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I wasn't planning to say anything about the Library Tower plot, but The Counterterrorism Blog doesn't make any provisions for comments and I can't let this go by unrebutted.

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Fast and Easy with the LA Terrorist Plot
Zachary Abuza

There is something terribly disingenuous about the President’s assertions today that a 9/11 styled attack on the West Coast was thwarted. The President, then later his Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend in a conference call with the press, argued that un-named Al Qaeda operatives arrested in un-named countries were actively planning the attack (though they would not say how far along it was) at an un-named time. All details are classified. How convenient. How un-verifiable for the public. The administration is simply trying to justify its blatantly illegal --[I think we just learned all we really need to know about the author's world-view right there, didn't we?]-- NSA wire-tapping program to the public. The failure of their legal arguments has been reduced to one point: we are defending America, so anything we do goes.

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Actually, Zackary, unless you heard him say something that isn't in the transcript I saw [Of course it's on the whitehouse.gov site so it's probably doctored, right?] he didn't give the NSA any credit whatsoever for stopping the plot. What he said was:

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"Their plot was derailed in early 2002 when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al Qaeda operative. Subsequent debriefings and other intelligence operations made clear the intended target, and how al Qaeda hoped to execute it. This critical intelligence helped other allies capture the ringleaders and other known operatives who had been recruited for this plot. The West Coast plot had been thwarted. Our efforts did not end there. In the summer of 2003, our partners in Southeast Asia conducted another successful manhunt that led to the capture of the terrorist Hambali."

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Tell me please, what that has to do with the NSA. ... Well?

Zachary goes on later:

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Again there is absolutely no evidence in the public record that this transpired.

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Gee, do you think the information might have been, like, you know, a secret or something?

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Who was the “key AQ operative” who was arrested in February 2002? There is no public record of this arrest having taken place. What about the other four cell members? Fran Townsend said two were South Asian, two were Southeast Asian. All have been detained, but she won’t reveal their names or what countries they were arrested in.

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Why didn't you tell us, George. Do you think we can't keep a secret or something?

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Who was the “key AQ operative” who was arrested in February 2002? There is no public record of this arrest having taken place. What about the other four cell members? Fran Townsend said two were South Asian, two were Southeast Asian. All have been detained, but she won’t reveal their names or what countries they were arrested in.

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You want us to just take your word for it when it didn't even make the papers at the time? Trust you, after you stole the Presidency from Al Gore, nuked the ozone layer and caused that hurricane to hit New Orleans? George, George, George! How naive do you think we are?

I read the The Counterterrorism Blog on a daily basis and generally find it useful and informative. The Abuza piece though, sounds like something I'd expect to read in a Kos Kidz diary, not on a respectable site. Where did this guy come from?

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Don't miss Argghhh!'s latest H&I Fires post.

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Tom Maguire has more here.

Posted by Bill Faith on February 10, 2006 at 03:01 AM | Permalink

Comments

Note: I hate to have to do it but I'm turning on comment and trackback moderation. If you post a legitimate trackback or comment I'll do my best not to be too slow about approving it. If the only reason you're here is to advertise your porn, music, or penis enhancement site you can kiss my sweet ass.

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Posted by: Jeff R | Feb 10, 2006 7:08:53 AM

Posted by: Stormwarning | Feb 11, 2006 5:12:26 AM

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