Thursday, August 18, 2005

'Able Danger' and Lessons to be Learned

If you listen to, or read the news today, you'll find this story all over the place:
Prewar Memo Warned of Gaps in Iraq Plans

It's the same old song, really, recycled again to show how we're losing in Iraq. Problem with that? We're NOT. Been there, heard it, tired of it. Apparently these word-processing generals think that wars has no unknowns, that somehow we have DoD employees with precognition. It's a war, for crying out loud. You can never count on what's going to happen with the enemy. You plan, you prepare, but nothing is a given. What's interesting in this one, though, is the fact that here we have an old story, played again and again in differing versions, that's getting as much newsplay as this one (or more):

'Able Danger' Could Rewrite History

Now, here's a scary story. The 9/11 Commission (a copy of that report is sitting right next to me on the desk here) was sharply critical of U.S. intelligence agencies' failure to share information, or to consider outside information. And yet they were told twice about Able Danger, and chose to ignore it.

The Clinton Administration's failure to deal with Bin Laden isn't a new revelation. It was that very same Administration that failed to capture or kill him when they had the chance. But here is information that told of terrorists IN THIS COUNTRY, known terrorists, that was ignored on Clinton's watch. Not just missed. Intentionally ignored. One of the reasons? The possibility of political fallout.

Blame for 9/11 has flown in all directions (including the loonies who say Bush knew about it and wanted it to happen). Let's get this straight. It is NOT Clinton's fault that 9/11 happened. It is NOT Bush's fault that 9/11 happened. It is NOT the fault of the FBI, or the CIA, or the TSA, or any other U.S. agency. Blame for 9/11 rests solely on Al Qaeda - with Osama Bin Laden, and 19 people who decided to hijack planes and murder innocent people.

That being said, the Able Danger story does illustrate a few very, very important things about how our governmental failings create opportunities for those who want to attack us.

1. Democrats, in their "politically correct" approach to everything, have a major failing when it comes to dealing with terrorists. In their repeated calls to understand the terrorists, their desire not to make terrorists hate us, and their monumental concerns about their image, they repeatedly fail to call these people what they are: The Enemy. And when you don't identify the enemy, it's hard to deal with them appropriately.

2. Although the 9/11 Commission did a fair job of identifying some pretty significant issues, they were far from a comprehensive analysis. If we had information that could have led to the capture of these terrorists, but didn't use it, how is that not important? The report wasn't completely bad, but there was still a bit of an anti-Bush agenda driving that train. And no one, but no one, wanted to criticize the Clinton Administration.

3. The failures - and the agenda - of the Clinton Administration caused almost disastrous damage to our ability to defend ourselves.

Clinton is still the darling of the Dems. Could you imagine if anyone was saying that the Bush Administration was flat out TOLD about terrorists in this country - flat out TOLD that these people were members of Al Qaeda - and they chose to ignore it? Worse yet, chose not to take the risk of political fallout in order to protect the country? What would the headlines look like then?