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I AM a proponent of individual liberties but I am also a big proponent of individual responsibilities. Look I am just as concerned as you about possible abuses - just look what your boy did with IRS audits back during his reign of terror. That is why I am for some reform but most importantly sunset clauses on the PA.
As far as your post - yes I read it but I think that applies to previous administrations - in such that if BC had applied the intelligence to his policy then OBL would have been dead or in prison long ago when he was offered to us on a platter.
That is just one example.
BTW - BC said we would have our troops out of Bosnia and Kosovo by "next" Christmas. Still waiting.
So you in effect are blaming Bill Clinton for presenting the opportunity for Bush to make an idiotic assesment post 9/11? I suppose I could use that logic to credit Jimmy Carter for the economic expansion of the 80's. But it would be dead wrong.
‘Why to think of it, we’re in the same tale still! It’s going on. Don’t the great tales never end?’ ‘No, they never end as tales,’ said Frodo. ‘But the people in them come, and go when their part’s ended. Our part will end later – or sooner’ -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers (403)
or, put another way...
ESTRAGON: Well? They don't agree and that's all there is to it. VLADIMIR: But all four were there. And only one speaks of a thief being saved. Why believe him rather than the others? ESTRAGON: Who believes him? VLADIMIR: Everybody. It's the only version they know. ESTRAGON: People are bloody ignorant apes. He rises painfully, goes limping to extreme left, halts, gazes into distance off with his hand screening his eyes, turns, goes to extreme right, gazes into distance. Vladimir watches him, then goes and picks up the boot, peers into it, drops it hastily. VLADIMIR: Pah! He spits. Estragon moves to center, halts with his back to auditorium. ESTRAGON: Charming spot. (He turns, advances to front, halts facing auditorium.) Inspiring prospects. (He turns to Vladimir.) Let's go. VLADIMIR: We can't. ESTRAGON: Why not? VLADIMIR: We're waiting for Godot. ESTRAGON: (despairingly). Ah! (Pause.) You're sure it was here? VLADIMIR: What? ESTRAGON: That we were to wait. VLADIMIR: He said by the tree. (They look at the tree.) Do you see any others? ESTRAGON: What is it? VLADIMIR: I don't know. A willow. ESTRAGON: Where are the leaves? VLADIMIR: It must be dead. ESTRAGON: No more weeping.
I however am still awaiting your reply as to the number of folks prosecuted for terrorism under it.
I knew one day that this would come out :
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005 8:17 a.m. EST 9/11-Style Attacks Foiled by Patriot Act
Lost in yesterday's Senate debate and eventual rejection of most of the Patriot Act was one salient fact. Since its inception, the measure has foiled at least three terrorist attacks of 9/11 proportions against the U.S. - and seven other attacks in nations of close allies around the globe.
Earlier this year, the White House detailed the chilling al Qaida plots foiled during the four years the Patriot Act was in full force - plots that would have likely proceeded undetected until their final execution, under the kind of rollback the Senate passed on Friday.
According to a CNN report in October, the list of plots foiled thanks to the Patriot Act includes:
The West Coast Hijack Plot:
In mid-2002 the United States disrupted a plot to use hijacked airplanes to attack targets on the West Coast of the United States. The plotters included at least one major operational planner behind the 9/11 attacks.
The East Coast Hijack Plot: In mid-2003 the United States and a partner disrupted a plot to use hijacked commercial airplanes to attack targets on the East Coast of the United States.
The Jose Padilla Plot: In May 2002 the United States disrupted a plot that involved blowing up apartment buildings in the United States. One of the alleged plotters, Jose Padilla, allegedly discussed the possibility of using a "dirty bomb" inside the United States. Bush has designated him an "enemy combatant."
The British Urban Bombing Plot: In mid-2004 the United States and partners disrupted a plot to bomb urban targets in Britain.
The Heathrow Airport Hijack Plot: In 2003 the United States and several partners disrupted a plot to attack London's Heathrow Airport using hijacked commercial airliners. The planning for this alleged attack was undertaken by a major operational figure in the 9/11 attacks.
