A careful study of Osama bin Laden’s videos, letters and Internet statements makes clear that Al Qaeda’s goal is more than to terrorize Americans or to drive us out of the Middle East. Bin Laden believes that Al Qaeda can bring about the economic collapse of the United States — and to achieve this goal, he has adopted a strategy of targeting America’s financial centers and economic infrastructure.
[…]
But the terrorists don’t have to be right to be emboldened. Clearly the daily news reports of our economic turmoil feed into Bin Laden’s deep-seated belief that America is teetering on the economic brink — and that with one big push, we can be forced into collapse. The financial crisis can only be serving to convince Al Qaeda that the time to strike America is now.
[…]
The lack of another catastrophic attack on the United States, combined with the massive defeat terrorists have suffered in Iraq, sends a message to the Muslim world that Al Qaeda is losing its war with America. The terrorists need to pull off something spectacular to prove that they are still a force and a threat. Al Qaeda’s growing desperation to strike America, and our perceived growing vulnerability, are a dangerous combination.
Paddy-Oh-My-God, are you deaf? If Dick Cheney had not changed the rules of engagement, thus preventing the fighter escorts from joining the hijacked planes, as had been SOP for _every plane that had gone off course previously, without exception, for decades,_ at worst the first plane would have hit its target. Clinton had nothing to do with that rule change, it was entirely a Dick move.
Frankly the US should just withdraw from NATO, as Bin Laden has never claimed any US land as Muslim, while has claimed Spain and other European lands.
# 31 Li said, “If Dick Cheney had not changed the rules of engagement, thus preventing the fighter escorts from joining the hijacked planes, as had been SOP for _every plane that had gone off course previously, without exception, for decades,_”
LOL. Sorry, you lose. That was NEVER the policy for planes where the flight originated in US airspace.
# 32 MikeN said, “Frankly the US should just withdraw from NATO, as Bin Laden has never claimed any US land as Muslim, while has claimed Spain and other European lands.”
Well, there are now 50+ million ME & Af Muslims living in the EU. Only a matter of time…
#32 It’s funny, but in this conflict leaving NATO might be a good move, since it would allow us to cozy up with our natural ally in this conflict; Russia.
But that wouldn’t sell big boom boom toys, like our new and stupid missile defenses that we are trying to ring Russia in for some damn reason, so we can’t have that!
# 35 Li said, “like our new and stupid missile defenses that we are trying to ring Russia in for some damn reason, so we can’t have that!”
Yet another stupid, uneducated statement. The missile defense in EU is useless against missiles during boost phase… Thus, useless against Russian missiles aimed at us.
Exactly, the missiles are useless against Russia, not to mention the MIRV issues, ect. So why place them right around Russia if Russia is going to interpret that as belligerence? And that’s not me talking, that’s Russia’s official position on the matter. Aren’t there better places to put the missiles if Iran is the real defensive target, like, say, SPAIN OR FRANCE?!
So, why? Why do something that is both useless and belligerent like that? Answer; to reignite the cold war, and sell more fancy boom boom toys. THERE IS NO OTHER REASON! We need a comparable ‘opponent’ to justify all of this super-expensive crap! But that’s a tragedy, not only in that these moves to place missiles in Poland, Georgia ect. increases the chances of a nuclear confrontation, but also in that it kills our chances of a strategic alliance with Russia against the Islamic terrorists.
All of your objections essentially boil down to wingnut gotchas, which consistently betray a complete lack of strategic insight. And, as is usually the case, they are easily countered with a few facts that you are either lacking, or wholly blind to in your foolish partisanship.
#33 Paddy — from what I read, there is no mention of the flight having to originate outside the U.S. Any “civil derelect airborne object” could be shot down. What Bush/Cheney changed, was the power now was vested in them instead of the military.
http://tinyurl.com/db9ccj
follow the link under June 1, 2001
I guess we could excuse the first tower being hit, but why didn’t Cheney or Bush or Rice act on the second tower and the Pentagon? Why didn’t they order the military to engage them, and if necessary, shoot them down before they hit?
It took me a bit longer to research this retort.
“LOL. Sorry, you lose. That was NEVER the policy for planes where the flight originated in US airspace.”
Absolute BS. More than 60 times previously aircraft were intercepted for a bad transponder, radio silence, or course deviation. The 9/11 planes had all three. The origin of the plane makes no difference, because, frankly, it would be idiotic for it to make a difference. Here is the relevant rule, which has not changed for decades.
http://tinyurl.com/FAAsayspaddyoisanidiot
Is there no bit of made of fact or outright lie that you won’t concoct to protect the most miserable failure of an administration in US history?! They crashed the economy, left an entire city to rot, allowed the worst terror attack in history to occur on their watch, and followed bad intel, derived from torture, and launched us into a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq. Heck of a job, that! Really, if we elected Osama Bin Laden himself he could have hardly done more harm to our country!
# 40 Li said, “It took me a bit longer to research this retort.”
Too bad you didn’t read it. LOL
“5-6-1. National Security
b. All aircraft entering domestic U.S. airspace from points outside must provide for identification prior to entry.”
Also, “d. Except when applicable under 14 CFR Section 99.7, 14 CFR Part 99 does not apply to aircraft operations:
1. Within the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, or within the State of Alaska, and remains within 10 miles of the point of departure;”
Who withdrew the $550 billion from money market funds in mid-September of 2008 and almost crashed our economic system (right before election)? Was it Osama or other financial terrorists? All I am saying is: Maybe Bin Laden already attacked us via our markets and it’s been swept under the rug – is this possible?
# 43 Lily said, “All I am saying is: Maybe Bin Laden already attacked us via our markets and it’s been swept under the rug – is this possible?”
