Smoke and Mirrors

Three stories struck me in the morning paper this morning. The first was a headline national article from Washington, D.C. – my favorite place!

Congress, Bush Clash over Firings.
This story concerned the Bush order to this staff to ignore congressional subpoenas. All Things Considered reported on this story yesterday afternoon by playing several excerpts from Sara Taylor’s testimony before Congress that day. Ms. Taylor used to be the White House political director (whatever that is). At first she refused to answer some questions about the president’s involvement in firing decisions and later answered the same question while still maintaining her position that she wouldn’t do so. Harriet Miers is up next. If her intelligence level is equal to Ms. Taylor’s even Congressmen won’t have much trouble getting the information they need to proceed.

The second story reveals even more dangerous bone-headedness:

Bogus company given ability to purchase radioactive material.
It turns out Congress conducted a little sting operation by applying for a license to buy fissionable nuclear material using a fake company name. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission helped them fill out the application and issued the license within a month of the application, but didn’t bother to do a background check. The upshot is that this fake company could then have legally bought enough radioactive material to build a small “dirty” bomb.

Way to go Homeland Security. Meantime, Michael Chertoff is up on the hill talking to the press about his “gut feeling” that al Qaida is about to do something to us. Lord save us from Homeland Security.

Mark that agency down on your list of demands for our next government to the effect that we should overhaul that agency to change it from a do-nothing organization designed to keep the general population edgy about another 9-11 into a bureau that actually does something to educate other government bodies and vulnerable agencies to what they could do to truly make the country safer.

And, finally:

New Al-Qaida video calls for Pakistanis to join jihad.
Ayman al-Zawahri spoke in the video telling Pakistanis that there is no political solution to our hostility. Has al-Qaida now gained so much ground in Pakistan that it can publicly challenge our “ally” the government of that country?

Immediately after 9-11 when W put aside Donald Rumsfeld’s calls for the immediate invasion of Iraq and instead focused American military efforts on Afghanistan for supporting al-Qaida there, I supported him. As time goes on, and we learn more about the fact that al-Qaida has hidden in Pakistan the whole time I have wondered whether the ouster of the Taliban was the more important target. After all, we do have oil pipelines in Afghanistan, too, and al-Qaida is still at large within the borders of a country that is supposed to be our ally.

Are we serious about eradicating al-Qaida or is their presence as the boogie man a handy way to keep the nation on edge and supportive of our military adventurism?

Be the change you wish to see in the world. -- M. K. Gandhi

Individually we have little voice. Collectively we cannot be ignored.
But in silence we surrender our power. Yours in Peace -- BR