Another British Bombing Terror Plot: In the spring of 2004 the United States used intelligence gathered under the Patriot Act to disrupt a plot to conduct large-scale bombings in Britain.
Four additional attack plots detailed by the White House targeted U.S. interests in the Middle East.
Now that the Patriot Act has been gutted by the Senate, however, plots like those cited above will presumably proceed to their successful completion.
Can't you find your original source? I'm beginning to suspect that this is some sort of amalgamation compiled by an outlet a bit less........ahem......trusted and respected than CNN. 'According to a CNN reporter' Does this reference an actual story? I cannot find a story or that quote anywhere on their site. News organizations are not in the habit of interviewing reporters either.
'the list of plots foiled thanks to the Patriot Act includes:' Something about the way this is written, designed to elicit an emotional rather than an intellectual response leads me to believe that you're misplacing the credit for this 'story.'
A quick Google of the headline confirms this - I've included the URL to make it easy for you.
West Coast plot, East Coast Plot, Britain. what better information could the Whitehouse have hoped for? Spread the fear to the non-believing electorates and allies.
Now let's just the check the sources. Oops, we can't do that, it all secret.
Now let's just check the messenger. The Whitehouse! Is there any history of planting "news" items favourable to policy? Is there any background of creating the reality?
If the story wasn't quite true, could we be sure that there are mechanisms to check and that those responsible would be held accountable?
Hardball With Chris Matthews: Transcript (12/21/05) by Andrea Mitchell Andrea Mitchell, subbing for Chris Matthews, does a good job of debunking claims that Bush's warrantless wiretaps are just like Clinton's and Carter's: Today, Republicans accused Democrats of playing politics with the White House spy story. The RNC sent out this press release saying, quote, “Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter both authorized search/surveillance without court orders.” The RNC press release goes on to cite an executive order from President Clinton on February 9, 1995 that says, “The attorney general is authorized to approve physical searches without a court order.”
But that actually leaves out a crucial part of the sentence. So let's clean that up. The actual executive order from President Clinton reads, “The attorney general is authorized to approve physical searches without a court order if the attorney general makes the certifications required by that section.”
And that section refers to a requirement that the attorney general certify that the search will not involve quote, “The premises, information, material, or property of a United States person.”
In other words, U.S. citizens or anyone inside the United States. It's the same story about how the RNC is framing former president Jimmy Carter's executive order, which is taking it out of context.
But Mitchell's guest, Ron Brownstein of the L.A. Times, went out of his way to neutralize the fact that the Republican National Committee had made a deceptive accusation:
When you're in a fight, you reach for any tool that's handy. And any weapon that's handy. And both sides are—have used selective history in their past. But I don't think this is a fight that's going to be decided by references to history. In terms of the public reaction to this, it's going to be kind of a facts and circumstances overlaid over the basic divisions in the country. I suspect that many people who like George Bush are going to look at this as Churchillian and many people who don't like George Bush are probably going to look at it is Orwellian. And it basically reinforces what you think going in. This is someone who does what it takes to protect the country, this is someone who has no respect for the law or any kind of check on his power. Where you start probably has a lot to do with where you end up on this.
People are certainly more likely to end up where they started if political reporters respond to clear evidence of political deception by saying, in effect, everyone does that.
New York Times reporter James Risen first broke the story two weeks ago that the National Security Agency began spying on domestic communications soon after 9/11. In a new book out Tuesday, "State of War," he says it was a lot bigger than that. Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell sat down with Risen to talk about the NSA, and the run-up to the war in Iraq....
Mitchell: Do you have any information about reporters being swept up in this net?
Risen: No, I don't. It's not clear to me. That's one of the questions we'll have to look into the future. Were there abuses of this program or not? I don't know the answer to that
Mitchell: You don't have any information, for instance, that a very prominent journalist, Christiane Amanpour, might have been eavesdropped upon?
Risen: No, no I hadn't heard that.
