Sunday, January 03, 2010

So Obama's Not Treating Terrorism Seriously Enough, Eh?

U.S. Kills Top Qaeda Militant in Southern Somalia, September 14, 2009

NAIROBI, Kenya — American commandos killed one of the most wanted Islamic militants in Africa in a daylight raid in southern
Somalia on Monday, according to American and Somali officials, an indication of the Obama administration’s willingness to use combat troops strategically against Al Qaeda’s growing influence in the region.

TalibanLeader In Pakistan Killed by Predator Strike, August 7, 2009


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — American and Pakistani officials said Friday they were increasingly convinced that an American drone strike two days earlier had killed Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan’s enemy No.1 and the leader of its feared Taliban movement.

Terror Case Is Called One of the Most Serious in Years (September 24, 2009)

WASHINGTON — Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, senior government officials have announced dozens of terrorism cases that on closer examination seemed to diminish as legitimate threats. The accumulating evidence against a Denver airport shuttle driver suggests he may be different, with some investigators calling his case the most serious in years.

Documents filed in Brooklyn against the driver, Najibullah Zazi, contend he bought chemicals needed to build a bomb — hydrogen peroxide, acetone and hydrochloric acid — and in doing so, Mr. Zazi took a critical step made by few other terrorism suspects.

If government allegations are to be believed, Mr. Zazi, a legal immigrant from Afghanistan, had carefully prepared for a terrorist attack. He attended a Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, received training in explosives and stored in his laptop computer nine pages of instructions for making bombs from the same kind of chemicals he had bought.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi was arrested Sept. 24, 2009, after authorities said he parked a vehicle laden with government-supplied fake explosives in the underground parking garage of Fountain Place, a 60-story tower in downtown Dallas.
The arrest was part of an FBI sting operation that began more than six months earlier, when an agent monitoring an online extremist Web site discovered Smadi espousing jihad against the United States.

Steve Benen over at Political Animal Summarizes it nicely:

President Obama hasn't just ordered predator-drone strikes to target terrorists, he's also used ground forces to capture and kill terrorist leaders. What's more, the administration has had great success in taking terrorist suspects into custody before they could launch their planned attacks, as the Najibullah Zazi, Talib Islam, and Hosam Maher Husein Smadi incidents help demonstrate.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, was quoted in the editorial as saying the entire Obama administration considers itself "first responders dealing with the aftermath of an attack," while Republicans "believe in a forward-looking approach to stopping these attacks before they happen."

Even the most rabid partisan should be able to notice that this is idiotic and the exact opposite of reality.

Guess Krauthammer, DeMint, Cheney, Hoekstra, King, et. al. must have just "forgotten" about the successes we've had this year. Or, they're, you know, lying.

Push back with the facts.

2 comments:

The PaulR said...

Recently I read that in his first year in office Obama has authorized more Predator drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan than Bush did in his last three years combined.

JD Rhoades said...

I've read that too. But, you know, he doesn't think we're at war or anything.

Some more enemies downed in the war that Obama's supposedly not fighting:

Kifayatullah Anikhel A Taliban commander under Baitullah Mehsud. Date killed: July 7, 2009

Mufti Noor Wali Suicide bomber trainer for the Taliban and al Qaeda. Date killed: July 3, 2009

Khwaz Ali Mehsud A senior deputy to Baitullah Mehsud. Date killed: June 23, 2009

Abdullah Hamas al Filistini A senior al Qaeda trainer. Date killed: April 1, 2009

Boy, Anonymous Al sure has gotten quiet, hasn't he?