Tommy, You should really try to be more open with your feelings.
Posted on 11/14/2002 8:46:03 AM PST by finnman69
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate's top Democrat said Thursday that the failure of U.S. authorities to capture Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) raises questions about "whether or not we are winning the war on terror."
Sen. Tom Daschle's remarks came as intelligence analysts concluded that a new audiotape almost certainly contained bin Laden's voice and is proof that he is alive.
"We can't find bin Laden, we haven't made real progress" in finding key elements of al-Qaida," the South Dakotan said. "They continue to be as great a threat today as they were one and a half years ago. So by what measure can we claim to be successful so far?"
President Bush (news - web sites) bristled Wednesday when asked if bin Laden, blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks, should have been captured sooner by U.S. and coalition forces. "We're making great progress in the war on terror. Slowly, but surely, we are dismantling the terrorist network," he said.
Daschle, meeting with reporters, said authorities should do a better job of finding where bin Laden's message came from.
"It seems he has the ability to move at will," Daschle said. "It's been a long time. 9-11 was more than year ago, and we have yet to find him."
A technical analysis of the tape was still under way Thursday, and officials said they still think that it was bin Laden's voice but they have not confirmed that.
Lawmakers and the Bush administration are worried that the new tape is a signal that more terror strikes are imminent.
"He's alive. We have to work on that assumption, and we are," said a senior law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity Wednesday.
Other U.S. officials were more conservative, saying they believe it probably came from bin Laden. They left open the possibility, however slight, that it is a hoax.
But all said they were treating the tape as a real message from al-Qaida's missing leader, even as the CIA (news - web sites) and National Security Agency conducted a technical analysis of the tape aimed at further authenticating it.
"They can't get to 100 percent certainty, but they're sure," the official said. The official, who participated in a high-level briefing by CIA and NSA officials, said analysts were trying to determine whether bin Laden placed cryptic messages in the recording to order followers into action.
Homeland security director Tom Ridge, during an appearance before a State Department gathering Thursday, referred to "bin Laden's remarks over the past 24 to 48 hours." It was an offhanded remark, and it was not clear whether he was speaking on the basis of information not yet made public.
Bush said he was taking the taped message "very seriously."
"Whoever put the tape out has put the world on notice yet again that we're at war," the president said Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
The tape appears to be the first confirmation in a year that bin Laden is alive.
The speaker on the tape sounds undeterred by the loss of bin Laden's home in what was Taliban-ruled Afghanistan (news - web sites) or by the death and capture of several of his closest lieutenants.
Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) said special attention is being paid to "what might be signaled" on the tape, while FBI (news - web sites) Director Robert Mueller said the existence of the tape "does and should put us on greater alert."
"There may be individuals in the United States we do not know about who could commit attacks," Mueller said.
Counterterrorism officials have said that if bin Laden is alive, they believe he is probably in a remote, mountainous area of Pakistan along the country's border with Afghanistan. American officials have never confirmed rumors that bin Laden was wounded or suffering some kind of kidney ailment.
g
Tom Daschle-you need a solid spanking across your arrogant keister and some time in the corner.
Only a person who WANTS our efforts to fight terror, who WANTS to demoralize his nation, would say such a horrendous thing. Shame on tommy-he seems to be bent on proving his mental psyche is about as stunted as his physical stature.
BTW Ditto!
Tommy, You should really try to be more open with your feelings.
***Sigh***...
Securing America's Borders Fact Sheet: Border Security - WH Press Release
President Bush, PM Chretien Announce Progress in Smart Border Plan
The Department of Education has published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a computer matching program between the Department of Education and the INS that will permit the Education Department to confirm the immigration status of alien applicants for, or recipients of, Title IV financial aid programs.
Dept. of Education Announces Computer Matching Program with INS September 19, 2002
Attorney General John Ashcroft has announced a new "National Security Entry-Exit System" that would require the registration and monitoring of certain non-immigrants. The proposal contains three major components: fingerprinting at the border, periodic registration of certain aliens, and exit controls.
National Security Entry-Exit System Proposed - June 2002
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has stated that it is now checking the names of all applicants for immigration benefits against a federal database of terrorists and law breakers — even if it means delays for people seeking visas, permanent residence, or citizenship.
INS Expands Checks of Applicants - May 2002
President Bush has signed the Border Security Bill meant to screen out terrorists by using high-tech passports and more border enforcers to check millions of people who enter the United States each year. The new law also will mean closer monitoring of foreign students in the US.
The law also strengthens requirements that planes and passenger ships traveling from other countries provide lists of passengers and crew members to a US border officer before arriving, and reiterates the need for a database of suspected terrorists that federal agencies can use to screen visa applicants. Such a list already exists under the Federal Terrorism Tracking Task Force that Bush created after September 11.
Additionally, the new law creates an elaborate tracking system of foreign students. It will record the admission of non-resident students by educational institutions, the issuance of student visas, and the enrollment of non-Americans in schools. It also will force schools to advise the INS if foreign students do not report for class.