AMERICAblog's John Aravosis noticed an odd moment in Andrea Mitchell's interview this week with New York Times reporter James Risen: While interviewing Risen about his new book and revelations that George W. Bush authorized warrantless spying on American citizens, Mitchell asked Risen if he had any information suggesting that CNN's international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, "might have been eavesdropped upon." Risen said he didn't. But as Aravosis surmised, the question certainly suggested that Mitchell did.
Right about the time Aravosis' theory started floating through the blogosphere, somebody deleted Mitchell's question and Risen's answer from the transcript posted on MSNBC's Web site. We said we'd like to hear an explanation, and TVNewser actually went to the trouble of getting one. "Unfortunately this transcript was released prematurely," reads a statement TVNewser says it got from NBC. "It was a topic on which we had not completed our reporting, and it was not broadcast on 'NBC Nightly News' nor on any other NBC News program. We removed that section of the transcript so that we may further continue our inquiry."
Assuming the statement is legitimate, that sure seems to us like a long way of saying, "Yeah, we're looking into the possibility that the Bush administration was eavesdropping on Christiane Amanpour."
Now, it's probably time for a deep breath and some patience here. What we've got here is some reading between the lines, and it's about a question, not an answer. But as we said yesterday, if the answer is ultimately answered in the affirmative -- that is, if the Bush administration has indeed been listening in on Amanpour's phone -- the implications are enormous. We don't much like the idea that the government might be listening in on the conversations of a reporter. And Amanpour isn't just any reporter: She is married to Jamie Rubin, a State Department spokesman under Bill Clinton and a foreign policy advisor to John Kerry's presidential campaign. If the Bush administration was listening in on Amanpour's phone, was it listening when she talked with her husband? Was it listening when he might have used her phone himself?
Again, what we've got here are hints about a question. We're a long way from an answer. But when you start circumventing Congress and the courts and begin to spy on Americans in a way that you insist you aren't, you invite questions like these. And along the way, you invite people to think about the last time some people who worked for a president tried to spy on the opposition.
Poor baby - IF true it is probably warranted - she is an American Hater of the First Order.
BTW - and this is from the BBC - the list of foiled terror attacks. Gee, I wonder if any of the intel gathering that has been conducted brought any of these about?
Its funny how the left always says that if a new law is passed - say the brady Bill - and that if that law saves one childs life the inconvienience it causes to the general public is just too damn bad.
here ya go:
US lists 10 foiled terror plots
It is not clear how serious or advanced some of the plots were The White House has given details of 10 major terror plots that President Bush says have been foiled by the US and its allies since the 11 September attacks. Mr Bush cited the disrupted plans in a speech, designed to boost support for the so-called war on terror.
They include a plot to use hijacked aircraft to hit the US East and West coasts and to attack Heathrow Airport.
But the sketchy details provided by the White House make it hard to assess how serious or advanced the plans were.
Most of the plots have been previously reported in some form, but a few were revealed for the first time.
Mr Bush also mentioned five instances where targets within the US had been "cased" - including the cases of Iyman Faris who was accused of exploring the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
White House list of disrupted plots:
West Coast airliner In mid-2002 the US disrupted a plot to attack targets on the West Coast of the United States using hijacked aeroplanes. The plotters included at least one major operational planner involved in planning the events of 11 September 2001.
Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted at least 10 serious al-Qaeda terrorist plots since 11 September, including three al-Qaeda plots to attack inside the United States
East Coast airliner In mid-2003 the US and a partner disrupted a plot to attack targets on the East Coast of the United States using hijacked commercial aeroplanes.
Jose Padilla In May 2002, the US disrupted a plot that involved blowing up apartment buildings in the United States. One of the plotters, Jose Padilla, also discussed the possibility of using a dirty bomb in the US.
2004 UK urban targets In 2004, the US and partners disrupted a plot that involved urban targets in the United Kingdom. These plots involved using explosives against a variety of sites.
2003 Karachi In the spring of 2003, the US and a partner disrupted a plot to attack Westerners at several targets in Karachi, Pakistan.