Nope. He didn’t control that money.
AQ hasn’t needed another strike since 911. Bush did all the rest of the damage for them.
In 2000 the US national debt was just shy of $5.7 trillion. It now stands at $10.7 trillion dollars. Virtually doubled by one president.
But wait. It gets better, none of that money was used to improve education, or public health, or anything else worthwhile. It was used to line the pockets of of the Bush family and friends.
You may be interested to know that the Bush’s number among those friends, the Bin Laden family of Saudi Arabia. That’s right, Osama’s father, mother, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins.
#41 and 42 What in the world does that have to do with aircraft that go off course, transponder and radio contact while within the United States? I mean, really, you just cited a section stating that you have to announce and declare before penetrating the border as if it was relevant!
Surely you don’t expect us to believe that our policy was to simply ignore deviations from flight plans, while under radio silence?! What kind of bizzaro world do you live in?!
In reverse thinking..
You have to consider 2 things..
WHAT damage they cause.
And HOW to mobilize the USA and a few others, INTO STOMPING THE SPIT out of the whole middle east, and EVERY Muslim in the world.
In causing Major killing, they would get BOTH the USA and the Muslim communities Against them.
Those other groups would have 3 choices..HIDE or fight with AQ or FIGHT with the USA.
trying to HIDE in your own community could be VERY hard in Muslim communities, so the AQ would become Targets.
Getting the muslim community to choose sides??
Does AQ REALLY want that?
If they DONT choose a side, EVERY Muslim Building in Many countries would FALL. And every Muslim would become a target for THOSE that caused the problem.
So, the odds say that If they start another round of fighting..the USA other countries and the Muslim communities will PROBABLY DROP on them like a ROCK.
Marc Thiessen had an editorial in the LA Times yesterday called “Watch out for Al Qaeda”
“It wants to target America’s economy, and it wants to prove it can defeat us.”
February 15, 2009
Thiessen was Bush’s speech writer and formerly worked for the Pentagon. Reminds me of Cheney’s recent warnings as well. Haunting.
The Millennium terror plot was stopped by a border agent who decided to search a van. But yes the White House did announce Battlestations!
Perhaps this plot would have been caught if the date of Sept 11 had been known or strongly suspected.
Someone knew the date well enough to short sell American Airlines.
Here’s a thought. Work toward energy independence and get out of the middle east. Then you wont need to have to worry about Osama Bin Boogyman.
Of course the oil men whom run America have got y’all rooting for the team so that will never happen.
Besides, the white collar criminals in your own backyard are putting Osama out of a job. I guess he’ll always have work when the corporations need a War On ______ (fill in the blank) though.
Indeed, in a few years we may look back and see that this fraud-precipitated depression has killed far more people than AQ could ever hope to.
#48: You realize that’s the article in the post, don’t you? Or didn’t you read it…
#53, Uncle Dave,
The things you can learn when you read the article. Wow!!!
They don’t need to attack us again. We are already crippled and screwed up. The 9/11 terrorists got exactly what they wanted, short of all of us dying. But they did a bang up job screwing up our way of life.
# 46 Li said, “Surely you don’t expect us to believe that our policy was to simply ignore deviations from flight plans, while under radio silence?! What kind of bizzaro world do you live in?!”
You’re babbling. There is a HUGE difference between ignoring and having fighters chasing down domestic flights (which was NEVER SOP). By the way, please show the order from the VP grounding planes. Or, are you a wack job?
#55. All AQ did was wreck a few buildings. You guys screwed up your own way of life.
You can’t control what happens to you, but can control how you respond to it.
The US responded with fear and hysteria.
# 57 Blues said, “The US responded with fear and hysteria.”
And what bastion of sanity & freedom to do hail from?
Only Dallas comment #18 mentioned the huge expenses bin Laden has baited us into spending in relation to an economic attack. Adam Elkus in “Surging Right Into Bin Laden’s Hands” documented al Qaeda wanting the US in Iraq to bankrupt ourselves.
Smart weapons are becoming incredibly ever more expensive. Al Qaeda kills people cheaply, even remote triggered retarded kids.
The Twin Towers was supposedly the economic capitol of the country and attacking it didn’t do the damage he expected. The doctor’s plot warned by “Those who heal you will kill you” would have stopped the England and the US from giving work visas to talent. Remember Germany used to cry it couldn’t get talented computer engineers from abroad which put German computer industry behind elsewhere in the world.
However, bin Laden won’t let us stop. The biggest peace demo before the start of the Iraq war was distracted from the news by a terror attack. In Afghanistan election workers disappear in the night making people afraid to vote. But in Iraq instead, bin Laden demanding on the Internet Iraqi’s not to vote, got more to vote, but also discombobulated the peace movement’s claim that the war in Iraq has nothing to do with fighting terror.
North Vietnam cheered Jane Fonda instead Tom Fox was beheaded when he want to Iraq to declare peace and so was Doctor’s without Border’s physicians.
Meanwhile the US government all during the Cold War was suspicious of lefties as spys, asRobert Hanssen pretended to be a right-wing religious nut and George Koval, who monitored US atomic bomb project was sent from Russia to spy pretending to be a likeable non-political Joe,
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/us/12koval.html
Al Qaeda leaders not only escaped from Arab jails but one did from US imprisonment in Afghanistan, as Al Qaeda tries to infiltrate homeland security and anti-Muslim organizations and change US laws to make foreign agents disgusted as US agents stamp secret on what they are doing. Europe never had an escaped al Qaeda prisoner, open laws were decision can be questioned leads to better security.
Please see,Capitol Hill Blue “Terror attack may be imminent”,
http://capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/15268
and see,
http://readerrant.capitolhillblue.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=102338&Main=6299#Post102338
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