Hi, I live in a small mountain town in Colorado. Our newspaper just was purchased by a larger company, and since that change, the newspaper's "editorials" have become increasingly disturbing.
The latest "editorial" which I've seen in the paper was also posted front-page on the "editorialists" blog. Here are some excerpts:
There's more, much more, and you can read if for yourself. If you are anything like me, you will be dismayed at the hyberbole being printed as "fact" in this publication.
I wrote a letter in response, and I would greatly appreciate any advice from my fellow Kossacks to fine tune my response, which is below the fold.
This is in regards to William Hamilton’s 10.18 opinion column.
Mr. Hamilton is resurrecting information from charges brought over a year ago about a Muslim couple, who, according to him, "intended to use their six-month-old baby as a means of hiding explosives in the child’s milk bottle".
Wow. Is that ever scary! But is it true?
Not according to the couple in question, the Alis. They have pled "not guilty" to all charges, as have all the other accused. Here’s what some who know the Alis have to say about them:
"A neighbour at the flats where the married couple lived said he would be stunned if claims were true.
"I simply cannot believe he could have been involved in a plot like this. He is religious and seemed to love his family," the neighbour said.
"I would never have dreamed he could have been involved in anything like this."
A family friend of Cossor said she had known the arrested mother 12 years and believed her to be innocent.
"I think it is a case of mistaken identity. The last thing she'd be interested in is terrorism. They are just simple day-to-day people going about their own business," she said."
The evidence? "Police in England have reportedly recovered bottles containing peroxide, including some with false bottoms, from a recycling centre close to the homes of some of the arrested suspects".
The trial of these supposed "terrorists" is set to begin no sooner than April of 2008. Perhaps before your paper publishes the "intentions" of individuals, it should give them their day in court.
One alleged bomber, who is a Briton, but was in Pakistan at the time of his arrest, has had a day in court. The terrorism charges against him were dropped, citing, "not enough evidence". More on this from the BBC:
The arrest of Rashid Rauf in Pakistan triggered arrests in the United Kingdom of a number of suspects allegedly plotting to blow up transatlantic flights. The Pakistani authorities described him as a key figure. But an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi found no evidence that he had been involved in terrorist activities or that he belonged to a terrorist organisation. As well as forgery charges, Mr Rauf has also been charged with carrying explosives. But his lawyer says police evidence amounts only to bottles of hydrogen peroxide found in his possession.
Hydrogen peroxide is a disinfectant that can be used for bomb-making if other chemicals are added.
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the judge's decision has reinforced the already widespread scepticism there about the airliner plot. Several commentators said the threat was deliberately exaggerated to bolster the anti-terror credentials of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and that it helped to demonise British Muslims of Pakistani origin.
There’s also this, from Wikipedia:
"Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray was skeptical of the account of the plot. He based his criticism on the assumptions that "None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not have passports." He also suggested that suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf invented the plot under torture in Pakistan."
...
On 18 September, Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Nigel Wylde, a former senior British Army Intelligence Officer with decades of anti-terror and explosives experience, declared the plot to be 'fiction'. He said the explosives in question could not possibly have been produced on the plane. "So who came up with the idea that a bomb could be made on board? Not Al Qaeda for sure. It would not work. Bin Laden is interested in success not deterrence by failure," Wylde stated. He further suggested that the plot was an invention of the UK security services in order to justify wide-ranging new security measures that threaten to permanently curtail civil liberties and to suspend sections of the United Kingdom's Human Rights Act of 1998. Due to the mountain of evidence, including forensic material, he expected the men to face "a very long trial of (between) five and eight months."
It has also been reported by the New York Times that, "British officials have since stated that the estimate of ten aircraft was "speculative and exaggerated."
In my research for this letter, I also uncovered much discussion centering around the fact that the "plot" was very implausible – the amount of liquid required to create a bomb could not fit in an airplane sink to be mixed. Also, the smells that emanate from this process would have quickly been discovered by fellow passengers and/or airline personnel, many think.
I also want to address Mr. Hamilton’s speculation that the reason we are "hated" is because we are the "haves". Hmm.... Luxembourg, Japan, Switzerland, and Norway all enjoy higher per-capita incomes than the United States. Yet, are they targets of "terrorism"? Perhaps Mr. Hamilton needs to be a little more objective when researching his theories.
It’s disturbing that this publication has given free reign in its editorial column to someone spewing hyperbole as fact. Also, I don’t see how this wildly exaggerated point of view is, in any way, "Centrist" as the logo around the column claimed.
I am by no means trying to stand up for "terrorists". However, I do object to "news" publications printing wild speculation as fact, in what seems to be an attempt to spread fear.
It would have been much more appropriate for Mr. Hamilton to comment on actual current events, such as the fact that President Bush’s counterterrorism chief, Adm. Scott Redd, made a public statement last week that he believes that the Iraq war likely has not made the U.S. safer.
I would really appreciate any feedback to help "tighten" this letter.