London Heathrow Airport In 2003, the US and several partners disrupted a plot to attack Heathrow Airport using hijacked commercial airliners. The planning for this attack was undertaken by a major 11 September operational figure.
2004 UK In 2004, the US and partners, using a combination of law enforcement and intelligence resources, disrupted a plot to conduct bombings in the UK.
2002 Gulf shipping In late 2002 and 2003, the US and a partner nation disrupted a plot by al-Qaeda operatives to attack ships in the Gulf.
2002 Straits of Hormuz In 2002, the US and partners disrupted a plot to attack ships transiting the Straits of Hormuz.
2003 tourist site In 2003 the US and a partner nation disrupted a plot to attack a tourist site outside the United States.
White House list of casings and infiltrations:
US government and tourist sites tasking In 2003 and 2004, an individual was tasked by al-Qaeda to case important US government and tourist targets within the United States.
Gas station tasking Around 2003, an individual was tasked to collect targeting information on US gas stations and their support mechanisms on behalf of a senior al-Qaeda planner.
Iyman Faris and the Brooklyn Bridge In 2003, and in conjunction with a partner nation, the US government arrested and prosecuted Iyman Faris, who was exploring the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Faris ultimately pleaded guilty to providing material support to al-Qaeda and is now in a federal correctional institution.
2001 tasking In 2001, al-Qaeda sent an individual to facilitate post-11 September attacks in the US Law enforcement authorities arrested the individual.
2003 tasking In 2003, an individual was tasked by an al-Qaeda leader to conduct reconnaissance on populated areas in the US.
interesting. One of the persistant problems that teh CIA has had is that it is very hard to create a public perception of value when you can't talk about all teh times your have been successful. Hats' of to the boys and girls in black.
WOW, I did and look what I found! I found a couple quotes but I'm nto sure who I can attribute them to....
“I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, “George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.” And I did, and then God would tell me, “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …” And I did. And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, “Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.” And by God I’m gonna do it.”
"to speak to God in meditation can be of help in calming the troubled soul, to help to see 'things as they are to others', to help one talk to God, in short to be of a spiritual nature."
"when God talks back to you in a voice like Charlton Heston, that's schizophrenia"
Comments
As far as your post - yes I read it but I think that applies to previous administrations - in such that if BC had applied the intelligence to his policy then OBL would have been dead or in prison long ago when he was offered to us on a platter.
That is just one example.
BTW - BC said we would have our troops out of Bosnia and Kosovo by "next" Christmas. Still waiting.
yea, Emmett will be the first to tell you THAT was all Ted Kennedy's foresight, planning and direction:o
‘No, they never end as tales,’ said Frodo. ‘But the people in them come, and go when their part’s ended. Our part will end later – or sooner’ -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers (403)
or, put another way...
ESTRAGON:
Well? They don't agree and that's all there is to it.
VLADIMIR:
But all four were there. And only one speaks of a thief being saved. Why believe him rather than the others?
ESTRAGON:
Who believes him?
VLADIMIR:
Everybody. It's the only version they know.
ESTRAGON:
People are bloody ignorant apes.
He rises painfully, goes limping to extreme left, halts, gazes into distance off with his hand screening his eyes, turns, goes to extreme right, gazes into distance. Vladimir watches him, then goes and picks up the boot, peers into it, drops it hastily.
VLADIMIR:
Pah!
He spits. Estragon moves to center, halts with his back to auditorium.
ESTRAGON:
Charming spot. (He turns, advances to front, halts facing auditorium.) Inspiring prospects. (He turns to Vladimir.) Let's go.
VLADIMIR:
We can't.
ESTRAGON:
Why not?
VLADIMIR:
We're waiting for Godot.
ESTRAGON:
(despairingly). Ah! (Pause.) You're sure it was here?
VLADIMIR:
What?
ESTRAGON:
That we were to wait.
VLADIMIR:
He said by the tree. (They look at the tree.) Do you see any others?
ESTRAGON:
What is it?
