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Snippet of a December 10, 2004 speech by US DOJ Attorney General John Ashcroft:

http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2004/121004endofyearaddress.htm

"Most importantly, for three years and 100 days, Americans have heard that another terrorist attack on our country was inevitable … that the FBI and the Justice Department, and state and local law enforcement's finest and bravest, could not and would not prevent it.

And yet we gather this morning in a nation that has not been attacked. The reason why is not a mystery.

Al Qaeda has not lost its thirst for American blood. It has not declared an amnesty on infidels. Terrorists will strike when and if they can. For three years, terrorists have not struck at America because you, and people like you, have not let them.

· We have taken al Qaeda operatives such as the Lackawanna Six, Iyman Faris and Mohammed Babar, off America's streets and into our custody.

· We have dismantled terrorist operations from New York to Oregon, from Florida to Ohio, from Virginia to California.

· We have brought criminal charges against 375 individuals and secured convictions or guilty pleas from 195 individuals."