The Bill also authorizes 400 additional immigration investigators, inspectors and other staff for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, subject to Congress financing them.
Bush Signs Border Security Bill - May 2002
Under the legislation, the INS will use a new internet-based system to track about one million foreign students in the country. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced last Friday that all educational institutions eligible to enroll foreign students should have joined the system by the end of January. The bill requires that passports issued after 2003 be tamper- resistant and that visitors carry documents that can be read by machine and identify the bearer with biometrics, such as face recognition or retinal scanning technology.
Bush Signs Bill on Enhanced US Border Security
The US Department of State has announced that effective April 8, 2002, US passports will no longer be issued outside of the US.
US Passports Will No Longer be Issued Abroad – April 2002
President Bush's advisers have recommended merging the Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service in a sweeping overhaul of US border security in response to the September 11 attacks.
Bush's budget proposal calls for an extra $2.1 billion in spending to secure US borders and keep out foreigners who might try to launch attacks like those on September 11.
The money would be used to hire more border patrol agents, safeguard ports, and track foreign nationals living in the United States
Bush Advisers Propose Merger of INS and Customs Service – March 2002
The US State Department has published an interim rule, effective April 1, 2002, amending 22 CFR § 41.112(d) to preclude automatic revalidation of expired visas under this section for nationals of countries designated as ‘terrorist-sponsoring’ states, and for aliens who apply for new visas during their trip abroad.
State Department Restricts Eligibility for Automatic Revalidation of Expired Visas – Mar 2002
--"Measure" the fact that you have not been nuked, shot sleeping in your bed, or blown up in your car in the last 14 months.
--"Measure" the fact that you and your soreloserman colleagues have not been nuked or blow up either.
--"Measure" the fact that the Capitol building, the White House and the Pentagon are still standing,etc.,etc.
--"Measure" the fact that in spite of the anthrax letters a year ago, you have not yet been killed by anthrax.
And when you're done "measuring" these things, go back and "measure" the votes from November fifth
That was pretty good. You should send this to Daschle's home town paper: Aberdeen American News
His continued leadership of the Senate Dem minority promises even greater gains for Republicans in the future.
On November 14, 2002, you were quoted as saying:
"I think we have to question whether or not we're winning the war. We haven't found bin Laden, we haven't made any real progress in many of the other areas involving the key elements of al-Qaeda." (From CNN, http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/11/14/daschle.homeland)
"And it was the president himself who said that we will not be successful until he is found dead or alive. Those were his words." (From CBC News, http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/11/14/daschle021114)
----------------------------------------------
Although I am no longer shocked by what you do or say, I find your criticisms of President Bush absurd and your politicizing of the war on terror, contemptible. What alternatives have you put forth or encouraged lo these past 18 months concerning the American people's safety? I have heard not any, with the sole exception of those to whom you are obviously beholden: union members.
And where may one read about your alternative suggestions and input to either enhance or further bin Laden's capture and destruction of the terrorists? My searches for your suggestions turned up only the following:
On March 1, 2002, you were quoted as saying, "We've got to find Osama bin Laden, and we've got to find other key leaders of the al-Qaeda network, or we will have failed." (From Newsmax, http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/2/28/144113.shtml.)
Yet, only two months earlier, on January 4, 2002, you are quoted as "praising Bush for doing a 'superb' job in the battle against terrorism (a statement you made while at the Center for National Policy). (From CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/01/04/daschle.economy.)
What Bush policy allegedly changed between January 2002 and March 2002? I was unable to discover any such change. Additionally, I was unable to find "those words" you so shamelessly attribute to President Bush. A simple search brings up numerous of his goals and statements concerning bin Laden:
1. 14 December 2001 (From US Embassy, Israel (http://www.usembassy-israel.org.il/publish/peace/archives/2001/December/121505.html)
Q. Is Osama bin Laden cornered? And when you weigh the pros and cons of either option, would you rather take him alive so you can question him, or dead so you don't have to deal with him?
THE PRESIDENT: "I don't care. Dead or alive, either way. I mean, I -- it doesn't matter to me. Secondly, I don't know whether we're going to get him tomorrow, or a month from now, or a year from now. I really don't know. But we're going to get him. And I -- the American people must understand that I have no timetable in mind. There's no -- I don't have a calendar that I say, well, gosh, if he's not gotten by this certain moment, then I'll be disappointed...."
2. 12/28/01 (From CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/12/28/gen.war.against.terror)
"Bush repeated that he had no preference -- "dead or alive" -- for bin Laden's capture."
3. 9/17/01 (From the White House transcripts, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-3.html)
"After all, our mission is not just Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda organization. Our mission is to battle terrorism and to join with freedom loving people."
4. 3/8/02 (From the White House transcripts (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020308-3.html)
"Those who are preoccupied with one individual do not understand the struggle. We fight terror wherever terror exists. And for those people who say, well, one person matters, they elevate that person to a status that he does not deserve. I don't know whether Mr. bin Laden is alive or is dead. . ."
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.