VLADIMIR:
I don't know. A willow.
ESTRAGON:
Where are the leaves?
VLADIMIR:
It must be dead.
ESTRAGON:
No more weeping.
it's all theatre of the absurd sometimes reading these diatribes
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005 8:17 a.m. EST
9/11-Style Attacks Foiled by Patriot Act
Lost in yesterday's Senate debate and eventual rejection of most of the Patriot Act was one salient fact. Since its inception, the measure has foiled at least three terrorist attacks of 9/11 proportions against the U.S. - and seven other attacks in nations of close allies around the globe.
Earlier this year, the White House detailed the chilling al Qaida plots foiled during the four years the Patriot Act was in full force - plots that would have likely proceeded undetected until their final execution, under the kind of rollback the Senate passed on Friday.
According to a CNN report in October, the list of plots foiled thanks to the Patriot Act includes:
The West Coast Hijack Plot:
In mid-2002 the United States disrupted a plot to use hijacked airplanes to attack targets on the West Coast of the United States. The plotters included at least one major operational planner behind the 9/11 attacks.
The East Coast Hijack Plot:
In mid-2003 the United States and a partner disrupted a plot to use hijacked commercial airplanes to attack targets on the East Coast of the United States.
The Jose Padilla Plot:
In May 2002 the United States disrupted a plot that involved blowing up apartment buildings in the United States. One of the alleged plotters, Jose Padilla, allegedly discussed the possibility of using a "dirty bomb" inside the United States. Bush has designated him an "enemy combatant."
The British Urban Bombing Plot:
In mid-2004 the United States and partners disrupted a plot to bomb urban targets in Britain.
The Heathrow Airport Hijack Plot:
In 2003 the United States and several partners disrupted a plot to attack London's Heathrow Airport using hijacked commercial airliners. The planning for this alleged attack was undertaken by a major operational figure in the 9/11 attacks.
Another British Bombing Terror Plot:
In the spring of 2004 the United States used intelligence gathered under the Patriot Act to disrupt a plot to conduct large-scale bombings in Britain.
Four additional attack plots detailed by the White House targeted U.S. interests in the Middle East.
Now that the Patriot Act has been gutted by the Senate, however, plots like those cited above will presumably proceed to their successful completion.
According to a CNN report in October, the list of plots foiled thanks to thePatriot Act includes:
I highlighted the reference to the PA to make it easier on you.
'the list of plots foiled thanks to the Patriot Act includes:' Something about the way this is written, designed to elicit an emotional rather than an intellectual response leads me to believe that you're misplacing the credit for this 'story.'
A quick Google of the headline confirms this - I've included the URL to make it easy for you.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/17/81913.shtml
I know it's tough to admit you're wrong, but your coming pretty close to just fabricating stuff to support your argument.
[Edited on 20/12/2005 by dst]
Just because it is not on CNN's site does not mean they did not report it. A news outlet or two HAS been known to bury stories from time to time.
Speaking of fabricating stories did you see the bit about CBS and Mary Mapes winning some award for crappy journo work?
West Coast plot, East Coast Plot, Britain.
what better information could the Whitehouse have hoped for? Spread the fear to the non-believing electorates and allies.
Now let's just the check the sources. Oops, we can't do that, it all secret.
Now let's just check the messenger. The Whitehouse!
Is there any history of planting "news" items favourable to policy? Is there any background of creating the reality?
If the story wasn't quite true, could we be sure that there are mechanisms to check and that those responsible would be held accountable?
DO THEY TAKE ME FOR A FOOL? :rolleyes:
Andrea Mitchell, subbing for Chris Matthews, does a good job of debunking claims that Bush's warrantless wiretaps are just like Clinton's and Carter's:
Today, Republicans accused Democrats of playing politics with the White House spy story. The RNC sent out this press release saying, quote, “Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter both authorized search/surveillance without court orders.”
The RNC press release goes on to cite an executive order from President Clinton on February 9, 1995 that says, “The attorney general is authorized to approve physical searches without a court order.”
