom Alliance and author of The Assassins .
Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.
if Ollie had run for president, he would have been elected
You could be right, I sure would vote for and campaign for him.
damn right I’m right........he would have the conservatives, the Reagan democrats and an effective number of independents. Hell,Peggy Noonan would even wtite one of her famous flowers in a bouquet pieces.
LOL! Don’t know if I could handle another Noonan piece like that.
Disgustingly true.
that was there for comic relief.....hehehe
and what is that hairdoo she wears.......ugly on a stick?
A question I keep asking and have yet to receive an answer for is the following:
considerign pardons, the following applies
The presidential power to pardon is granted under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution.
“The President ... shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”
Why can`t he use those powers and issue a blanket pardon to the companies alleged to have committed a crime, in regards to the patriot act?
Far be it from me to know answers like that.
I only have one thought on it and that is a presidential pardon may cover criminal but not civil litigation and I believe the telecom companies are afraid of being sued civilly.
One, it involves companies, not persons.
Two, pardon is not an immunity from further “crimes”.
Three, this is a matter that should not even be discussed in public, let alone be a subject of Congressional debate.
Four, this is one of the issues that can and should be used against the so-called “conservative” “blue dog” (I hate that they pretend to be related to me) Democrats that won in 2006 on GOP corruption, starting right now - with the strategy that should have been used in 2006 - tying them up to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid...
e.g., “My opponent is a decent man, and maybe conservative, but a vote for him is a vote for House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and their destructive policies regarding our national security. We need your vote to remove them from the positions of power and jeopardizing our security and economic prosperity”.
Simple and effective. Why it was not done in 2006 on a major scale I have no idea, except that GOP was either sleeping, scared, or HOPING to somehow survive the elections because it doesn’t take that much money to keep repeating this message in conservative districts, instead of spending huge money on trying to save few seats for “Lincoln Chafees”.
Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy......
Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The land lord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
Lood at me I am happy
Don't worry, be happy
Here I give you my phone number
When you worry call me
I make you happy
Don't worry, be happy
Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style
Ain't got not girl to make you smile
But don't worry be happy
Cause when you worry
Your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
So don't worry, be happy (now).....
There is this little song I wrote
I hope you learn it note for note
Like good little children
Don't worry, be happy
Listen to what I say
In your life expect some trouble
But when you worry
You make it double
Don't worry, be happy......
Don't worry don't do it, be happy
Put a smile on your face
Don't bring everybody down like this
Don't worry, it will soon past
Whatever it is
Don't worry, be happy
Did you think that Maybe Bush and Congress are setting up the Terrorist by actually lettting US operate but acting like they can’t...maybe their is a Default action in the Expiring Bill..
Thanks....something to keep my brain busy for a few weeks!
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