Roundin' 'em up, one at a time...
Posted on 03/01/2003 2:49:41 PM PST by HAL9000
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush celebrated a major success in the fight against terrorism Saturday with the arrest of the al-Qaida operative suspected of planning the Sept. 11 attacks."That's fantastic!" the president said early Saturday when his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, delivered the news of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's capture in Pakistan.
Mohammed was arrested early Saturday in a raid conducted jointly by American and Pakistani officials. It was unclear whether Mohammed had been taken into U.S. custody or where he was being held.
It was midnight Friday when CIA Director George Tenet first called Rice, who was staying at Camp David with the president and first lady, to say that authorities were "pretty certain" they had Mohammed and two others, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.
The confirmation came first thing Saturday and Rice called from her cabin to Bush's at the Maryland mountain retreat.
"It's hard to overstate how significant this is," Fleischer said. "It's a wonderful blow to inflict on al-Qaida."
Fleischer described Mohammed as a "savvy operational planner" of the terrorist network and a nuts-and-bolts leader. Bush, portrayed as "pumped up" by a senior aide, characterized Mohammed as a "whale" of a get in the hunt for terrorists.
A White House statement accused Mohammed of masterminding the attacks on Washington and New York and of being "centrally involved" in al-Qaida plotting since then for attacks inside the United States.
"This is a great success today, but the war on terrorism goes on tomorrow," said U.S. Central Command spokesman Jim Wilkinson. "There's still a lot of work to do."
Fleischer said it is too early for decisions about how Mohammed's case might be handled and whether he might be the first defendant Bush designates for trial before a military tribunal. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the prospect of holding someone accountable for the Sept. 11 attacks was tantalizing, but that the president's priority was first to get as much information from Mohammed as possible about the continuing threat.
Officials would not comment on where Mohammed would be interrogated or whether he was to be brought to the United States.
Understatement.
This thug should be brought before a military tribunal and executed if he is found to be involved in the planning of the September 11 attacks. Any information that we get from him is good, and he should be interrogated rigorously before his execution. He should not be allowed to escape justice.
Roundin' 'em up, one at a time...
Middle Easterners Streaming Into Texas: Study Say Most Live In Houston
Middle Easterners streaming to Texas Study says most live in Houston By EDWARD HEGSTROM Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
Texas has one of the nation's fastest-growing Middle Eastern populations, and most of the state's immigrants live in Houston, according to a study based on census data. Researchers at the Center for Immigration Studies say Texas' Middle Eastern population more than doubled in the last decade, to just over 100,000, including more than 52,000 in Greater Houston.
He would have made Eid, Ramalamadingdong and Hajj national holidays.
Damn it feels good to have a President that feels the same way the majority of the people in the country do.
I REALLY like the sound of this! Score another one for the good guys!
Jets, satellites, cell phones and internets!
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