But that actually leaves out a crucial part of the sentence. So let's clean that up. The actual executive order from President Clinton reads, “The attorney general is authorized to approve physical searches without a court order if the attorney general makes the certifications required by that section.”
And that section refers to a requirement that the attorney general certify that the search will not involve quote, “The premises, information, material, or property of a United States person.”
In other words, U.S. citizens or anyone inside the United States. It's the same story about how the RNC is framing former president Jimmy Carter's executive order, which is taking it out of context.
But Mitchell's guest, Ron Brownstein of the L.A. Times, went out of his way to neutralize the fact that the Republican National Committee had made a deceptive accusation:
When you're in a fight, you reach for any tool that's handy. And any weapon that's handy. And both sides are—have used selective history in their past. But I don't think this is a fight that's going to be decided by references to history. In terms of the public reaction to this, it's going to be kind of a facts and circumstances overlaid over the basic divisions in the country.
I suspect that many people who like George Bush are going to look at this as Churchillian and many people who don't like George Bush are probably going to look at it is Orwellian. And it basically reinforces what you think going in. This is someone who does what it takes to protect the country, this is someone who has no respect for the law or any kind of check on his power. Where you start probably has a lot to do with where you end up on this.
People are certainly more likely to end up where they started if political reporters respond to clear evidence of political deception by saying, in effect, everyone does that.
New York Times reporter James Risen first broke the story two weeks ago that the National Security Agency began spying on domestic communications soon after 9/11. In a new book out Tuesday, "State of War," he says it was a lot bigger than that. Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell sat down with Risen to talk about the NSA, and the run-up to the war in Iraq....
Mitchell: Do you have any information about reporters being swept up in this net?
Risen: No, I don't. It's not clear to me. That's one of the questions we'll have to look into the future. Were there abuses of this program or not? I don't know the answer to that
Mitchell: You don't have any information, for instance, that a very prominent journalist, Christiane Amanpour, might have been eavesdropped upon?
Risen: No, no I hadn't heard that.
AMERICAblog's John Aravosis noticed an odd moment in Andrea Mitchell's interview this week with New York Times reporter James Risen: While interviewing Risen about his new book and revelations that George W. Bush authorized warrantless spying on American citizens, Mitchell asked Risen if he had any information suggesting that CNN's international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, "might have been eavesdropped upon." Risen said he didn't. But as Aravosis surmised, the question certainly suggested that Mitchell did.
Right about the time Aravosis' theory started floating through the blogosphere, somebody deleted Mitchell's question and Risen's answer from the transcript posted on MSNBC's Web site. We said we'd like to hear an explanation, and TVNewser actually went to the trouble of getting one. "Unfortunately this transcript was released prematurely," reads a statement TVNewser says it got from NBC. "It was a topic on which we had not completed our reporting, and it was not broadcast on 'NBC Nightly News' nor on any other NBC News program. We removed that section of the transcript so that we may further continue our inquiry."
Assuming the statement is legitimate, that sure seems to us like a long way of saying, "Yeah, we're looking into the possibility that the Bush administration was eavesdropping on Christiane Amanpour."
Now, it's probably time for a deep breath and some patience here. What we've got here is some reading between the lines, and it's about a question, not an answer. But as we said yesterday, if the answer is ultimately answered in the affirmative -- that is, if the Bush administration has indeed been listening in on Amanpour's phone -- the implications are enormous. We don't much like the idea that the government might be listening in on the conversations of a reporter. And Amanpour isn't just any reporter: She is married to Jamie Rubin, a State Department spokesman under Bill Clinton and a foreign policy advisor to John Kerry's presidential campaign. If the Bush administration was listening in on Amanpour's phone, was it listening when she talked with her husband? Was it listening when he might have used her phone himself?
Again, what we've got here are hints about a question. We're a long way from an answer. But when you start circumventing Congress and the courts and begin to spy on Americans in a way that you insist you aren't, you invite questions like these. And along the way, you invite people to think about the last time some people who worked for a president tried to spy on the opposition.
