Frank Rich is often quoted and debated here on D Kos, though less so since his writing went behind the "Times Select" curtain. But I see no mention of his NYT column today. It’s serious stuff. The diaries that have faulted Bushco for the Iraq blunder, the Tora Bora blunder etc. are legion on D Kos, as they should be.
But Rich points out that today, as in 2001, warnings are surfacing from the intelligence community that Al Qaeda is growing ever more resurgent in Afghanistan and western Pakistan with little response from Bushco. Preoccupied with trying to rescue their disastrous Iraq adventure, and with rattling sabers at Iran, they may be ignoring once again a threat that is real and growing.
Meanwhile the public is caught up with American Idol, the disposition of Anna Nicole’s sculpted and caricatured corpse and for those of us more politically inclined the mushrooming campaigns for the 08 nominations. Some are focused on how we extract ourselves from Iraq, which is a vexing problem in need of attention.
But what if Rich and the intelligence sources he cites are right?
Consider:
The White House doesn’t want to hear it now, either. That’s why terrorism experts are trying to get its attention by going public, and not just through The Times. Michael Scheuer, the former head of the C.I.A. bin Laden unit, told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann last week that the Taliban and Al Qaeda, having regrouped in Afghanistan and Pakistan, "are going to detonate a nuclear device inside the United States" (the real United States, that is, not the fictional stand-in where this same scenario can be found on "24").
What would be the politics of that? It would be a dark day indeed, and god forbid it should happen following the ‘08 election, the less informed public might place blame on a newly elected Democratic President and the slide towards fascism we’ve observed for the last 5 years would be vastly accelerated.
Maybe, in addition to calling for an end to Iraq debacle, and voicing opposition to the saber rattling regarding Iran we should be thinking about a real threat that could change life forever in this country.
Rich closes his column today with this warning.
Yet Mr. Bush still denies reality. Ten days ago he told the American Enterprise Institute that "the Taliban have been driven from power" and proposed that America help stabilize the Pakistan border by setting up "Reconstruction Opportunity Zones" (remember that "Gulf Opportunity Zone" he promised after Katrina?) to "give residents the chance to export locally made products to the United States, duty-free." In other words, let’s fight terrorism not by shifting America’s focus from Iraq to the central front, but by shopping for Taliban souvenirs!
Five years after 9/11, the terrorists would seem to have us just where they want us — asleep — even as the system is blinking red once again.
Any thoughts or comments?