Posted on 03/09/2020 6:40:43 AM PDT by Kaslin
Before the Patriot Act, the FBI would have been stymied in conducting a counterterrorism investigation involving a now infamous American agent of a foreign power.
Anwar al-Awlaki was born in the United States. Yet, apparently, Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee believe the only thing worth remembering about him is that President Obama “illegally” had him killed in Yemen using a Hellfire missile. (No matter that al-Awlaki: had sent “panty bomber” Abdulmuttalab to blow up a passenger plane over Detroit; attempted to blow up a DHL cargo airplane in flight; had become the well-publicized spiritual leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP]; and was heavily guarded in Yemen’s remote tribal areas -- sending Americans into those wilds to arrest him would have been difficult and dangerous.)
Most of us vividly recall that twice before 9/11 al-Awlaki met with future hijackers.
I agree with former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy that the collection of metadata should be abolished. Further, I agree that judges are unqualified to conduct national security. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have repeatedly abdicated their oversight responsibilities of our intelligence community. Now, some Republicans are seeking to give the FISA court even more authority. Far too many Democrats -- who seek to vest America’s foreign enemies with our constitutional rights -- are cheering them on.
Yet Senators Paul and Lee seem to assume America could also safely let the business records and roving wiretap provisions of the Patriot Act expire after March 15, 2020.
Americans would be less safe, and what might have happened had the FBI investigated Anwar al-Awlaki before 9/11 helps to demonstrate why.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin
Only one country in the world accepts the MC card as valid ID -- The USA.
And, it's accepted only because of the provision in the Patriot Act signed into law by George W. Bush.
Bush was alerted to the potential problems, but like his father and grandfather before him, Bush served only one group of constituents -- Wall Street Bankers.
Bush was instrumental in changing the banking laws to allow Mexican illegal aliens to participate in the US banking system and Wall Street responded with sub-prime lending and collateralized debt obligations. (CDOs)
It turned into a feeding frenzy and grew too fast. IMO, the sub-prime meltdown was supposed to happen on Obozo's watch, but the frenzied growth caused the bubble to burst before Bush had a chance to leave office.
Naturally, afterward, the Bushies tried to blame the meltdown on Clinton's CRA policies, but a serious look at what Bush did proves that argument doesn't hold water.
Pretty much agreed with all of your comments. It disgusts me how things work in our country these days.
“Before the Patriot Act, the FBI would have been stymied in conducting a counterterrorism investigation...”
Dumbest thing I’ve evah read.
Author is a paid Deep State rump-swab.
Me too. The FBI is more of a threat to liberty than anything terrorists could do.
Boy, how sad is that to say?
https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/staff_statements/911_TerrTrav_Ch2.pdf
Who was station Chief in Saudi.
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.