-- Tim Grieve
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2006/01/05/amanpour/index.html
BTW - and this is from the BBC - the list of foiled terror attacks. Gee, I wonder if any of the intel gathering that has been conducted brought any of these about?
Its funny how the left always says that if a new law is passed - say the brady Bill - and that if that law saves one childs life the inconvienience it causes to the general public is just too damn bad.
here ya go:
US lists 10 foiled terror plots
It is not clear how serious or advanced some of the plots were
The White House has given details of 10 major terror plots that President Bush says have been foiled by the US and its allies since the 11 September attacks.
Mr Bush cited the disrupted plans in a speech, designed to boost support for the so-called war on terror.
They include a plot to use hijacked aircraft to hit the US East and West coasts and to attack Heathrow Airport.
But the sketchy details provided by the White House make it hard to assess how serious or advanced the plans were.
Most of the plots have been previously reported in some form, but a few were revealed for the first time.
Mr Bush also mentioned five instances where targets within the US had been "cased" - including the cases of Iyman Faris who was accused of exploring the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
White House list of disrupted plots:
West Coast airliner
In mid-2002 the US disrupted a plot to attack targets on the West Coast of the United States using hijacked aeroplanes. The plotters included at least one major operational planner involved in planning the events of 11 September 2001.
Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted at least 10 serious al-Qaeda terrorist plots since 11 September, including three al-Qaeda plots to attack inside the United States
East Coast airliner
In mid-2003 the US and a partner disrupted a plot to attack targets on the East Coast of the United States using hijacked commercial aeroplanes.
Jose Padilla
In May 2002, the US disrupted a plot that involved blowing up apartment buildings in the United States. One of the plotters, Jose Padilla, also discussed the possibility of using a dirty bomb in the US.
2004 UK urban targets
In 2004, the US and partners disrupted a plot that involved urban targets in the United Kingdom. These plots involved using explosives against a variety of sites.
2003 Karachi
In the spring of 2003, the US and a partner disrupted a plot to attack Westerners at several targets in Karachi, Pakistan.
London Heathrow Airport
In 2003, the US and several partners disrupted a plot to attack Heathrow Airport using hijacked commercial airliners. The planning for this attack was undertaken by a major 11 September operational figure.
2004 UK
In 2004, the US and partners, using a combination of law enforcement and intelligence resources, disrupted a plot to conduct bombings in the UK.
2002 Gulf shipping
In late 2002 and 2003, the US and a partner nation disrupted a plot by al-Qaeda operatives to attack ships in the Gulf.
2002 Straits of Hormuz
In 2002, the US and partners disrupted a plot to attack ships transiting the Straits of Hormuz.
2003 tourist site
In 2003 the US and a partner nation disrupted a plot to attack a tourist site outside the United States.
White House list of casings and infiltrations:
US government and tourist sites tasking
In 2003 and 2004, an individual was tasked by al-Qaeda to case important US government and tourist targets within the United States.
Gas station tasking
Around 2003, an individual was tasked to collect targeting information on US gas stations and their support mechanisms on behalf of a senior al-Qaeda planner.
Iyman Faris and the Brooklyn Bridge
In 2003, and in conjunction with a partner nation, the US government arrested and prosecuted Iyman Faris, who was exploring the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Faris ultimately pleaded guilty to providing material support to al-Qaeda and is now in a federal correctional institution.
2001 tasking
In 2001, al-Qaeda sent an individual to facilitate post-11 September attacks in the US Law enforcement authorities arrested the individual.
2003 tasking
In 2003, an individual was tasked by an al-Qaeda leader to conduct reconnaissance on populated areas in the US.
got a source link?
“I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, “George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.” And I did, and then God would tell me, “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …” And I did. And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, “Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.” And by God I’m gonna do it.”
"to speak to God in meditation can be of help in calming the troubled soul, to help to see 'things as they are to others', to help one talk to God, in short to be of a spiritual nature."
"when God talks back to you in a voice like Charlton Heston, that's schizophrenia"